Old Royal Palace
Old Royal Palace
3.5
Historic SitesPoints of Interest & LandmarksArchitectural BuildingsCastles
About
A former seat of Czech rulers, the Old Royal Palace is a mix of many architectural styles, particularly Gothic and Renaissance. The palace houses the Story of Prague exhibition, which uses castle models, films and artifacts to tell the history of Prague Castle.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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The area
Address
Neighborhood: Hradcany & Letna
Your experience in Prague will never be complete if you do not see it from the top. Hillsides, stretched from the west to the north, provide spectacular views of greenish copper cupolas, narrow cobblestone streets, bridges connecting both river banks and green gardens from red-roof tops of centuries-old houses. Prague pulls you into its 1300 year old history. Walking up the hill or stairs to Prague Castle, the historical seat of Czech rulers and the majestic Saint Vitus Cathedral can leave you speechless (and out of breath). Luckily, plenty of terrace cafés overlooking gardens and beautiful parks are available to provide rest and a place to catch your breath again.
How to get there
- Hradčanská • 8 min walk
- Lesser • 10 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
3.5
443 reviews
Excellent
74
Very good
156
Average
168
Poor
36
Terrible
9
TravelerTrecker
Houston842 contributions
Oct 2022
The Old Royal Palace is actually quite spectacular! The building is Romanesque. The Vladislav's Hall is huge and was used for banquets, meetings, and horse competitions. The vaulted ceiling is unique! The entrance was made to allow horses to go inside the palace. This is a very interesting feature. The window of the defenestration of 1618 that gave origin to the 30 years war is huge and offers impressive views of Prague. The different rooms are very interesting and describe how the judicial and legislative administration of country was. The New Land Rolls room is very nice!
The crown jewels are exhibited including the crown of Saint Wenceslaus, the orb, and the scepter.
I was fortunate because at the time of my visit, the palace was empty. There were no tours. I enjoyed the visit very much!
To visit you have to pay the ticket that includes the visit to the Golden Lane, Saint Vitus Cathedral, and the Saint George's Basilica.
The crown jewels are exhibited including the crown of Saint Wenceslaus, the orb, and the scepter.
I was fortunate because at the time of my visit, the palace was empty. There were no tours. I enjoyed the visit very much!
To visit you have to pay the ticket that includes the visit to the Golden Lane, Saint Vitus Cathedral, and the Saint George's Basilica.
Written January 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ram88doc
Navarre, FL266 contributions
Oct 2022
There is not much to see since these large rooms are basically empty. One room did have a large number of painted coats of arms on the walls and ceilings that was impressive. If you are on a tight schedule stick to the other buildings you can see with the same entry ticket.
Written October 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SWH100
Cardiff, UK1,101 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
To be honest there isn’t too much to see in the Old Royal Palace. The ceiling is beautiful and the space is pretty impressive, but there isn’t much there. Lots of stone work being done to renovate too. My favourite bit was the family crests on the ceiling upstairs. They were really cool to see. We walked through here in about 5 mins. Not worth buying a separate ticket for this, but worth stopping by if it’s included in your circuit A or B ticket.
Written February 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ginges_revenge
Brisbane, Australia4,738 contributions
Feb 2023
A bit disappointing to be honest in these rooms. The rooms were very large with not much substance in them. They are obviously an integral part of the history of the building, but not really much inside to see.
The vaulted roof was a lovely architectural feature, there were some coats of arms.
Its part of the ticket for the castle. You can see some royal jewels and other items.
It wasn't to full in this area as we went in February / shoulder tourist season.
Wasn't the best part of the castle for me.
The vaulted roof was a lovely architectural feature, there were some coats of arms.
Its part of the ticket for the castle. You can see some royal jewels and other items.
It wasn't to full in this area as we went in February / shoulder tourist season.
Wasn't the best part of the castle for me.
Written March 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Berke Ayrancıoğlu
Graz, Austria190 contributions
Dec 2023 • Friends
Part of the Prague Castle. Although it was not bad, the palace is not a big show but If the palace tour is included in your ticket I would suggest taking a tour. The paintings, the walls and the architecture is nice but that is all.
Written December 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pieter
Cape Town, South Africa952 contributions
Jun 2023 • Solo
Dated back to the 12th century this castle give a true representation of what power the kings use to have. The torture chamber shows that you dont mess with the king!
The beauty, wealth and spendour of the king is on display in the castle. Make sure you stop at the cafe inside the palace overlooking the city. Their carrot cake is the best in the world
The beauty, wealth and spendour of the king is on display in the castle. Make sure you stop at the cafe inside the palace overlooking the city. Their carrot cake is the best in the world
Written June 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
macedonboy
Glasgow, UK179,824 contributions
Oct 2019
The old royal palace is a building and one of many buildings of the Prague Castle complex. The palace has clear signs parting the direction and order visitors should take when touring the castle.
The main hall is largely bare, although it's the first time I've seen examples of intertwined ribbed vault ceilings that are actually characteristic of Czech Gothic and also in some central European churches. The rest of the rooms are meh. Not much else to see really.
The main hall is largely bare, although it's the first time I've seen examples of intertwined ribbed vault ceilings that are actually characteristic of Czech Gothic and also in some central European churches. The rest of the rooms are meh. Not much else to see really.
Written October 9, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Shields_9
Boston, MA25 contributions
The Cathedral and the Palace are interesting. However, the whole experience is greatly marred by the tourist trap atmosphere. DO NOT get hood-winked by the people peddling the voice recording tour. They tell you lies--there's a 2 hour wait if you don't get the voice recording tour--and they give different prices for different tourists. I should have been suspicious when they had two people waiting on each customer, putting on the hard sell.
Go enjoy the Castle and catherdral but don't get drawn into the tourist trap. Prague is better than this.
Go enjoy the Castle and catherdral but don't get drawn into the tourist trap. Prague is better than this.
Written May 16, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Parviz M
San Diego, CA1,444 contributions
Sep 2019
As part of our visit to the Prague Castle, we also spent some time in the grand Vladislav Hall. This was included in our Circuit B tickets that also covered: St. Vitus’s Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St. George’s Basilica, and Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower. The Vladislav Hall is a large room that was used for public events of the Bohemian Monarchy and the modern Czech Republic. It was completed in year 1,502 after taking about 10 years to construct. It was the largest structure in historical Prague and is famous for its complex stone vaulting system, spanning 16 meters. The third and highest floor of the palace, the hall replaced a group of rooms dating from the 14th century. Overall, it is a grand room with a stunning floor and vault. Since there were no items in the hall, we just spent about 30 minutes touring the hall following other visitors of the castle. Recommend to see it if you are there to tour the Prague Castle.
Written November 24, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nchammmer
Karachi, Pakistan1,068 contributions
Apr 2017 • Solo
It's best to buy a circuit B ticket and have access to the palace, cathedral, basilica, golden lane and tower access. The ticket is 250CZK per person and 500CZK per family (is a good deal)
It's basic, history is well written in the palace. Nothing one would expect it's a large hall, few rooms, some benches and tables to show furniture from 10 centuries ago. No great artwork. Worth a visit if you have circuit B ticket.
It's basic, history is well written in the palace. Nothing one would expect it's a large hall, few rooms, some benches and tables to show furniture from 10 centuries ago. No great artwork. Worth a visit if you have circuit B ticket.
Written April 8, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Milene T
Maidstone, UK63 contributions
How much is the entrance ticket?
TAIN2013
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia2,883 contributions
The Castle has several buildings and multiple ticket options ranging in price from CZK 70 - 350. The different tickets allow entrance to different combinations of buildings. They also have discounted tickets for youth, students and seniors, family tickets. as well as free entrance for certain categories. Check out their website for details.
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Claim your listingOld Royal Palace - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
Frequently Asked Questions about Old Royal Palace
- According to Tripadvisor travelers, these are the best ways to experience Old Royal Palace:
- Prague Castle Walking Tour Including Admission Tickets (From $53.43)
- Prague 3-hour Afternoon Walking Tour including Prague Castle (From $47.98)
- 3-hour Private Prague Castle Walking Tour (From $130.86)
- Prague Private Custom Full-Day Tour: Prague Castle and Old Town (From $478.72)
- Prague Castle: Admission Ticket With Bus Transfer And Audioguide (From $42.53)
- Hotels near Old Royal Palace:
- (0.23 mi) Golden Well Hotel
- (0.23 mi) Alchymist Prague Castle Suites
- (0.11 mi) Gallys Apartments
- (0.25 mi) Blue Oak
- (0.31 mi) MOOo by the Castle
- Restaurants near Old Royal Palace:
- (0.08 mi) Restaurant Lvi Dvur
- (0.09 mi) Restaurant Vikarka
- (0.09 mi) Gallery Café
- (0.10 mi) U Kanovniku
- (0.22 mi) Terasa U Zlate studne