Best Day Trips from Prague: Karlštejn and Kutná Hora

In our Complete Prague Guide we promised a separate article about trips outside the city centre – here it is. Prague is great for 2–3 days, but if you plan to stay longer, it’s worth spending at least one day on something outside the capital. The problem is that not every “day trip” really fits into a single day – and that’s exactly what we’ll examine in this article for the three most frequently recommended destinations: Karlštejn, Kutná Hora and Český Krumlov.

Quick comparison

Destination	Distance from Prague	Transportation	Time needed for a trip
Karlštejn	30 km	train, approx. 40 min	half a day
Kutná Hora	70 km	train, approx. 45–50 min	the whole day
Český Krumlov	170 km	bus/train, approx. 2.5–3 hours	the whole day, very tight

Our recommendation: if you only have one day for trips, choose Kutná Hora – it offers the best balance between what you’ll see and the time you’ll “spend sitting” on the train.

Karlštejn – a half-day trip that doesn’t have to take the whole day

Karlštejn is the closest and quickest option, but that’s precisely why you can approach it in two ways: either as a quick trip lasting a few hours, or combine it with a walk through the Bohemian Karst and turn it into a full-day program.

How to get there: By train from Prague Main Station or Praha-Smíchov; the journey takes approx. 40 minutes, and trains run at 30- to 60-minute intervals. A one-way ticket costs approx. 65–70 CZK (about €2.7–2.9), and a return ticket 130–140 CZK (about €5.4–5.8). From Karlštejn station, it’s about 1.9 km uphill on foot to the castle (approx. 30 minutes); the route passes through a village full of souvenir shops and restaurants.

BUY HERE the ticket including a guide and transport there and back to Prague

Route	Adult	Reduced (senior/young 18–24)	Child 6–17 age
Imperial Residence of Charles IV (basic tour)	300 CZK / €12.4	240 CZK / €9.9	90 CZK / €3.7
Karlštejn Castle Chapels (selected tour)	640 CZK / €26.5	510 CZK / €21.1	190 CZK / €7.9

You can also walk through the freely accessible courtyard without paying, with a mobile audio guide in the TourStories app.

Our tip: You cannot visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross without a reservation, even as an individual – if you want to see it, buy your ticket online in advance; tour capacity is limited to 15 people per hour.

What to watch out for: Karlštejn village is a pedestrian zone all day – you cannot drive into the centre, and parking is available only at the central parking lot in the lower part of the village. During the season, there is often a line at the ticket offices, so expect that you may have to wait for your tour time.

Where to stay if you want to combine Karlštejn with a walk around the area:

Kutná Hora – the best balance of experience and time

Kutná Hora is the most well-balanced choice of the three – it fits comfortably into one day, and you’ll see UNESCO landmarks that look completely different from what you’re used to seeing in Prague.

How to get there: Direct train from Prague Main Station, the journey takes approx. 45–50 minutes, trains run roughly every one to two hours, and a seat reservation is not necessary. You can get off either at Kutná Hora Main Station (approx. 2 km from the centre) or at Kutná Hora-Sedlec station, which is closer to the ossuary and the historic centre.

BUY HERE your ticket to St. Barbara’s, including a guide and transport there and back to Prague

What to see:

Monument	Adult	Note
Sedlec Ossuary	265 CZK / €11 (individual admission)	Reservation for a specific date and time required from October 2025
St. Barbara’s Cathedral (basic tour)	85 CZK / €3.5	Also includes the Corpus Christi Chapel

• Sedlec Ossuary – a chapel decorated with the bones of around 40,000 people, and one of the most visited sights in the Czech Republic. Important: the ossuary is undergoing reconstruction (planned to continue until 2030), but it remains open to the public during the repairs. From October 2025, however, tickets must be purchased exclusively online or at the Sedlec Information Centre for an exact date and time – without a reservation, entry is not guaranteed, and from the same date, the site is also inaccessible to people with reduced mobility due to repairs to the staircase. Opening hours vary by season (roughly 9:00–18:00 in summer, shorter outside the season).
• St. Barbara’s Cathedral – a Gothic cathedral listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whose construction involved, among others, Petr Parléř and Matěj Rejsek.

A visit to the ossuary will stay with you for a long time – precisely because of what you will see inside, but also because they will not let you in without a reservation.

What to watch out for: The popular “Triple Ticket” combining the ossuary, cathedral and St. Barbara’s Cathedral ended on 30 June 2025 – if you come across older articles recommending it as a universal solution, they are no longer valid. Buy the tickets separately nowadays, and especially book the ossuary well in advance online.

Where to stay if you want to enjoy Kutná Hora at a slower pace:

Český Krumlov – beautiful, but not quite “a one-day trip”

This brings us to a destination that we already explored in detail in our separate guide to Český Krumlov – and it is fair to say right away that calling it “a one-day trip” is somewhat misleading.

How to get there: A direct bus (RegioJet, FlixBus or Student Agency) from Prague takes 2.5–3 hours, with prices ranging roughly from 150 to 300 CZK (about €6.2–12) depending on how far in advance you buy your ticket. The train takes a similar amount of time, often with a change, and tends to be slightly more expensive.

BUY HERE your trip to Český Krumlov, including castle admission and a guide

What to see and how much it costs:

Route	Adult	Reduced (senior/young/EDC)	Child
I. Tour – Renaissance and Baroque Apartments	300 CZK / €12.4	240 CZK / €9.9	80 CZK / €3.3
Castle Tower and Castle Museum	280 CZK / €11.6	220 CZK / €9.1	80 CZK / €3.3
Castle Garden	free	free	free

The reality of a day trip: When you add up the journey there (around 3 hours), time for sightseeing (at least 4–5 hours if you want to see more than just the square), and the journey back (another roughly 3 hours), you end up with a day in which you spend over 6 hours out of 24 just on a bus or train. It can be done – it is worth taking the first morning connection and planning to return late in the evening – but it is more of a marathon than a relaxing trip.

Our tip: If you plan to see Český Krumlov properly (and it is worth it), consider staying overnight rather than rushing back to Prague that same evening. You can find a complete overview of what to see in Krumlov, where to stay, and how to plan your day in our Český Krumlov guide, or we add another tip below to the table on where to stay if you choose the overnight option:

Which trip to choose based on your goal

• You have only one free day in Prague and want to see as much as possible in as little time as possible: Kutná Hora.
• You want a quick trip lasting a few hours, perhaps just half a day: Karlštejn.
• You have at least 2 days to travel around the Czech Republic and want to experience a truly different atmosphere from Prague: Český Krumlov, ideally with an overnight stay.
• You are travelling with small children: Karlštejn – the shortest journey and the least demanding on children’s patience on the train.

Practical travel tips

• Tickets: You do not need a seat reservation for Karlštejn or Kutná Hora; you can easily buy your ticket at the station or through the Czech Railways app. For Český Krumlov, it is better to reserve your bus in advance – connections are often sold out at weekends.
• Tickets for attractions: At Karlštejn (the chapel) and at the Sedlec Ossuary, booking for a specific date and time is mandatory – without it, you will not be allowed inside, even if you arrive early.
• Shoes: Karlštejn and Kutná Hora both involve walking uphill or on cobblestones – wear comfortable shoes.
• Food: Just as in the centre of Prague, restaurants right by the entrance to the main attraction (by the castle or the ossuary) tend to be more expensive and have lower ratings than those a few dozen metres farther away.