Golden Lane

A row of tiny cottages built into the castle wall

Area Hradčany
Type Landmark
Time needed 40m

Golden Lane is a short row of eleven small cottages built into the northern fortification wall of Prague Castle, originally quarters for the castle guard and later homes for craftsmen and the poor. It is one of the ticketed parts of the castle circuit, not a public street, and the whole lane takes only a couple of minutes to walk end to end. Franz Kafka's sister rented number 22, and he used it to write in during the winter of 1916.

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Getting there

There is no separate way in: Golden Lane is reached through Prague Castle, entering from the lane beside St George's Basilica in the castle's eastern end. Tram 22 to Pražský hrad is the simplest approach, or metro line A green to Malostranská and then tram 22 one stop or the Old Castle Steps on foot. From the Old Town Square allow thirty minutes. Inside the castle the lane is cobbled, slightly sloped, and the cottage doorways and stairs are low and narrow.

What you see

The lane itself is the object: a crooked row of brightly painted single-room houses tucked under the wall, each with a tiny door and a window at knee height to the roadway above. Several are open and furnished as they were lived in — a seamstress's room, a herbalist's, a goldsmith's workshop — and the point is the scale, which is far smaller than photographs suggest. The upper end leads to the archers' gallery along the inside of the wall, hung with armour, crossbows and mail, and you can look down through the loopholes onto the Deer Moat. Number 22 is now a shop, with a plaque noting Kafka's winter there.

What to pair it with

St Vitus Cathedral and the Old Royal Palace are on the same castle ticket and within a few minutes' walk. The Royal Garden and the Deer Moat lie just outside the north gate, and Malá Strana is downhill from the castle's eastern exit.

When to go

Come first thing or late in the afternoon. The lane is narrow enough that one tour group fills it, and between mid-morning and mid-afternoon in season you move in single file with no chance to look into the rooms properly. It is covered and partly indoors, so it works as a wet-weather stop. In winter it is one of the quieter parts of the castle and the cottages feel more like dwellings.

What is hard about it

It is very small — some visitors walk its length in two minutes and feel cheated, particularly having paid for a castle circuit mainly to see it. It cannot be visited on its own or for free; it is inside the ticketed route. The cottages that are open are furnished reconstructions rather than preserved interiors, several others are souvenir shops, and the lane has no step-free alternative: doorways are low, floors uneven and the archers' gallery is up a stair. At busy times photography without a queue of people in the frame is not realistic.

Common questions

How long do you need at Golden Lane?

Half an hour to forty minutes including the furnished cottages and the archers' gallery above. The lane alone takes five minutes.

Is Golden Lane free?

No. It is inside the ticketed Prague Castle circuit, so you need a castle ticket that includes it; check which circuits cover it before buying.

Did Franz Kafka live in Golden Lane?

He did not live there, but his sister Ottla rented number 22 and he used it as a writing room through the winter of 1916 and into 1917.