Karlštejn Castle

Charles IV's castle, built to hold the imperial crown jewels

Area Karlštejn
Type Castle
Time needed 2h 30m

Karlštejn Castle — Photograph: Arkadiusz Zarzecki / CC BY-SA 3.0

Karlštejn was founded in 1348 by Charles IV as a strongroom: a castle built in stages up a ridge to hold the imperial crown jewels and his collection of relics at the top. It is about 30km south-west of Prague in the Berounka valley, and it is the easiest castle to reach from the city without a car. Everything inside is seen on a guided tour, and the chapel at the summit is booked separately.

Open in the planner →

Getting there

Trains for Beroun leave from Praha hlavní nádraží and from Praha-Smíchov and stop at Karlštejn; the ride is around forty minutes, so allow a little over an hour from the Old Town Square. From the halt you cross the Berounka on the footbridge, walk through the village, and then climb. The last stretch is a steep twenty minutes up a cobbled lane lined on both sides with souvenir stalls, snack windows and people selling photographs with owls. There is a shuttle cart in season for part of the way, but it does not take you to the gate.

What you see

The standard circuit covers the lower levels of the complex: the Imperial Palace with Charles IV's bedchamber and his small private audience room, the Hall of Knights, the Hall of Ancestors with its painted Luxembourg genealogy, and the Church of Our Lady in the Marian Tower, where fragments of fourteenth-century wall painting show Charles himself receiving relics. Off the church is the tiny Chapel of St Catherine, his private oratory, walled in semi-precious stones — you look in rather than go in. The separate circuit continues up into the Great Tower to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the room the whole castle was built around: gilded vault studded to suggest a night sky, walls set with polished stones, and more than a hundred panel portraits of saints by Master Theodoric ranked around the room. That circuit takes very small groups and must be booked in advance online; it is not sold as an add-on at the gate and it is not available all year.

What to pair it with

This is an out-of-town day. The Berounka has marked walking paths from the village, and the Bohemian Karst limestone country with its caves lies on the same railway line a few stops further towards Beroun. Křivoklát can be reached by changing at Beroun, but doing both castles in one day is tight.

When to go

Go early on a weekday. By late morning in summer the lane up is a slow queue of people and the tour slots for the day are largely gone. April to June and September are the best months — warm enough, and the valley looks good. The castle closes on Mondays for much of the year and winter opening is reduced, so check before you go. Afternoon light suits the view of the castle from the village path below.

What is hard about it

The walk up is genuinely steep and takes about twenty minutes, on cobbles, past a solid run of souvenir stalls that many people find wearing. Tours are the only way in, they run to timetabled slots with limited places, and in season the English-language slots sell out — book online rather than turning up. The Chapel of the Holy Cross needs its own separate advance booking, has a small daily quota, and is closed for part of the year; a great many visitors arrive assuming it is included and learn otherwise at the ticket window. Inside, the rooms are sparsely furnished — most of the original contents are gone — and the tour is tightly marshalled, with no doubling back.

Common questions

How long do you need at Karlštejn?

Two and a half hours on site covers the climb, the standard tour and some time in the courtyards. Add an hour if you have booked the Great Tower chapel circuit as well.

Can you go inside without a tour?

No. The courtyards and the terraces are open, but every interior room is tour-only, and the chapel circuit is a separate booking made in advance.

Is there any way to avoid the steep walk?

A horse-drawn cart or minibus runs up part of the lane in season, but the final approach to the gate is on foot and uphill in every case.