Vyšehrad

The other castle, on a rock south of the centre, quiet and free to walk

Area Vyšehrad
Type Castle
Time needed 1h 30m

Vyšehrad is the other castle: a walled fort on a rock above the Vltava about three kilometres south of the centre, with a church, a cemetery, a Romanesque rotunda and a long rampart walk. The grounds are free to enter and open late, and almost nobody comes here on a coach. It is the one major Prague site where you can sit on a wall in silence and look at the whole city.

Open in the planner →

Getting there

Metro line C red to Vyšehrad, which is a single stop from the main railway station and about ten to twelve minutes from the Old Town Square once you reach Muzeum. From the station exit, walk past the Congress Centre and through the Tábor Gate; the approach is level, which is the trick of arriving this way — the metro station is already on top of the rock. The alternative is tram 7, 18 or 24 to Albertov or Ostrčilovo náměstí and a stiff walk up through the Brick Gate or the brick steps on the river side.

What you see

Through the gates you come to the Rotunda of St Martin, a plain round eleventh-century chapel and one of the oldest buildings standing in Prague. The Basilica of St Peter and Paul follows, with its two neo-Gothic spires added in the 1900s and a painted interior that is far more decorated than the exterior suggests. Beside it is Vyšehrad Cemetery, where the Czech national revival buried its composers and writers around the Slavín vault; Dvořák, Smetana and Mucha are here and the graves are signposted. Then take the ramparts: the path runs around the southern and western walls past the Devil's Column and the Myslbek statue groups to the viewpoint over the river, with the bridges, the castle and the Dancing House in one line. The casemates, a tunnel inside the walls leading to the Gorlice hall where several original Charles Bridge statues are kept, are entered on a guided visit at set times.

What to pair it with

Vyšehrad Cemetery is inside the walls, and the Vyšehrad Tunnel sits under the cliff at the river end of the hill. The Rašín Embankment with its riverside vaults is a fifteen minute walk north along the water, and the Dancing House is beyond that.

When to go

Late afternoon into sunset is the reason to come: the view faces west and north over the river, and the ramparts catch the last of the light. The grounds stay open well past the buildings' closing time. Weekends bring local families and picnics rather than tourists, which is a different kind of busy and not unpleasant. Spring and autumn are best; in high summer the lawns fill up, and in winter the exposed walls are very cold. The site is large and the lawns are a genuine park, so bad weather leaves you with little shelter.

What is hard about it

The individual buildings are modest — the basilica is nineteenth-century work on an older shell, and anyone expecting a castle in the sense of Prague Castle will find mostly walls, lawns and gates. The paid parts, the casemates and the Gothic cellar exhibition, run on limited hours and the casemates are only accessible with a guide, so arriving late means seeing the free parts only. It is a thirty to forty minute round trip from the centre before you start, and the walk-up routes from the river are steep and slippery in wet weather. Food and drink options on the hill are few and basic.

Common questions

How long do you need at Vyšehrad?

An hour and a half covers the rotunda, the basilica, the cemetery and the full rampart walk. Add half an hour if you join a casemates visit.

Is Vyšehrad free?

The grounds, the ramparts, the cemetery and the parkland are free to enter. The casemates and the small exhibitions inside the walls are ticketed and keep shorter hours, so check before you go.

Is Vyšehrad worth visiting?

Yes, if you want views and quiet rather than interiors. It is the best place in Prague to see the city without a crowd, but the buildings themselves are plainer than the ones in the centre.