Best day trips from Prague: how to get there and what to see

If you have one free day in Prague, take the train to Kutná Hora. It is the shortest useful trip, it works in half a day, and you can be back for dinner. If you want a castle and a walk in the woods, go to Karlštejn. If you like beer, go to Plzeň. If you want the postcard town on the river loop, go to Český Krumlov — but sleep there, because the return trip eats five to six hours of your day.

Everything below is reachable by train or bus from Prague. You only need a car for the national parks, the wine villages and a few châteaux that sit away from the rail line.

Times are one way from central Prague, door to door roughly. Prices are 2026 estimates for a return ticket in second class; check current fares before you travel.

Kutná Hora was built on silver and still looks like it. St Barbara's Cathedral sits above the town, and the Sedlec Ossuary is a short local train or bus ride from the main station. Trains run from Praha hlavní nádraží roughly hourly and take about an hour. You can see both sights in four to five hours and be back in Prague for the evening. This is the trip to take if you only have one day.

Karlštejn is a royal castle in a valley about 40–50 minutes by train from Prague, then a walk uphill of 20–30 minutes. The castle is guided-tour only and opens April–October; buy a timed ticket online in summer. Combine it with a walk on the surrounding trails if the weather is good.

Plzeň is the home of Pilsner Urquell. The brewery tour takes about an hour and a half and includes a taste in the cellars; book ahead in summer. The centre is compact and walkable, so a full day covers the brewery, the square and the cathedral.

Terezín is the former fortress and ghetto in North Bohemia, about an hour by bus. It is a memorial site, not a sightseeing stop: allow half a day minimum, and more if you want the museum and the Small Fortress. Lidice, the village destroyed in 1942, is closer — about 40 minutes by bus plus a walk — and works as a half day.

Český Krumlov is the famous one, and it is too far for a comfortable day trip. Buses and trains take 2.5–3 hours each way, which leaves you a few crowded hours in the middle of the day. Sleep one night and you get the castle, the river loop and the empty streets after the day buses leave. The parent guide for the country says the same thing: one night beats a day trip.

Bohemian Switzerland, the sandstone gorge and arch country on the German border, is about two hours away by train and bus. It is a hiking destination, not a quick look, so plan one or two nights. Karlovy Vary, the spa town of colonnades and hot springs, is about two hours by bus or train and works as a long day or an overnight on the way to Germany.

Train and bus tickets are the main cost and are cheap by Western European standards. A return to Kutná Hora, Karlštejn or Plzeň is a few hundred CZK; longer trips to Český Krumlov or Karlovy Vary cost more. Castle and brewery entries are separate and usually a few hundred CZK each, with student and family rates. Budget a full day out at roughly 500–1,000 CZK per person including transport and one entry, and more if you eat in a restaurant at the destination. All figures are 2026 estimates — check fares and opening times before you go.