Old and New Town 3-Hour Walk with Astronomical Clock Tower Prague

Old Town Square and the Old Town

The walk opens in Prague's Old Town (Staré Město), the medieval core that grew up around a market square on the right bank of the Vltava. Your guide leads you to Old Town Square, framed by the twin Gothic spires of the Church of Our Lady before Týn, the white Baroque Church of St Nicholas, the pink and white Kinsky Palace and rows of painted merchants' houses.

Over about 1.5 hours you also wind through lanes towards the Estates Theatre, a neoclassical opera house from 1783 where a world-famous opera had its premiere in 1787, and past Gothic courtyards and Romanesque cellars hidden beneath newer facades. This Prague Old Town walking tour focuses on the stories behind the buildings, so the square becomes far more than a pretty backdrop.

The New Town and Wenceslas Square

Despite its name, the New Town (Nové Město) was founded in 1348, making it one of the largest planned medieval towns in Europe. Today its broad streets mix Gothic churches with Art Nouveau and functionalist buildings, theatres and busy shopping streets, and it is where most of Prague's everyday life happens.

During about an hour here your guide shows you the places where significant events of modern Czech history took place, above all Wenceslas Square, the long boulevard below the National Museum where crowds gathered in 1918, 1968 and 1989. It is a part of the city that many visitors rush through, and seeing it with a guide adds real meaning to a Prague city tour.

Prague Astronomical Clock

The Prague Astronomical Clock, or Orloj, was installed on the south wall of the Old Town Hall in 1410 and is the oldest astronomical clock in the world that still works. Its upper dial shows the position of the sun and moon, the zodiac and three kinds of time, while the calendar dial below displays the months with painted rural scenes.

Every hour from morning until late evening, small windows open and the figures of the Apostles parade past, while a skeleton rings its bell, a crowd-pleasing show that lasts under a minute. Your tour finishes right here, so you can time your visit to the tower with the hourly show and enjoy both.

Old Town Hall Tower viewing gallery

Your Astronomical Clock tickets give you entry to the Old Town Hall Tower, which rises about 70 metres above the square. A lift and a modern spiral ramp lead to the gallery that runs all the way round the top, so the climb is easy. From here the view takes in Old Town Square right below, Týn Church's spires at eye level, the red roofs of the Old Town and Prague Castle across the river.

This last part of the tour, about 30 minutes, is on your own, so you can stay as long as you like and take photos at your pace. Is the Astronomical Clock Tower worth visiting? For a first view of the whole city, few places beat it, and having the ticket included saves you joining the ticket line.