Top Prague museums

Prague’s top museums

There’s a wide range of museums in Prague that could easily take up a large chunk of your time in the capital; while many museums celebrate its architecture, design and notable figures, there are still plenty of other options that celebrate it’s quirkier side - as you’ll see below.

Museum Kampa
Museum of Decorative Arts
Museum of Communism
Mucha Museum
Museum of Miniatures
National Museum (Narodni Muzeum)
Charles Bridge Museum
Franz Kafka Museum

And whether you choose a guided tour or go solo, however many museums you choose to visit, each will help you to knit together a better understanding of this fascinating, historic city. It will help you to notice details of the city that you might have missed before - that might be right beneath your feet.

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1. Museum Kampa

The riverside Museum Kampa is a modern art gallery with a dedicated collection of works by Frantizek Kupka, a Czech artist who many regard as the father of abstract art. You can take in his early Expressionist watercolours, abstract oil paintings and transitional pastels; but there’s also a good range of temporary exhibitions, Cubist paintings and sculptures by other Czech artists and sculptors, too.

While you’re there: Check out artist David Cerny’s ‘crawling babies’ in between the museum and the park.

Nearest metro: Malostranske

2. Museum of Decorative Arts

The Museum of Decorative Arts celebrates almost every type of applied art and design, all housed in a renowned 19th century building. Its unrivalled collection includes ceramics, lacework, pottery, toys, jewellery, furniture and other curios; it’s one of the most extensive collections in the world. As you might imagine, the interior itself is intricately decorated with high, patterned ceilings and detailed doors and staircases.

While you’re there: You’re just a stone’s throw from the Rudolfinum concert hall.

Nearest metro: Staromestska

3. Museum of Communism

For Prague museums that bring you up to speed with more recent historic events, the Museum of Communism is filled with interesting memorabilia that gives you a deeper insight into Communist Czechoslovakia during the 20th century. Housed on the second floor above a casino, there’s film footage and propaganda posters - replicas of which you can buy in the gift shop - with simple explanations of the politics during the time.

While you’re there: Sprawl out onto Namesti Republiky and then head inside the colossus Palladium shopping centre.

Nearest metro: Mustek

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4. Mucha Museum

Alfons Mucha was a mucha-loved Czech artist in Prague, renowned for his Art Nouveau style drawings and paintings. The airy, white-walled museum is split into seven sections, ranging from his decorative panels to Parisian posters (where he made a name for himself), as well as photographs and personal items of Mucha. To remember your trip to one of the prettiest museums in Prague, make sure you pick up a postcard or other Mucha-themed print in the small gift shop.

While you’re there: just around the corner is the Museum of Senses, a wacky interactive museum perfect for kids.

Nearest metro: Mustek

5. Museum of Miniatures

Appropriately named, this dinky museum is tucked away behind the wooded Petrin Hill, but you really shouldn’t miss it. There’s around 40 works by the Russian Anatoly Konenko - check out the smallest book in the world, a 30-page edition of Chekhov’s Chameleon. Other items worth cooing at include camels passing through the eye of a needle and a flea wearing golden horseshoes - yes, really.

While you’re there: To the east of the museum is Petrin Park, where you can climb the wrought-iron Petrin Tower for fab views over the city.

Nearest metro: Hradcanska

6. National Museum (Narodni Muzeum)

At the head of Wenceslas Square lies Prague’s National Museum , as much a cultural monument on the outside as well as inside, and is connected via an underground bridge with the drab-looking New Building. The Natural History collection in the New Building is one of its largest, with over 15 million items, and inside the historical building you can take a guided tour of its beautiful hall, which is filled with wonderful paintings and statues by Czech artists. This museum is included on most Prague holiday packages .

While you’re there: Separated by a road, in front of the museum sits the iconic Statue of St Wenceslas.

Nearest metro: Muzeum

7. Charles Bridge Museum

In the small building to the right of Charles Bridge is the Charles Bridge Museum , where you can find out more about the construction of the bridge, with miniature reconstructed models of the bridge and old construction equipment providing an insight into how it was built.

While you’re there: Just outside, jostle with other tourists to admire the riverside view between the Bridge and the museum.

Nearest metro: Staromestske.

8. Franz Kafka Museum

Franz Kafka was a Czech-German writer in the late-19th and early 20th-centuries, whose most famous title was a short story called Metamorphosis. The museum is split into sections that detail his life from childhood through to adolescence - sick leave requests, work applications - and penned sketches. With some theatrical machinery upstairs that detail the torment he felt through his life, outside is a slightly cheerier affair with the Pissing Statue: another David Cerny installment of two rotating figures relieving themselves into a small pond, shaped like the Czech Republic. It’s a fascinating collection and insight into one of the most celebrated Czech figures, making it one of the best museums in Prague to visit.

While you’re there: Continue round (away from Charles Bridge) this quieter route, which leads you onto the picturesque Waldstein gardens.

Nearest metro: Malestranstrke.

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