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Things to do in Prague for a Birthday

Lucky enough to spend a birthday in Prague? We've got you covered!
By <a href="#author-bio">Stuart Bak</a>
By Stuart Bak

Sometimes birthdays are better abroad. Here are our suggestions to ensure the celebrations will stay with you forever when you spend the special day in Prague!

If your idea of the perfect birthday is a series of the planet’s most romantic strolls, punctuated by cake, beer, glorious gothic architecture, and more cake, then you’ve come to the right place. Prague is positively bursting with great activities for your special day, whether your idea of fun is stuffing your face with coffee and donuts, ogling extraordinary public art or, um, escaping a zombie apocalypse. Read on for our guide to the best things to do in Prague for a birthday…

Brunch in the Old Town

The Astronomical Clock on Prague's Old Town Square

Prague’s atmospheric old town is as good a place to kick off your birthday as possible – after a frankly decadent lie-in until at least 10AM, natch. Stroll across the cobbled Old Town Square, trying not to let all those fine baroque townhouses and soaring gothic spires distract you from the growing rumble in your belly. Your destination – the legendary Cafe Mozart at the Grand Hotel Praha – is one of Prague’s most lavish brunch spots, with a delicious buffet of freshly baked breads, cured meats, cheeses, yogurts and more, all served overlooking the square’s eye-popping astronomical clock, a medieval timepiece par excellence, complete with little figures that emerge to strike the bell every hour. Be sure to book in advance!

A Stroll Around Malá Strana

Peacock in Prague's Vojan Gardens

You’ll likely want to walk off that belly-busting breakfast before launching yourself into the inevitable birthday cake frenzy. Meander across the magical medieval arches of Charles Bridge then make for Malá Strana, arguably the Golden City’s most picturesque enclave. Here’s where pastel-colored baroque buildings rub shoulders with edgy street art at the Lennon Wall, and peacocks strut their stuff in the ancient Vojan Gardens. Take in the 19th-century water mill, and Czech out (sorry) the phalanx of yellow penguins and creepy giant baby sculptures in the grounds of Museum Kampa on the banks of the Vltava. 

Ride the Funicular up Petřín Hill

View from the lookout tower on Petřín Hill

Only the hardiest of hikers would attempt the steep ascent of Petřín Hill on foot. Thankfully, there’s a quirky alternative way to reach the gardens, mirror maze and lookout tower at its summit. We’re talking of course about Prague’s funicular railway. A feature of the city since 1891, the mini railway’s cute little carriages ferry passengers up and down the wooded hillside several dozen times daily. Having sensibly conserved your energy on the way up, you may even be feeling sprightly enough to climb the 299 steps up the Petřín Lookout Tower, for expansive views across Prague’s skyline and beyond.

Explore Prague Castle & St Vitus Cathedral

St Vitus Cathedral

You can’t really miss Prague Castle, dominating the skyline like a great birthday cake from its perch high above the Vltava’s west bank. It’s a great place to while away a few hours on your birthday, too, as you ogle its fairytale turrets, opulent palaces and regal landscaped gardens. The gothic centerpiece of this vast complex is soaring St Vitus Cathedral, one of Prague’s most popular attractions in its own right, with over 1,000 years of history to its name. Goggle at the enormous baroque and neoclassical organ inside and grab essential Insta-perfect snaps of the colorful mosaics and striking Art Nouveau stained glass windows by 19th-century Czech artist Alphonse Mucha. 

Top tip: Prague Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, and several other Prague tours and attractions, including river cruises, walking tours, and the Spanish Synagogue are included with a Prague pass from Go City, which can save you up to 50% on regular prices. Find out more and bag your pass here.

Read our complete guide to Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral here.

Run for Your Life!

Old-fashioned escape room keys

Escape rooms have become ubiquitous across Europe in recent years, and Prague is certainly no exception to the rule. Grab some mates and up the birthday ante via the vast range of nightmarish situations available to thrill seekers. We’re talking fiendish medieval mysteries, outer-space shootouts, steampunk submarine scenarios and mind-melting time travel games at Mind Maze, Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter themed games plus the occasional zombie apocalypse at Questerland, and much more besides.

CAKE!

Traditional trdelnik pastries in Prague

You might need to indulge in a bit of stress-eating after all that zombie-dodging and, hey, it’s your birthday, so you don’t really need an excuse to stuff your face with cake anyway. Hit up authentic neighborhood bakeries for favorite local treats like trdelnik – a sort of rolled cinnamon donut that’s practically the national dish here – classic apple strudel, and decadent palačinky: crepes stuffed with sweet fillings, then rolled up and crowned with whipped cream. As we said, it’s your birthday, so you might as well try all three of the above.

Prague National Museum

The National Museum in Prague

Take a deep dive into the Czech psyche at the country’s biggest and best museum. Dominating the top end of Wenceslas Square, this venerable institution has a little bit of everything to keep the birthday boy or girl entertained for a couple of hours. Marvel at huge whale skeletons and fearsome models of mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, ogle glittering rocks and jewels in the Hall of Minerals, and eye up priceless medieval tiaras and jewelry. Music buffs should make for the baroque Antonín Dvořák annex, which contains the planet’s largest collection of artifacts dedicated to the Czech composer’s life and work, including portraits, letters and even the maestro's old piano.

Beer, Glorious Beer

Woman relaxing in a Prague beer spa

Supping Czech beer should be considered an essential part of the Prague experience, and there are countless sunny beer gardens and cavernous cellars in which to indulge. You can even take your fondness for the amber nectar to its logical conclusion by bathing in the stuff. Yep, you read that right: Prague is home to a number of beer spas, in which hot tubs are infused with malt, hops and brewers’ yeast, and dedicated beer pumps provide you with unlimited liquid refreshment during your one-hour slot. Pro-tip: practice saying ‘happy birthday’ in Czech before you get sloshed, not after. It’s ‘všechno nejlepší k narozeninám’, just in case you were wondering.

A Birthday Dinner with a Difference

Sign for a traditional Czech restaurant in Prague

Sure, themed dinners are a bit tacky, but boy can they be good fun! In Prague, it’s all about medieval banqueting, traditional folklore, live music and hearty lashings of goulash and pork knuckle. So don your best sackcloth party outfit and make for authentic candlelit haunts like U Pavouka and U Krále Brabantského for the win. And don’t spare the birthday mead! Not classy enough for ya? Hit up the rather more austere State Opera House for world-class performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and other such legendary ballets and operas of yore.

Save on Things to do in Prague for a Birthday

Save money on Prague attractions, tours and activities with a Prague pass Check out @GoCity on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.

Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Freelance travel writer

Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.

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The National Museum in Prague
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Best Museums in Prague

The classic image of Prague is one of soaring Gothic spires, atmospheric cobbled lanes, moody medieval towers, and splendid stone bridges. But there’s a lot more to the Golden City than mere eye candy, with a rich cultural heritage that takes in Jewish history, contemporary art, Franz Kafka, Lego, Antonín Dvořák and… medieval sex toys. We’ve put together a whistle stop guide to 10 of the best museums in Prague, covering everything from the absolutely essential to the weird and wonderful and including:  The Jewish Museum The Illusion Art Museum The Sex Machines Museum Museum Kampa The Story of Prague Museum The Museum of Communism …and more! The Jewish Museum Not just a museum, but an entire mini district comprising several synagogues, a gallery and a haunting 15th-century cemetery, the Jewish Museum is one of Prague’s most-visited attractions. And it’s easy to see why. The Spanish Synagogue’s eye-popping Moorish interior is worth the price of entry alone, but there’s so much more to see and do here. We’re talking one of the largest collections of Jewish artifacts in the world: some 40,000+ objects including paintings, prints, textiles and ceremonial silverware. Many of these are used to great effect in exhibitions that cover Jewish history, culture and tradition, as well as chronicling the moving stories of Holocaust victims and survivors. Don’t miss the spectacular three-tiered Torah Ark in the Klausen Synagogue.  Getting in: entry to the Jewish Museum is included with the Go Prague pass. Museum of Senses This fiesta of fun – all optical illusions and sensory distortion – is perfect for families. Over 50 exhibits run the gamut from anti-gravity rooms, rotating tunnels, desert dunes and wild jungle environments to a bed of nails, a mirror maze, and an opportunity to dance yourself dizzy in the infinity disco. Everything here is interactive, and the museum’s Old Town location makes it great for coupling with other top tourism hotspots in Prague. Getting in: entry to the Museum of Senses is included with the Go Prague pass. The Story of Prague Castle There are several museums and galleries within the 17-acre hilltop complex that makes up Prague Castle. Hit up the Prague Castle Picture Gallery for a masterclass in European art, including Velázquez, Rubens, Titian and others. And discover the fortress’s near-1,000-year history at The Story of Prague Castle inside the opulent Old Royal Palace. This extraordinary exhibition traces the entire history of the castle complex and the people who have lived and worked here – from presidents and Bohemian kings to goldsmiths and servants. Getting in: entry to Prague Castle is included with the Go Prague pass. Museum Kampa You’ll find Museum Kampa, one of the best art museums in Prague, on the banks of the Vltava. Indeed, you can’t really miss it, thanks to the iconic modernist pieces displayed in the grounds. We’re talking a phalanx of waddling yellow penguins right on the river’s edge, a giant sculpted chair by Magdalena Jetelová (visible from the other side of the river, no less) and, perhaps most famously, a collection of Czech artist David Černý’s creepy giant baby sculptures (which you can also spot crawling up the side of the Žižkov TV Tower.) Inside, the substantial collection of works by abstract art maestro František Kupka is a museum highlight. Getting in: entry to Museum Kampa is included with the Go Prague pass. Museum of Communism The small-but-perfectly-formed Museum of Communism is a celebration of Czech resolve in the face of Soviet oppression, and features a superb collection of Communist propaganda materials, plus weaponry, uniforms and photographs from the era. There’s even a reconstructed school classroom and factory inside. Getting in: adult tickets cost 380 CZK and are available at the front desk. Sex Machines Museum Adults only, please! This extensive collection features hundreds of erotic objects and sex toys of yore, including chastity belts, medieval mechanical sex aids, and even shoes worn by prostitutes in Ancient Greece. Drop by the erotic cinema for naughty black-and-white movies from the early 20th Century, and prepare for eye-opening insights into how our ancestors… did it. Getting in: entry costs 300 CZK and tickets can be bought at the front desk. This attraction is strictly for over-18s only. Illusion Art Museum This one’s for all the Insta addicts out there. The clue’s in the name: the Illusion Art Museum (or IAM for brevity) features a range of interactive installations, all designed to help you bag that ultimate selfie thanks to mind-blowing 3D effects, spatial illusions and cool metallurgical and lenticular art. Getting in: entry to IAM is included with the Go Prague pass. The National Museum This one’s a biggie. In fact, this monumental neo-renaissance building (and its smaller satellite sites) contains the largest museum in Czechia. Prepare for a deep dive into the national psyche via diplodocus bones, prehistoric meteorites, Czech crown jewels, and an extensive collection of paintings and sculptures that take in some of Europe’s finest, from Rembrandt to Rodin. The Antonín Dvořák Museum annex is catnip for classical music buffs. Step inside to be wowed by the world’s largest collection of Dvořák artifacts, including portraits, letters, and his piano. Getting in: you can buy tickets for all National Museum exhibitions online. Museum of Bricks The world’s largest private Lego collection, featuring over 3,000 models and sculptures across 20 themed zones, plus an interactive play zone? Say no more. Getting in: entry to the Museum of Bricks is included with the Go Prague pass. Kafka Museum Here’s a museum that pays tribute to its star in the best possible way: by being as surreal, disorienting and avant garde as Kafka’s writing. Sure, the Kafka Museum features all the stuff you might expect: photos, first editions, an exhibition about Kafka’s life in and around the Jewish Ghetto, and installations that bring iconic Kafka works including ‘The Trial’ and ‘Metamorphosis’ to life. But there’s also an apparently infinite neon-red staircase and a maze of oversized filing cabinets to get lost in. Don’t miss David Černý’s courtyard sculpture – two men urinating into a Czechia-shaped fountain – if you can find your way back outside, that is. Getting in: entry costs 300 CZK and tickets are available at the front desk. Save on the Best Museums in Prague Save money on Prague museums, attractions, tours and activities with a pass from Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Sightseeing couple in Prague
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Things to do in Prague for Adults and Couples

Hot date in Prague or just hanging with friends? Whatever you grown ups are getting up to, make sure to check out our top suggestions for things to do!
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Interior of the Spanish Synagogue at Prague's Jewish Museum
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Complete Guide to the Jewish Museum

Prague’s Jewish Quarter should be considered an essential stop on any sightseeing itinerary of the Golden City. This former ghetto, also known as Josefov, has been in the same location since the 12th Century, when thousands of Jewish people from across Europe settled here, and the Old New Synagogue – a grand Gothic edifice still standing today – was built. Josefov has borne witness to devastating pogroms, wars, plague, fire, Nazi occupation and Communism down the centuries, though much of the area was lost to city restructuring in the early 20th Century. The surviving buildings can now be visited as part of the splendid Jewish Museum. Read on for our complete guide below. Jewish Museum: The Lowdown Prague’s Jewish Museum is formed of six historical monuments. These are: the Spanish Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue, the Klausen Synagogue, the Ceremonial Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery. Museum tickets also include entry to the Robert Guttmann Gallery but not the Old New Synagogue, which requires a separate ticket. As a whole, the museum boasts one of the largest collections of Jewish artifacts (or Judaica) on the planet. We’re talking some 40,000 objects, including textiles, prints, paintings, jewelry, and other items of Jewish ceremonial art, as well as a library of over 100,000 books from Bohemia and Moravia, some dating back as far as the 15th Century. The museum was established in 1906, but abolished during the Nazi invasion of 1939. Chillingly, the Nazis approved the museum’s re-establishment in 1942, by way of preserving the heritage of an ‘extinct race’. The communist regime took charge in 1950 and the museum entered a long period of stasis, during which time research, preservation and exhibitions were severely restricted by the state. Happily, the museum has flourished since regaining its independence in 1994, becoming one of Prague’s most-visited attractions, with close to a million visitors every year. Visiting The Jewish Museum There are a variety of ways to book tickets to the Jewish Museum online. You can visit individual monuments, or pony up for a pass that covers all six monuments, plus the Robert Guttmann Gallery. One of the best ways to do it is with a Prague pass from Go City, which includes the option to visit individual or multiple monuments, as well as including stacks more Prague attractions, tours and activities, including the Old-New Synagogue (only the oldest functioning Jewish place of worship in Europe), plus Prague Castle, Vltava river cruises, Old Town walking tours and more. It’s a great way to save money if you plan to do a lot of sightseeing during your vacation. Find out more and bag your Prague pass here. The Jewish Museum is open every day except Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Hours are generally 9AM-4.30PM between late October and late March and 9AM-6PM the rest of the time. You’ll find all the latest information on opening hours here. Jewish Museum: Highlights Maisel Synagogue This neo-Gothic confection was founded in 1592 and, along with the other monuments that make up the Jewish Museum, contains rare and unique Judaica. This includes ceremonial silverware and precious medieval textiles that help to illustrate the excellent permanent exhibition about Jewish life in Bohemia between the 10th and 18th centuries. Spanish Synagogue The most recent of the Jewish Museum’s six monuments, the Spanish Synagogue is perhaps also the most architecturally interesting. Completed in 1868, it eschewed the centuries-old trend for the gothic and baroque, instead leaning heavily into Moorish Revival style. The result is one of the city’s most beautiful places of worship, an eye-catching neo-romantic domed edifice with stunning Moorish interiors that include soaring superb stained-glass windows and some quite extraordinary arabesque mosaic-work. The exhibition here follows on from the Maisel, detailing the Jewish experience in Czechoslovakia during the 19th and 20th centuries, and it’s well worth coming back for the atmospheric candlelit concerts in the evenings too. Pinkas Synagogue Built in the late Gothic style in 1535, Pinkas is the second-oldest preserved synagogue in the city, second only to the nearby Old New Synagogue. It has served as a memorial since the end of the Second World War, commemorating nearly 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian Jews murdered by the Nazis during the occupation. The victims’ names are inscribed on the walls alongside personal details and the names of their communities. There’s also a moving exhibition of drawings and paintings made by children held in the notorious Terezín Ghetto during the war. Old Jewish Cemetery Exit the Pinkas Synagogue into the Old Jewish Cemetery, one of the oldest and largest preserved Jewish burial sites in Europe. Founded in the 15th Century, with the final burial taking place in 1787, these expansive grounds provided the final resting place for over 100,000 souls. To wander its leafy lanes is a sobering experience, providing a haunting window into Czechia’s troubled past. Many of the remaining 12,000-or-so stones are crumbling, leaning, or otherwise illegible, but there are plenty of elaborate bas-reliefs to admire, as well as the stones of important Jewish figures including Rabbi Loew, Mordecai Maisel, and Avigdor Karo, a chief rabbi and court poet to King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia. Klausen Synagogue Neighboring the cemetery, the Klausen Synagogue is Prague’s largest, a great light-filled edifice in the early Baroque style. Inside, visitors can admire an impressive gilded three-tier Torah Ark and explore the exhibition about Jewish customs and traditions, including the bar mitzvah and marriage ceremonies.  Ceremonial Hall On the other side of the cemetery gates, the Ceremonial hall is an early 20th-century addition to the museum. Built in the Romanesque Revival style, complete with pantile rooftops and a conical turret, it continues the exploration of Jewish tradition and culture, with a particular focus on customs and ceremonies linked to death and burial. Robert Guttmann Gallery Last but not least, you’ll find the Robert Guttmann Gallery located in a former Jewish hospital next to the Spanish Synagogue. Step inside for ever-changing exhibitions that examine Jewish culture, persecution and more via visual art, including pieces by the free-spirited 20th-century artist for whom the gallery is named, who died in the Łódź Ghetto in 1942. More About Prague Complete guide to Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral Top 10 Prague attractions Things to do in Prague for a birthday  Getting around Prague Save on the Jewish Museum & Other Prague Top Attractions Save money on Prague attractions, tours and activities with a pass from Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak

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