We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling on vacation. Just picture the scene: the Prague city break you’ve been looking forward to all these months has finally arrived. It’s your first morning in town and you eagerly part the hotel only to be met with a thundering wall of water, a vast swirling vortex of rain, a biblical deluge the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Noah’s day. But hey, so what if it’s wet, gray and miserable outside! Sure, you might have to shelve the plans for that Jewish Quarter walking tour or sightseeing river cruise. But this is Prague, where locals and visitors alike have been finding ways to entertain themselves indoors for centuries. And believe us when we say the variety of said activities has improved a fair bit since the foundation stones of Prague Castle were laid in the 9th century. We’re talking about everything from weird and wonderful museums to beer spas, escape rooms and more. So don your oilskins and dive into our guide to the best things to do in Prague when it rains!
The Best Indoor Entertainment in Prague
Stuck indoors? You’re in good company. So are Lady Gaga, Taylor Lautner and David Beckham. Well, their lookalike representatives at Madame Tussauds Prague are, anyway. Meet stars of stage, sport, screen and more at the iconic wax museum, where Czech cultural giants including Antonín Dvořák and Franz Kafka rub waxy shoulders with modern-day celebs like Tom Cruise and Justin Bieber. Grab a selfie with Marilyn Monroe, spar with Mohammed Ali, and step back in time to medieval Prague.
And, if medieval Prague – or indeed haunted torture chambers, steampunk submarines, malfunctioning nuclear reactors and zombie apocalypses – sound like your kind of vibe, you’ll find much to enjoy at the city’s many escape rooms. Perfect for rainy days in Prague, these run the gamut from fiendish family friendly challenges to utterly terrifying attacks by hordes of the undead. Hit up the likes of Mind Maze, Questerland and The Chamber for some of the most mind-bendingly tricky escape games in town.
There are plenty more weird and wonderful things to do indoors in Prague. Take the Municipal Library for example. Sure, it might sound a little stuffy but its Hogwarts-esque halls and extraordinary ‘infinity’ book tower (pictured above) are absolute manna for Insta addicts. Then there’s the Sex Machine Museum which, as is perhaps self-explanatory, is strictly for grown-ups only. Here’s where you can have your jaw well and truly dropped by sex toys of yore. There’s even a small erotic cinema screening classic black-and-white nudey flicks from the early 20th Century. Saucy!
More family friendly rainy day museums in Prague include the fiesta of sensory fun that is the Museum of Senses: walk on the ceiling, lie down on a bed of nails, and dance yourself dizzy in the infinite disco. Or hit up the Museum of Bricks for the planet’s largest private LEGO collection, including the opportunity for kids to build their own creations.
Top tip: Madame Tussauds, the Museum of Senses, the Museum of Bricks and many other major attractions like Prague Castle, St Vitus Cathedral and the Jewish Museum are included with an attraction pass from Go City, which can save you up to 50% when visiting a number of Prague sightseeing hotspots. Find out more and buy your pass here.
The Best Rainy Day Museums in Prague
You won’t go short of a museum or six to keep you occupied on rainy days in Prague. Yearning for a deep dive into Czechia’s cultural heart and heritage? You’ll want the National Museum, a grand edifice that dominates Wenceslas Square and boasts a collection of millions of items, from pre-historic meteorites to medieval jewelry and an impressive collection of paintings and sculpture that runs the gamut from Rembrandt to Rodin.
The Museum of Communism celebrates Czech resolve in the face of Soviet oppression, via an eye-popping collection of propaganda materials, uniforms, weaponry, contemporary newspapers, and replica interrogation cells. Or lighten the mood (slightly) at the Kafka Museum over in Malá Strana. This fantastical place provides a suitably avant garde perspective on the author’s work. Photographs, first edition novels and other artifacts are presented among Kafka-esque design elements that include darkened rooms, unsettling sound effects, a maze of outsize filing cabinets, and a seemingly endless neon-lit staircase.
A short umbrella-toting stroll south along the banks of the Vltava takes you to the pretty Kampa Park, where Czech artist David Černý’s creepy giant baby sculptures and a phalanx of waddling yellow penguins lead the way to the compact Museum Kampa. Duck inside to view the small but perfectly formed collection of (mostly) 20th-century modern art.
Rainy Day R’n’R in Prague
Even the hardiest of sightseeing souls may find it difficult to endure those dull, wet Prague days that seem designed solely to dampen the spirits. On such occasions, there’s only one thing for it: treat yourself to a little rest and relaxation.
Lucerna Passage is as good a place to start as anywhere. As well as yet another controversial David Černý’ sculpture (Saint Wenceslas riding an upside-down dead horse), this elegant Art Nouveau-style arcade just off Wenceslas Square dates from the 1920s and owes a debt to Paris’s stylish turn-of-the-century covered shopping passages. Step inside to ogle that eye-popping sculpture, browse the hip indie boutiques, grab a traditional trdelnik (rolled cinnamon donut) and coffee, or catch a movie at the old-school picture theater.
Hungry tourists can enjoy a more modern take on the covered passage at the aptly named Dlouhá Gourmet Passage. This Old Town gem is home to a rich smorgasbord of eating experiences, from deli meat-and-cheese boards to fine wine emporia and purveyors of some of the best Belgian chocolates this side of Bruges.
Beer lovers should make a beeline for the Pilsner Urquell Experience (also included with a Prague pass from Go City, fact fans), where you can discover the history of the world’s first Pilsner and – far more importantly – taste it. Continue your beery odyssey at the Prague Beer Museum, which boasts around 30 varieties of the good stuff from Czechia breweries big and small, or at any number of cavernous beer halls and cellars in and around Wenceslas Square and the Old Town. Heck, you can even go (literally) full immersion mode and bathe in the stuff! Try the Original Beer Spa or Spa Beerland for a hot-tub experience that’s like none you’ve ever had before.
Save on Things to do in Prague When it Rains
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.
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.
