7 Days Based in Prague, Plus Side Trips
Seven days, one city day and all six gateway trips, with Cesky Krumlov finally getting the overnight it wants instead of the rushed single day in the 6 day version of this itinerary. Day 7 adds Bohemian Switzerland and the Pravcicka Gate, the longest and most demanding trip on the whole list, saved for last once you’ve got a week of Czech transit under your belt.
Book these before you go
- A timed Sedlec Ossuary entry slot , CZK 220 adult, for Day 2
- Karlstejn Castle guided tour tickets for Day 3
- A Cesky Krumlov hotel room for one night on Day 6
- A Bohemian Switzerland guided tour for Day 7, which trims a 10 to 12 hour independent slog to a managed day
Day 1
Reach Old Town Square before 9am, cross Charles Bridge slowly, then spend the afternoon at Prague Castle, free for the grounds and courtyards, paid from around CZK 450 for St Vitus Cathedral’s interior. Close in Mala Strana, where a 0.5 litre beer runs CZK 40 to 60 in a neighborhood pub.
Day 2
Train to Kutna Hora, 41 to 50 minutes, CZK 100 to 140 one way. Start at the Sedlec Ossuary, its chapel built from an estimated 40,000 human bones, on your pre-booked timed slot, then St Barbara’s Cathedral in the old town, a combined ticket around CZK 360.
Day 3
Train to Karlstejn, 40 minutes, then the 2.5km, 30 to 40 minute uphill walk to the castle gate. The guided-tour-only interior runs roughly CZK 180 to 330 depending on circuit; check current tour times on hrad-karlstejn.cz . Book ahead for weekends and summer.
Day 4
Bus from Florenc to Terezin, about an hour. The WWII ghetto and transit-camp memorial, plus the separate Small Fortress Gestapo prison, costs around CZK 310 combined; pamatnik-terezin.cz has current hours. Give it the full day; this is heavy material.
Day 5
Direct bus to Karlovy Vary, 1 hour 35 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes. Colonnaded walkways, mineral hot springs from public taps, Becherovka, and the Grandhotel Pupp; karlovyvary.cz covers current colonnade hours. Treat this as a deliberately slow day after Terezin.
Day 6
Direct bus to Cesky Krumlov, 2 hours 25 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes on RegioJet or FlixBus. Check into your hotel, walk the castle grounds and the old town’s Latran street loop in the late afternoon light once the day-tripper buses have started thinning out, and have dinner in town rather than rushing back.
Day 7
Spend the morning in Cesky Krumlov, quieter now than the afternoon before, then take an early bus back toward Prague and continue straight on to Bohemian Switzerland instead of stopping in the city. By car it’s roughly 2 to 2.5 hours each way; by public transport, a train to Decin plus a local bus to Hrensko, closer to 2.5 to 3 hours, making this a genuine 10 to 12 hour day if done independently. The Pravcicka Gate, Europe’s largest natural sandstone arch, and the Sokoli hnizdo chateau below it both came through the region’s 2022 and 2026 wildfires unharmed; entry runs about CZK 125 adult. The Edmund Gorge boat ride reopened in July 2025, capped at 50 riders a day, so don’t count on a same-day spot without checking ahead; the park authority’s own npcs.cz site posts current trail and boat status. A guided day tour from Prague simplifies this considerably if you’d rather not manage the Cesky-Krumlov-to-Hrensko logistics on your last day.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Prague |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prague core: Old Town, Charles Bridge, Castle | none, city-based |
| 2 | Kutna Hora and the Sedlec Ossuary | 41-50 min train each way |
| 3 | Karlstejn Castle | 40 min train + 30-40 min walk each way |
| 4 | Terezin Memorial | about 1h bus each way |
| 5 | Karlovy Vary | 1h35-2h15 bus each way |
| 6-7 | Cesky Krumlov (overnight), then Bohemian Switzerland | 2h25-2h50 bus; 2-3h by car or transit |
Does Cesky Krumlov work as a day trip from Prague?
It works better as an overnight, which is exactly what Days 6 and 7 give it here. A single rushed day leaves only 4 to 5 hours on the ground; splitting it across two days means an unhurried evening and morning in a town that empties out once the tour buses leave.
Is a full week too much time to spend on day trips from one base?
Not if each trip has a distinct reason to exist, which these six do: a bone church, a castle, a memorial, a spa town, an overnight medieval town, and a sandstone arch. The variety is what keeps seven days from feeling repetitive; stacking six similar castle visits instead would not.
Getting around
Mix a multi-day DPP pass for Prague-based days with separate intercity train and bus tickets for the gateway trips; there’s no single ticket that covers both systems. Validate every paper transit ticket on board in Prague; unstamped tickets aren’t valid even if purchased, and on-the-spot fines run roughly CZK 1,500 to 2,500.
Seven days is the point where all six gateway trips fit without any of them feeling rushed, provided Cesky Krumlov keeps its overnight rather than getting compressed back into a single day.