Prague Castle

The complex holds four things people actually come for: St. Vitus Cathedral, the Gothic centerpiece whose spires dominate the skyline; the Old Royal Palace, where Bohemian kings held court and where the 1618 Defenestration that started a European war was thrown out of a window; St. George's Basilica, the oldest surviving church interior in the city; and Golden Lane, the row of tiny coloured cottages built into the castle wall.

The first thing to understand is that the castle grounds are free. Walking the cobbled lane from the Matthias Gate to the cathedral, cutting through the courtyards, or standing at the terrace above the Deer Moat costs nothing and needs no ticket. What you pay for is going inside — the cathedral's west front and tower, the Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica and Golden Lane are covered by a circuit ticket.

You'll notice the guards on the walk up: there's a changing of the guard on the hour at the Matyáš Gate, a short and rather stiff affair. The one worth timing for is the ceremonial changing at noon, with a small band, a flag and a slightly longer route through the first courtyard. Arrive by 11:50 if you want a spot in front of the gate.

Two windows work. Either be there as the gates open, when the complex is still half empty and the morning light comes in low over the cathedral roof, or come back after 16:00, when the coach parties have gone, the terrace fills with people drinking beer rather than photographing each other, and the light goes soft and gold along the western wall.

Between 10:00 and 14:00 is the crunch — worst in summer, when cruise-ship day-trip groups arrive in waves and the queue for the cathedral ticket office snakes round a corner. If that's your only window, do the cathedral first and leave Golden Lane for later; the lane is narrow, and there's no point fighting it while the tour groups funnel through.

The cathedral is the one thing you cannot skip. Step inside and look up at the north side of the nave: the Mucha window, all flowing pastel figures, is one of the artist's most beautiful works and almost nobody expects to find it in a Gothic cathedral. The south aisle holds the St. Wenceslas Chapel with its ceiling of medieval paintings and the crown jewels behind seven locks, and the stained glass throughout is genuinely extraordinary.

The Old Royal Palace is the easiest cut if you're short on time. Vladislav Hall is impressively large and the view from the windows is lovely, but it's mostly bare stone rooms and if you've already had a cathedral morning, it can feel like homework. Golden Lane is touristy — yes, it's a gift shop with a prettier facade — but twenty minutes walking the tiny houses where alchemists and castle marksmen once lived is still worth it, and the wall walk behind it has one of the best free views over the rooftops.

My most underrated stop is St. George's Basilica. The bright white Romanesque nave, the dark vaults beneath and the tiny cloister are usually half empty while a hundred metres away everyone is queueing for the cathedral. If you only have time for one ticketed interior after the cathedral, make it this one.

No car, ever — there's no reason to bring one up a hill built for horses. Locals take tram 22, which climbs from the river and drops you at the Pražský hrad stop a few steps from the Matthias Gate, and it's the same line that continues on over the top to the summer palace. If you're coming from the Old Town instead, take metro A to Malostranská and walk up via Nerudova: fifteen minutes, mostly uphill, past the old sign houses, and you arrive the way visitors did for centuries.

A few practicalities. The cathedral is a working church, so shoulders and knees covered and no hats during services — you'll be turned away at the west door otherwise. Allow two to three hours minimum for the full circuit including the cathedral and Golden Lane; anything less and you'll spend the whole visit walking briskly and remembering nothing. Wear real shoes: the lanes are cobbled, uneven and steep in places. And if the ticket queue looks grim, remember the grounds and the terrace views are free — you can have a genuinely good hour up here without spending anything at all.