It doesn’t matter if you’re planning on staying in Prague for just a few days or a few months, a tour of the city - particularly the historic Old Town and Jewish Quarter - is a must for any newcomer! Choosing the type of tour you want to do though, is well worth considering. So, we thought we'd give you an insight and breakdown to what you can expect from our free tours in Prague, some do's and don'ts, and answer some FAQs to help you decide if we're the right fit or you!
First of all, in case you've never done a free tour before, here's a quick explanation of what a free tour is.
What is a free tour of Prague?
Our free guided walking tours in Prague are run by experienced, professional, and enthusiastic tour guides. There is no set fee for the tour, rather you decide how much to pay your guide at the end of the tour. This is the best way to see all the must see sights in Prague, learn about the incredible history and culture, get invaluable local tips and hints for the rest of your stay from your local guide, and make sure you get a top quality tour at a fair price that you decide!
See More: Our daily Free Walking Tours in Prague
The duration of our free tours in Prague generally last between two and a half to three hours, with a short break of around 15 minutes included. We offer three
free walking tours in Prague; Free Old Town & Jewish Quarter tour, Free Prague Castle Tour, and our Resistance & Revolutions Free Tour. You can read a little more about each one below.
About our Prague Free Tour guides
Our free tour guides in Prague are a happy family - young, fun-loving, beautiful people with a delightful variety of backgrounds, skill-sets, interests and disciplines; but all share a common passion for travel, history, and a dash of theater.
Here you will find students, world-travelers, ex-corporates, starving actors, academics and more, all of whom have committed themselves to being exceptional ambassadors of their beloved home city of Prague, and top-quality profession tour guides who relish meeting new people and showing them the authentic Prague.
***Pro tip: If you really enjoyed your tour, offer to stand your guide a pint of Pilsner. After-tour pub conversations are a great way to socialize, make closer friends, and learn even more prop tips about the city.
How much should I pay my Prague Free Tour guide?
This is entirely up to you. It's the beauty of the free tour model, you decide the value of the tour experience afterwards. This means the guide takes on the burden of risk; we must deliver a top-quality tour to warrant a fair payment from you, while you don't have to worry about not getting your money's worth with a complacent guide who already has your money.
Of course, you could decide to under pay when you get a great tour, or not pay at all - it's a shitty thing to do, especially because your guide doesn't receive any other income than what their group choose to pay, but that's your choice to make. Thankfully this doesn't happen often at all, and the model works great for everybody!
Did you know? Free Tour guides actually pay a small service fee per person who attends their tour. This is used for marketing needs, and other associated operating costs.
FYI: Free Tour guides will accept whatever money you choose to pay; however, a handful of coins, crowns or euros are a burden to them. Many banks in Prague do not accept euro coins (notes are okay), and coin can be difficult to exchange. Currently, free tour guides in Prague are unable to accept credit or debit cards for payment. So, it's a good idea to hit an ATM before the tour if you need to.
Pro tip: If you must leave the tour early, we certainly understand, but please make sure to let your guide know that you're leaving before you go. This way the guide know that you didn't get lost, and you have the opportunity to tip your guide for the service you received; guides pay the service fee per person, even if you need to leave before the end, so please be mindful of this if you're not intending doing the complete tour.
Our Prague Free Tours: What's included?
Here's a brief rundown of our three different free walking tours in Prague, including the sites, sights, topics and things you can expect to be covered on each one. All of our free city tours in Prague meet in Old Town Square, in front of the Cartier store at the corner of Pařížská Street and Dlouha street.
Please show up at least five minutes before the tour is due to begin and, because there are other tour companies starting around the same place, please make sure you present yourselves to us, we're the guides in the blue Generation Tours shirts, with the blue Generation Tours branded umbrellas and blue name-tags.
Prague Free Old Town & Jewish Quarter Tour
Offered every day, 11 A.M. and 2 P.M., this is the most popular tour in Prague for new arrivals, and the best tour of Prague center. We highly recommend doing this
free tour on your first day in Prague as it is the perfect introduction to Prague, local history and culture, and the best way to get oriented with the city and ask your guide for tips and local knowledge that will stand to you for the rest of your stay.
Our Old Town and Jewish Quarter tour takes you through some of Prague’s most scenic and famous landmarks. The history is generally medieval and covers the period from the tenth century up until the beginning of the twentieth, as well as the impact of our history on the Prague of today. Our Old Town and Jewish Quarter tour endeavors to hit all, or at least most of, the following attractions and locations:
Old Town Square, Tynska Cathedral, and the Jan Hus Statue, Prague 15
th century Astronomical Clock, Estates Theater, Remains of Charles University, Wenceslas Square, Powder Tower, Municipal House, House of the Black Madonna and St. Jacob Church. then there is a short break of about 15-20 minutes when you can use restroom facilities, have a coffee, and chat with your guide or fellow tour participants. After the break, we continue on the tour and see the following:
Josefov Quarter, Franz Kafka’s Statues, Spanish Synagogue (NOTE: closed until late 2020), Old New Synagogue, Jewish Cemetery, Pinkas Synagogue, and Rudolfinum Concert House.
Free Prague Castle Tour
Also, offered every day at 11 A.M. and 2 P.M., our
free tour of Prague Castle takes residents through the Castle complex and the often tumultuous history from the 14
th until the 19
th centuries. While most guides take a ten-minute tram ride to Prague castle, on nice days we will walk up. In the former case, you’ll need a tram ticket which costs 24 crowns and which our guide can sell you. As for the itinerary, it looks something like this:
We cross the Manesuv Bridge (NOTE: this bridge is less than five minutes’ walk away from the world famous Charles Bridge, we do not cross Charles Bridge in order to avoid the foot-traffic congestion, and we get a much better view of the beautiful Charles Bridge from the Manesuv Bridge.) before visiting Queen Anne’s Summer Palace (NOTE: the Prague Royal Gardens are closed during winter). Then we see the Singing Fountain, Ball Game Hall, and St. Vitus Cathedral.
Sometimes, the cathedral may be closed for liturgical functions. During high season, the lines to get inside the cathedral are too long for guides to take guests in. Generally, you’ll have a 90 percent chance of going inside the cathedral in off-season (October to March inclusive), and about a 60 percent chance during high-season.
After the Cathedral, we visit Schwarzenberg Palace, Old Royal Palace and St. George Basilica. This is the largest Medieval Castle complex in the world, and is certainly a must-visit when in Prague. Joining us for the free castle tour in Prague is really highly recommended as you will get so much insight to the history around the complex, and the relevance of the site to the city and country.
Resistance and Revolutions Free Tour Prague
Our
Resistance and Revolutions Free Tour in Prague runs on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday at 11 A.M. and takes guests through the founding of Prague's New Town in 1348, the disastrous wars of the 15
th century, the tumultuous twentieth century history of Czechoslovakia, and ends with the modern day.
This is the perfect tour for those interested in more recent history, modern architecture, the fate of Czechoslovakia, and the establishment of the current country. It covers key sights including:
Charles Square, St. Cyril and Methodius Church, Church of Our Lady of the Snows, Wenceslas Square, Republic Square, New Town Hall, Municipal House, National Theater, Palladium Mall, and the Dancing House.
How to Book Your Free Tour of Prague
Step 1: Go to our website at
generationtours.com and click on Prague.
Step 2: Choose your tour (Old Town & Jewish Quarter, Castle Tour, Resistance and Revolutions)
Step 3: Select the Tour date & starting time, Tour language, and no. of people in the booking. Enter your information. Click 'Confirm Booking'.
Step 4: Show up for your tour at least five minutes (preferably ten) before it begins in front of the Cartier store at the corner of Pařížská Street and Dlouha street in Old Town Square. Just show your booking confirmation (on mobile device is fine) to the guide.
NOTE: For groups of six people or more, we charge seven euros per person for the tour.
Chances are that you’ve come to Prague for the culture, the architecture, solid local advice, and some recommendations for places to see more and have a good time. If that’s you, then you can’t go wrong with one of our free tours. We’ll see you on the streets.
Feel free to reach out to us before you arrive with any questions you might have about visiting Prague. We're on social, with more great content too, follow us @generationtours.
