49.94° N · 14.19° E
The Gothic castle where Charles IV kept the crown jewels, 40 minutes by train from Prague, with a pedestrian village and a trail to flooded quarries.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Castle · 55 min guided · 300 CZK · Spanish audio guide
Castle · 100 min guided · 640 CZK · 16 people · May to October
Walk · 20 min uphill · free · pedestrian street with shops
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
April to June and September to October, on weekdays. In summer many groups arrive from Prague. From November to March it opens only with the basic tour and on reduced days; the chapels tour runs from May to October.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Karlštejn is 15 km from Prague airport and about 30 km from the centre. You fly to Prague, with direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities, and continue on the commuter train towards Beroun, which stops at Karlštejn every half hour. You do not need a car.
Karlštejn is the shortest excursion from Prague without a car: the commuter train leaves every half hour and in about 40 minutes you are at the station, 20 minutes' walk from the castle. The whole village is pedestrianised.
By car it is about 40 km from the centre of Prague, between 45 minutes and an hour. What sets the terms is parking: there is only one, down below, and the village is pedestrianised. With a car you can add Křivoklát or Konopiště Castle on the same day.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Karlštejn is the castle a child draws: towers, walls and a climb through the forest. The basic tour lasts under an hour and children pay 90 CZK; in autumn and in December, the Nativity Scene Museum, with figures that move, rounds off the day. With older children, the trail to the flooded Amerika quarries is the adventure.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A 21-room hotel in a former mill on the banks of the Berounka, beneath the castle, with a fish restaurant, a terrace, a sauna and a private island in the river.
Why we like it: A three-room guesthouse with a terrace above the family restaurant Pod Dračí skálou, surrounded by forest and ten minutes' walk from the castle.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the fish of the day or the roast sturgeon, ordered 48 hours ahead for four people.
What to order: a game dish from the menu with a draught Pilsner Urquell.
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
Tours run in groups and slots; in summer and at weekends they sell out.
120 CZK plus a 500 CZK deposit in cash.
The climb is cobbled and the Amerika trail goes through forest.
The village is pedestrianised and they fine you.
Karlštejn is the castle that Charles IV, King of Bohemia and emperor, had built in the mid-fourteenth century on a hill in the Berounka valley to keep the crown jewels and the relics of the empire. It stands about 30 km south-west of Prague, in the Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area, and is the shortest and most classic excursion from the capital: half a day is enough, a whole day if you add a walk in the forest.
By train, from the main station (Praha hlavní nádraží) or from Smíchov, on the commuter line towards Beroun, with trains every half hour; the journey takes about 40 minutes. Karlštejn station is on the other side of the river: you cross the bridge, turn right and then left, and walk up the main street for about 20 minutes to the first gate. The line has occasional engineering closures in 2026: check the timetable for the day.
By car, it is about 40 km. The fast route is the D5 motorway towards Plzeň as far as exit 10 (Loděnice), and from there via Bubovice and Hlásná Třebaň; the pretty one runs beside the river through Radotín, Dobřichovice and Řevnice. There is just one car park, down in the village, paid by the day. The village is pedestrianised all day, bicycles included.
The castle can only be visited with a guide. The basic tour, the imperial residence of Charles IV, lasts 55 minutes and covers the Imperial Palace and the Marian Tower; ask for the Spanish audio guide. From May to October there is also the chapels tour, of a hundred minutes and for 16 people, which enters the Church of Our Lady, the Chapel of St Catherine and the painted staircase of the Great Tower: book it in good time. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, the jewel of Karlštejn, can only be seen on the special three-hour tour.
Walk up through the village without hurrying: shops, terraces and, on the square, the Nativity Scene Museum, with a moving crib that also serves as the information office.
From the castle a trail leads to the flooded quarries of Malá and Velká Amerika: about 40 minutes through the forest to the first, half an hour more to the big one, and 45 back, with a stretch along the road. They are lakes of green water between limestone walls. Have lunch afterwards at Pod Dračí skálou, next to the castle, or at the Grill Restaurant Mlýn, beside the river.
In spring and autumn, on weekdays, there are fewer people. In summer the groups from Prague arrive mid-morning: catch the first train or go in the afternoon. From November to March the castle opens with the basic tour and on fewer days (in November, Friday to Sunday from 10:00 to 15:00), and the chapels tour is closed until May. In December the village has a Christmas atmosphere and the Nativity Scene Museum opens almost daily.
For almost everyone, Karlštejn is half a day. Stay if you want to see the castle in the first light, do the Amerika trail without rushing or spend the first or last night of your trip near the airport: Hotel Mlýn is 15 km from it.
The basic tour costs 300 CZK per adult and 90 CZK for ages 6 to 17; the chapels tour, 640 CZK. The train from Prague is cheap. A meal with beer comes to around 350–600 CZK per person.
Questions
About 40 minutes by commuter train; between 45 minutes and an hour by car.
No. All tours are guided; the basic one has a Spanish audio guide.
The basic one, if it is your first time or you are with children. The chapels tour, if you are interested in Gothic art; only from May to October and by reservation.
Yes, with the basic tour and on fewer days: in November, Friday to Sunday.
About 20 minutes on foot, uphill.
Only on the special three-hour tour, for six people, from May to October.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/czechia/karlstejn
