Golden Lane
Golden Lane at Prague Castle is on the 450 CZK Main circuit ticket: the little houses, Kafka's No. 22, the Daliborka tower, hours, and a tour that ends there.
Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička) is the row of small, brightly painted houses built against the castle’s north wall at the end of the 15th century, and it is one of the four buildings on Prague Castle’s Main circuit ticket, 450 CZK for adults (hrad.cz, November 2026). Several houses hold an exhibition on 500 years of life in the lane, Franz Kafka lived in No. 22 during the First World War, and a staircase leads on to the Daliborka tower. Inna Poljakova’s Prague Castle: Small-Group Tour with a local guide finishes here, tickets included, from US$52 (checked November 2026).
The calendar above is that tour, with 620 reviews (checked November 2026). It meets at the statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk on Hradčany Square, takes at most ten people, and visits St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace and St George’s Basilica before the lane, about 2.5 hours in English.
What is in the houses
The lane grew up after the new northern fortifications were built, and the houses inside are set out as the homes of the people who lived there (hrad.cz):
| House | What it shows |
|---|---|
| No. 13 | The Renaissance home of a castle gunner, the best picture of a 16th-century dwelling |
| No. 14 | A pre-war home: the card reader and clairvoyant Matylda Průšová lived here |
| No. 22 | Where Franz Kafka lived and wrote during the First World War |
| No. 12 | Josef Kazda, a film historian, hid Czechoslovak films here that the Nazis meant to destroy; a screen shows early films of the castle |
From No. 12 a staircase climbs to the terrace in front of Daliborka, a round cannon tower that was part of the Jagiellonian fortifications and whose lower floor served as a prison from the start. Its first well-known prisoner was the knight Dalibor of Kozojedy.
When to go
Golden Lane keeps the visitor buildings’ hours: 9:00 to 17:00 in summer, and in winter (1 November to 31 March) 9:00 to 16:00 or 17:00, since hrad.cz prints both closing times on different pages. The lane is narrow and the houses are small, so it is easiest early in the day: with a two-day ticket, it can be the first thing you do on the second morning.
The castle’s rules list Golden Lane both as a street of the castle grounds and as a ticketed visitor building; hrad.cz publishes no statement about walking it free outside the buildings’ hours, so plan it inside them, with the ticket. It also closes now and then: on 13 and 14 January 2026 hrad.cz closed it all day for security reasons. The lane ends at the east gate, where the Old Castle Steps go down to Malostranská metro, which makes it the natural last stop of the circuit.
Golden Lane with or without a guide
Prague Castle: Small-Group Tour with a local guide
At most 10 people, about 2.5 hours from Hradčany Square, with the cathedral, palace and basilica first. Tickets included.
Check dates →Prague Castle Interiors Tour: Small Group w/ Entry Tickets
Real Prague Guides' interiors tour gives Golden Lane about 45 minutes at the end of 3 hours inside, at most 12 people.
See the tour →Prague: Official Entry Ticket to Prague Castle
The castle's ticket: Golden Lane and the other three buildings, one entry each, valid two days.
See the ticket →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
St Vitus Cathedral covers the first stop on the ticket, and how to get to Prague Castle the way down the Old Castle Steps.
More Ways into the Castle
Prague Castle Tickets and Tours with Open Dates
Castle tickets and guided tours with live availability. Whether entry is included, the meeting point and the cancellation terms are on each listing.
A Small Group That Ends in Golden Lane
A 2.5-hour English tour for at most 10 people from Hradčany Square: the cathedral, the palace, St George's and Golden Lane, tickets included.
Check dates