Prague Astronomical Clock: Show Times, Tower and Tickets 2026
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The Prague Astronomical Clock show runs on the hour from 8:00 to 23:00, and watching it from the square is free. The Old Town Hall tower costs 350 CZK on foot or 450 CZK by lift; the underground and state rooms need a guided tour, an extra 100–150 CZK. Until the end of December the tower opens 9:00–20:00. Buy tickets at the town hall box office or through ColosseumTicket: prague.eu warns that tickets from other channels may not be valid. Around Prague checked hours, prices and rules on prague.eu and in the official price list on 30 October 2026.
Astronomical Clock show times: what happens on the hour
Prague City Tourism, which runs the Old Town Hall, gives every full hour from 8:00 to 23:00. Some third-party sites say 9:00; we use the operator's figure. The official pages do not state how long the show lasts.
- Death, a skeleton with an hourglass, pulls a rope and rings a small bell.
- Two blue windows open and the 12 apostles pass. St Peter leads with his key; look for St Andrew's X-shaped cross and St Simon's saw.
- The side figures move too: the Turk shakes his head, the Miser nods and threatens with his stick, the Vain Man checks his mirror.
- The windows close, and the golden rooster crows and flaps its wings three times.
- The clock strikes the hour.
How to read the Astronomical Clock
The upper circle, the astrolabe, shows the sky looking south. Blue is the daytime sky, the golden arc is the horizon, the red band marks dawn and dusk, and black is night. Sun, Moon and stars cross the blue field from left to right.
| Look for | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Golden hand, Roman numerals | Central European Time, midnight to midnight |
| Golden hand, Gothic numerals on the outer ring | Old Bohemian time: the new day began at sunset |
| Sun hand, black Arabic numerals on blue | Babylonian time: unequal hours, about 40 minutes in winter and 80 in summer. Read it where the hand crosses the zodiac's outer edge |
| Golden star, Roman numerals | Sidereal time; its day is about 4 minutes shorter. Add 12 to numerals on the left |
| Zodiac ring | The current zodiac sign |
| Moon sphere | Moon phases: half silver, half black, one turn in 29.5 days |
| Lower disc | Calendar with a saint for each day, scenes of the months and zodiac signs. Josef Mánes's 1866 original is in the Museum of Prague; a modern copy is on the tower |
If another part hides the golden hand, follow its line to the opposite side of the circle, where the numbering matches.
Where to stand
The clock is on the tower's south side, and prague.eu says several hundred tourists gather for each hour. A handy landmark is the corner of Železná Street, which prague.eu describes as directly opposite. These tips are our reasoning, not official rules.
- Stand back from the wall: the apostles are at the top, the calendar at the bottom, and from further away both fit in the frame.
- Arrive 10–15 minutes early for a place near the front.
- Pair it with the tower: watch the show at opening time, then go straight to the box office, as tickets are half price for the first hour.
- Keep your bag and phone close; see our safety guide.
- From 28 November 2026 to 6 January 2027 the Christmas market is on the square.
Old Town Hall tower and lift
Basic admission covers the tower and the Knights' Hall, with a bell exhibition and a digital 3D model of the clock (online at orloj.cesnet.cz). The gallery is 42 m up; the tower is 69.5 m high.
- The lift holds 10 people. The rules reserve it mainly for families with small children, older visitors and people with reduced mobility, and it may be out of service.
- There are many stairs.
- Pushchairs are not allowed. Bags go in the cloakroom; anything over 70 × 40 × 45 cm is banned.
- Private photos are fine without tripod or flash, but no selfie sticks through the gallery bars.
- Only the tower is barrier-free, via the passage from Mikulášská Street.
Underground, state rooms and chapel
The historical interiors are open only with the town hall's own guide; outside guides are banned. You pay the surcharge at the box office on the day, not online.
- Circuit A, +150 CZK: the Gothic chapel, where you see the apostles from inside, plus state rooms and underground.
- Circuit B, +100 CZK: the Romanesque-Gothic underground only.
The underground shows the Old Town's beginnings, when street level lay several metres lower. In May 1945 the Czech National Council worked here. State rooms may close for city ceremonies.
The schedule changes, so check the Old Town Hall page. From 31 October to 5 November 2026 it lists English tours hourly from 10:00 to 17:00, plus 17:30 and 19:00. Prague City Tourism also runs the two-hour Medieval Underground tour for 600 CZK.
Tickets and opening hours 2026
| Ticket, CZK | Box office, stairs | Box office, lift | Online skip-the-line, stairs | Online skip-the-line, lift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | 350 | 450 | 450 | 550 |
| Child 6–15 | 230 | 330 | 300 | 400 |
| Youth 16–26 | 280 | 380 | 360 | 460 |
| Senior 65+ | 230 | 280 | 300 | 350 |
| Family, 2 adults + up to 4 children | 750 | — | 900 | — |
Children up to 5 go free. Under-15s must be with an adult.
The first hour after opening is 50% off: an adult ticket comes to 175 CZK (our sum: 350 / 2). This excludes tour surcharges and, except on family and combined tickets, the lift. It does not apply on 25 December or 1 January.
| Period | Hours |
|---|---|
| April–December | daily 9:00–20:00 |
| January–March | daily 10:00–19:00 |
| 24 December | 9:00–15:00 |
| 25 December | 11:00–18:00 |
| 31 December | 9:00–16:00 |
| 1 January 2027 | 11:00–20:00 |
| 2–6 January 2027 | 9:00–20:00 |
Where to buy: the prague.eu warning
The Old Town Hall page says Prague City Tourism is the only official seller, at its own offices and online through ColosseumTicket: "Tickets purchased through other channels may not be valid." Its towers page adds that tickets are for personal use and resale is not permitted.
- Box office: ground floor, Staroměstské náměstí 1/3. Nearest stop: Staroměstská (metro A, tram).
- Online: the eTickets button on the Old Town Hall page or ColosseumTicket. E-tickets last 30 days and cover the tower only. Tickets are not refunded or exchanged.
- Priority counter: for Prague Visitor Pass holders, GetYourGuide vouchers and booked private tours. GetYourGuide is the only outside seller the page mentions.
- Prague Visitor Pass: tower, lift and guided tour are free, worth 600 CZK (our sum: 350 + 100 + 150).
A short history
- 1338: King John of Bohemia allowed the Old Town a town hall. The tower followed in 1364.
- 1410: clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň built the clock from astronomer Jan Šindel's calculations. Prague City Tourism calls it the oldest working clock mechanism in the world.
- May 1945: the town hall burned and the apostles were lost. Vojtěch Sucharda carved new ones in limewood, and the clock restarted in 1948.
The legend of Master Hanuš. In the tale retold by Alois Jirásek, councillors blinded the clock's maker so he could never build another, and he took revenge by stopping it. Prague.eu calls this invention: Master Hanuš (Jan Růže) looked after and improved the clock from 1475 to 1497, but did not create it.
Prague Astronomical Clock questions (FAQ)
What are the Prague Astronomical Clock show times?
Every full hour from 8:00 to 23:00, according to Prague City Tourism.
Do you need a ticket to see the Astronomical Clock?
No, the show is free from the square. Tickets are for the tower and interiors.
How much is the Old Town Hall tower?
Box office: 350 CZK on foot, 450 CZK by lift. Online skip-the-line: 450 and 550 CZK.
Are third-party tickets valid?
They may not be, prague.eu warns. Buy at the box office or through ColosseumTicket.
Sources: Old Town Hall on prague.eu, clock section (Czech), astrolabe (Czech), figures (Czech), history (Czech), price list, visitor rules, Prague Visitor Pass. Checked on 30 October 2026; confirm the tour schedule before you go.
See also: Prague Walking Tours, Prague Itinerary, Prague 1 District Guide, Best Time to Visit Prague.
Photo: the Astronomical Clock's dial with the Vain Man and the Miser on the left, Death and the Turk on the right. Ray Swi-hymn, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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