In most of Europe, European Heritage Days are one weekend. In the Czech Republic they run for the entire month of September, and Prague uses them properly: ministries, palaces, church towers, working water towers and private courtyards open to anyone who turns up.
In 2026 the programme runs 1–30 September, and the great majority of it is free.
What Actually Opens
The list changes every year, but the categories do not:
- Government and civic buildings — ministries, district town halls, and grand interiors that spend the rest of the year behind a security desk.
- Palaces still in use — baroque palaces in Malá Strana that now house institutions, opened for guided visits.
- Technical monuments — water towers, pumping stations, the old sewage works in Bubeneč.
- Churches and towers normally locked outside service times.
Separately from Heritage Days, the state buildings run their own open days on the national holidays: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies on 28 October, and the Lichtenstein Palace on 17 November. Those are worth putting in the diary too.
How to Use It
- The full programme is published by the National Heritage Institute and Prague City Hall in late August — search Dny evropského dědictví plus the year.
- Most sites need no booking. The handful that do — usually guided tours of working buildings — fill within hours of opening.
- Tours are mostly in Czech. The buildings are the point; you do not need the commentary to enjoy a baroque staircase.
- Weekends are far busier than weekdays. If your dates allow, go on a Tuesday.
It is the single best-value thing on the Prague calendar, and almost no visitor knows it is happening.
