Kutná Hora: a day trip from Prague with a driver

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Kutná Hora is an hour and ten minutes' drive from Prague and easy to see in a day. In the Middle Ages silver was mined here and the Prague groschen was struck, which is why such a small town has so many grand buildings. Since 1995 the historic centre, together with Sedlec, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

How the day goes

We usually leave at about nine. The first stop is Sedlec, with the ossuary and the cathedral; then the driver takes you on to the old town. The two are about three kilometres apart, a distance people otherwise walk or cover by local bus; by car it is five minutes. After lunch there is time for St Barbara's and the Italian Court, and you are back in Prague around five.

What to see

The Sedlec Ossuary is a small cemetery chapel that the woodcarver František Rint decorated in 1870 with the bones of tens of thousands of people. There is a chandelier made of bones, and the Schwarzenberg coat of arms on the wall is made of the same material. It sounds macabre, but the effect is quiet and strange rather than grim. A few minutes away stands the Cathedral of the Assumption, restored in the early 18th century by Jan Blažej Santini in his own Baroque Gothic style.

Work on St Barbara's Cathedral began in 1388 and was only finished in 1905. The town's miners paid for it, which is why its frescoes show mining and minting as well as saints. The Italian Court was the royal mint, and at Hrádek the Czech Museum of Silver takes you, in season, through part of a medieval mine with a helmet on your head.

What to arrange in advance

The ossuary works with timed tickets, bought in advance on the Sedlec information centre's website or at the information centre on Zámecká Street; they are not sold at the entrance. The time on the ticket cannot be changed, so we plan the journey with a margin. Photography is not allowed inside, large bags are best left in the car, and pushchairs have to be carried down into the lower chapel. A combined ticket covers both the ossuary and the cathedral in Sedlec.

What it costs

It is about 85 km from central Prague. The outward journey costs 3 140 CZK in a Mercedes E-Class (1–3 passengers) or 3 911 CZK in a V-Class (up to 7 passengers), VAT included. If you come back the same day, the return costs half, so the whole day in an E-Class comes to 4 710 CZK. Waiting is not charged, whether you spend three hours in town or eight. The calculator gives the price for your address.

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