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Rainy Periods in Prague
Although Prague’s wettest months run from May to September, rains can occur quite unpredictably all year round in the Czech capital. The summer months of June to August offer the warmest weather. However, this period is also when rainfall and thunderstorms are most frequent.
If you prefer to explore the city on foot, schedule your visit in the latter half of April or from mid-September to mid-October. This is when temperatures are mild and the chance of rain is at its lowest. Nevertheless, drizzles can be blessings in disguise, as they give you the opportunity to check out Prague’s many indoor destinations. They include the city’s museums, galleries, theaters, and churches, which speak volumes of the nation’s rich history, arts, and culture.
What to Do in Prague When It Rains
1. Visit a museum
- National Technical Museum
The seven-story National Technical Museum near Letna Park has over 20 permanent exhibitions featuring over 60,000 inventions collected since the 1860s. The Transport Hall is among the largest exhibits, showing off the country’s first automobiles, airplanes, motorcycles, and railway vehicles.
- Beer Museum
The Beer Museum showcases 30 of the best craft beers nationwide. You can learn all about traditional Czech brewing, its history, and even learn how to package one beer bottle yourself through self-guided tours.
- Karel Zeman Museum
Strike a pose on the film sets of renowned Czech director and screenwriter Karel Zeman inside this museum near Charles Bridge. Themed rooms describe how Zeman achieved his special effects as well as the development of animation technology from the 1950s to the 1980s.
- Lego Museum
Over one million Lego bricks were used for the 3,000 models that are on display across 20 exhibits of Lego’s Prague Museum, which is the world’s largest. Among the models featured in this three-level museum are the city’s landmarks like Charles Bridge—the brick model of which spans five meters—the Prague Castle, and the Old Town Astronomical Clock.
- Toy Museum
The Prague Toy Museum—the country’s largest toy museum—has two floors with seven rooms containing playthings from around the globe over the past four centuries, from wooden and tin toys to robots and Barbie dolls.
- Choco-Story Chocolate Museum
Learn about cacao and the history of chocolate while tasting samples from various countries at the Museum of Chocolate. Chocolate-making demos and classes are available.
- National Museum
The grand Neo-Renaissance building at the top of Wenceslas Square has a collection of 14 million items, including anthropological and zoological displays, weapons, and medieval art.
2. Visit a gallery or an exhibition
- National Gallery
The National Gallery has more than 400,000 masterpieces by Czech and foreign painters and sculptors, which are housed in several places. The collection of contemporary pieces at the Trade Fair Palace is the largest of the sites.
- Leica Gallery
Leica Gallery features images captured by contemporary Czech and Slovak photographers.
- DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
This remodeled factory in Prague’s Holešovice neighborhood features exhibitions of young Czech and international artists. It’s known for its 42-meter-long blimp-like Gulliver Airship made of wood and steel that’s propped on its rooftop.
- Mucha Museum
The museum features the works and memorabilia of art nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, who’s known for his lithographic posters, especially of female figures.
- Lobkowicz Palace Museum
The privately owned building inside the Prague Castle complex contains the unique collection of the Lobkowicz noble family. They include instruments and original manuscripts and scores by Beethoven and Mozart, 13th to 20th-century fine porcelain and ceramics, and 16th to 18th-century military and sporting rifles.
3. Attend cultural events
- New Year welcome
Fireworks displays are held in Letna to celebrate the New Year. Musical performances are held at the Old Town and Wenceslas Squares.
- Masopust
In February, Czechs parade down the street in costumes Mardi Gras or carnival-style and hold pig roasts.
- Beer Festival
Local breweries showcase their beer amid live music during this festival that starts in May and lasts until early June.
- Vinobrani or wine festival
In September, wine shops extend store hours to celebrate the grape harvest in Southern Moravia and Central Bohemia.
- Christmas tree lighting at the Old Town Square
The night markets open at the Old Town and Wenceslas Squares in the final week of November to usher in the Christmas holidays, marked by the lighting of a Christmas tree on December 1.
4. Visit a theater
- Black Light Theater
Dancers create incredible visual illusions by combining fluorescent UV-A light and pantomime at this theater, the most popular of black box theaters across the country.
- National Theater
Watch opera, musical theater, and ballet at the National Theater, whose impressive main building was built in the 1880s. A screen above the performers displays English and Czech subtitles for operas in French, Italian, German, and Czech.
5. Visit famous churches
- St. Vitus Cathedral
Bohemian rulers were crowned and buried at this 14th-century Gothic cathedral, which is also the biggest and most important church in the country.
- St. George’s Basilica
The basilica with a Baroque facade and a Romanesque interior dates back to the 13th century, making it Prague’s second oldest church, after the 12th-century St. Martin in the Wall Church.
- Church of Our Lady Before Týn
The two spires of Týn Church—which are surrounded by eight smaller spires—make it a prominent structure at Old Town Square. It contains a 17th-century pipe organ.
- St. Nicolas Church
Known for its green copper dome, the Baroque-style St. Nicolas Church offers one of the best views of Mala Strana and the Old Town when you go up to its belfry.
Where to Get Tickets for Sight-Seeing
To avoid waiting in line, you can buy your tickets ahead of your visit on websites such as getyourguide.com, goout.net, tiqets.com, and viator.com.
You may also want to consider getting any of the tourist passes that are valid for several days and cover multiple spots such as the Prague City Pass and Prague CoolPass.
