Prague Photo Spots: The 11 Most Beautiful Places to Photograph in Prague

Photo Spots on and Around Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge is one of Prague’s most famous landmarks and simply can’t be left off our list of Prague photo spots.

The best shots of Charles Bridge come when you step off the bridge and photograph it from a distance. That way you can capture it in all its glory.

If you walk from Charles Bridge toward Mánes Bridge, you’ll pass a small stretch of beach on the Lesser Town side.

There’s a very good chance you’ll also be able to photograph quite a few swans in the foreground — a truly beautiful shot!

Photo tip: In this situation, try using your camera’s burst mode. The swans are constantly moving. With burst mode, you can just keep shooting and then pick out the frame where a swan is looking directly into your lens.

You can also take spectacular photos right on the bridge itself. For that, head out early in the morning, just before sunrise, when the lanterns are still lit and most tourists are still in their hotel in Prague.

Photo tip: Stand with your back to the Lesser Town so you have the silhouette of the bridge statues, the bridge tower, and the dome of the Church of the Knights of the Cross in front of the rising sun. It’s best to use a fast lens so that the low-light conditions in the early morning don’t cause image noise.

Prague Castle and the Paths Leading There

Prague Castle alone offers enough to keep you busy with your camera for an entire day.

If you’re up for a walk, you can reach the castle from Malostranská metro station via a long staircase (to Google Maps). Keep turning around as you climb — otherwise you’ll miss the stunning panorama over Prague.

The steps also make a great Instagram spot for a quick portrait shoot. Definitely give it a try!

Our under-the-radar pick for photography is the Stag Moat. This is a narrow pedestrian tunnel to the north of Prague Castle, with a hiking trail about 1.4 km long running through it (to Google Maps).

Here you can discover nature, scenery, secret passages, and tunnels. If you need a break from the city crowds, you’re guaranteed to find a little peace and quiet here.

When the day is over and you’re heading back into the Old Town, take a moment on the banks of the Vltava to look back at the castle.

By the way: Near the castle you’ll also find many lovely boutique hotels in Prague.
Prague Castle at night or during the blue hour is beautifully illuminated, so you can still get a stunning photo even after dark.

Ticket for Prague Castle
Photo tip: A travel zoom lens covers a wide focal length range, making it the perfect companion for city trips — ready for any situation. Whether you want a detail shot of a distant building or a sweeping panorama, it has you covered.

Mini Eiffel Tower on Petřín Hill

On Petřín Hill there’s an observation tower that looks almost exactly like the Eiffel Tower — just a ‘smaller’ 63-meter-tall version.

During the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris, a Prague club was so impressed by the Eiffel Tower in Paris that several investors quickly got together and built a miniature version on Petřín Hill.

Once you’ve climbed the 299 steps, you’re rewarded with a wonderful view over Prague and the surrounding landscape. One of the best photo spots in Prague — and a genuinely great place to catch your breath.

There’s also an elevator, though it’s not always in operation.

If you’d rather skip the admission fee (around €6), you’ll still get a great vista from the base of the Petřín Tower (to Google Maps). With the Prague Card, admission to the tower is free anyway.

The tower itself is also an interesting subject you can photograph nicely through the trees of the park on Petřín Hill.

Photo tip: Don’t just point your camera straight at your subject — walk around it. You’ll quickly discover that the perfect perspective is rarely the first angle you see.

Relaxation and Views in Letná Park

Letná Park is one of our favorite insider tips for Prague and has a lot to offer photographically as well. From here you get a seriously fantastic panorama over Prague.

Particularly beautiful is the view from a small overlook in the park (to Google Maps), where you can fit several of the stunning bridges over the Vltava into a single shot.

Beyond that, the park lends itself to beautiful nature photography or simply casual family photos at a picnic. At the beer garden (to Google Maps) you can enjoy great Czech beer with a view.

One of the most popular Instagram spots in Prague is the swings hanging from the trees here and there. They’re perfect for putting your subject right in front of the Prague panorama.

Photo tip: A prime lens with a wide aperture lets you capture especially atmospheric portraits. It creates a beautifully blurred background — that aesthetic blur is known as bokeh.

Narrowest Alley with Its Own Traffic Light

The nameless alley (to Google Maps) near Charles Bridge is the narrowest street in Prague. At just 50 cm wide, it’s so narrow that a traffic light system is needed to keep people from running into each other.

Turning around is difficult and passing someone going the other way is impossible. The alley leads to a restaurant with a terrace right on the banks of the Vltava.

Photo tip: With subjects like this, it’s always important to include a sense of scale in your photo. Your best bet is to photograph the alley with a person in frame to make the proportions clear.

Book Tower at the Prague City Library

Libraries often make for great photo spots. With all the books and frequently impressive reading rooms, a compelling subject is practically guaranteed.

The Prague City Library (to Google Maps) has a special highlight: a huge tower made of books. It’s hollow on the inside and lit up, giving you plenty of room for creative shots. Admission to the library costs around €6, and you’ll need an additional photography permit for around €2 more.

If you’d rather not pay the entry fee, the city library also makes a beautiful subject from the outside, where you can try your hand at architectural photography.

Photo tip: Almost all newer mirrorless and DSLR cameras have a flip-out screen built right in. Use it — it makes shooting from unusual angles so much easier.

House at the Black Madonna

In the House at the Black Madonna (to Google Maps), a small Madonna is mounted on the building’s façade — which is where the house gets its name. Even from the outside, it’s a beautiful building to photograph.

Inside, there’s a permanent exhibition on the theme of Prague Cubism. The real photographic highlight, however, is the staircase inside.

It has an unusual shape that resembles a light bulb. With the right perspective and lighting, it actually looks as though it’s glowing.

Photo tip: A high ISO setting lets you work with a short shutter speed even in dark rooms, helping you avoid camera shake. Above about ISO 6400, image noise becomes increasingly noticeable and image quality suffers, so don’t push the setting too high.

Prague Photo Spot: Dancing House

The Dancing House is a seriously unusually shaped office building (to Google Maps) on the banks of the Vltava. It genuinely looks as though two buildings are dancing together — and it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most photogenic places in Prague.

From the opposite corner you can photograph the building in all its glory. At sunrise you even have the chance to capture beautiful backlit shots.

If you’re patient, you can also photograph Prague’s colorful trams passing by in the foreground.

Photo tip: If there are too many cars in the way, try using a slightly longer shutter speed of around 1/15 of a second. This blurs the distracting cars into streaks, which actually enhances the visual energy of the Dancing House.

View from the TV Tower

Now we come to the final vantage point on our photo tour through Prague. The Prague TV Tower (to Google Maps) sits relatively far to the east of the city. This means you get a Prague panorama from the other side of the city for once.

On top of that, the journey there gives you a chance to discover a different side of Prague, well away from the usual tourist trails of the Old Town.

The TV tower itself is also a great photo subject with interesting details — like the little babies crawling up its exterior. It sounds quirky, but it looks really funny. See for yourself.

The TV tower is also our top pick if you’re visiting Prague with kids.

Photo tip: Try using a telephoto lens to pick out all the details and bring them up close.

Street Art at the John Lennon Wall

Prague’s street art scene is pretty well developed. Here and there you’ll even find legal spots where spraying is permitted. The farther you venture from the city center, the more creative works of art you can discover.

Probably the most famous spot and one of the top Instagram spots in Prague is the John Lennon Wall (to Google Maps), which is actually relatively central, located in the Lesser Town. In the past, it was used illegally by students to make their political views heard through graffiti.

Today the wall and the art on it are tolerated by the Knights of Malta, so you’re free to take some great photos.

If you want to learn more about street art in Prague, we recommend this alternative city tour of Prague.

Photo tip: Many cameras have various filters built right in. Take a closer look at your camera menu. Especially with colorful subjects like the Lennon Wall, you can make the colors pop even more right in the camera.

The Tram

You simply can’t take your eyes off Prague’s trams. Even the newer models are incredibly charming in their red and white livery. So why not capture them in one of the best photo spots in Prague?

Some of the trams run across Prague’s bridges. Line 2, for example, crosses Mánes Bridge (to Google Maps). If you stand on the right side, you can even get Prague Castle in the background.

Line 2 also runs through the Old Town, where you can photograph it against the backdrop of Prague’s impressive architecture.

Photo tip: In a big city like Prague, getting up early pays off doubly. There are fewer people out and about, and the light at sunrise is absolutely beautiful.