Kutná Hora from Prague: the bone church, the silver town and how to do it by train

Kutná Hora is the best day trip from Prague for most people, and it is easy to underestimate. In the Middle Ages the silver mined under this town paid for much of the Bohemian kingdom; what the money left behind is a small historic centre listed by UNESCO, a cathedral that rivals anything in the capital, and — in the suburb of Sedlec — the ossuary whose chandelier of human bones has become one of the most photographed interiors in Central Europe.

It is an hour away by train, and the whole trip works well without a car or a tour, as long as you understand one piece of geography.

The geography that matters

Kutná Hora has two separate parts a few kilometres apart:

• Sedlec, where the main railway station is, with the ossuary and the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist.
• The historic town, with St. Barbara's Cathedral, the Italian Court and the old streets.

Most frustrated day-trippers are people who did not realise this and walked the wrong way. Plan the day as Sedlec first, then the town, then back.

Getting there

Trains run from Praha hlavní nádraží, the main station on metro line C, to Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží in Sedlec. The journey takes around an hour, and there are regular departures through the day. Compare fares and times on the national timetable linked from the railway stations page; buying in advance is often cheaper than at the window. Note that Prague's 24- and 72-hour city tickets do not cover this trip.

From Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží, the Sedlec ossuary is a walk of roughly a quarter of an hour. A small local train and buses connect Sedlec with the historic town; walking between them takes around three-quarters of an hour along ordinary streets.

Sedlec: the ossuary and the cathedral

The Sedlec Ossuary is a small chapel beneath a cemetery church. After plague and war left the cemetery with far more remains than graves, the bones of tens of thousands of people were stored in the crypt. In the late nineteenth century a woodcarver named František Rint was employed to arrange them, and he did so with extraordinary, unsettling artistry: garlands, pyramids, a coat of arms and a chandelier said to contain every bone in the human body.

It is small, often busy, and genuinely affecting. Go early, before the tour buses from Prague arrive, and remember it is a consecrated place.

Nearby, the Cathedral of the Assumption is a Gothic church rebuilt in a striking Baroque-Gothic style by Jan Santini Aichel, and part of the UNESCO listing. A combined ticket usually covers both sites; check the current options at the entrance.

The historic town

St. Barbara's Cathedral is the reason to come. Begun in the fourteenth century and dedicated to the patron saint of miners, it rises at the edge of the old town above a valley, with a roof of tent-like spires and an interior of soaring vaults whose frescoes show the miners and minters who paid for it. It belongs in the same conversation as St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

The walk to it along Barborská street passes a row of Baroque statues and a terrace view over the valley. The Italian Court, the royal mint where Prague groschen were struck, stands in the centre, and the Czech Silver Museum offers a descent into a medieval mine gallery for anyone comfortable underground.

A day that works

1. Early morning train from Prague.
2. Walk to the Sedlec Ossuary before the crowds, then the Cathedral of the Assumption.
3. Local train, bus or a long walk into the historic town.
4. Lunch in the old centre, then St. Barbara's in the afternoon light.
5. Back towards the station and the train to Prague by early evening, in time for a beer hall dinner in the New Town.

Practical notes

• Wear shoes for cobbles and hills: the walk from Sedlec to the town and around St. Barbara's is long and uneven.
• Dress for churches: shoulders covered is the safe choice in both cathedrals and in the ossuary.
• Photography rules in the ossuary change from time to time; follow the signs at the door.
• Timing: the ossuary is busiest late morning, when tours from Prague arrive; St. Barbara's is lovely in the late afternoon.
• Eating: the old town has plenty of places for lunch; if you are back in Prague for dinner, a beer hall in the Old Town is an easy end to the day, or try Lokál near the station route.

Tour or independent?

A guided tour from Prague removes the geography problem and adds context, at a higher price and a fixed pace. Doing it independently by train is cheap and flexible. If you are comfortable with a timetable, go alone; if you want the history explained as you stand in front of it, take a tour. For more ideas on getting out of the city, the Karlštejn day trip is the other easy classic, and the itinerary builder can fit either around your days in Prague.