Jewish Prague Walking Tour
Prague, Czech Republic
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Peel back the layers of Prague’s Jewish history on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter, also known as Josefov. With an expert guide, explore the old neighborhood, stroll around the Old Jewish Cemetery, see famous synagogues, and view sites associated with Jewish writer Franz Kafka. Also visit the Jewish Museum, where exhibits chronicle the story of the Czech Jewish community.
- Retrace the lives and stories of the Czech Jewish community
- Learn more than you would wandering around alone
- Receive personalized attention on an intimate small-group tour
- Avoid the risk of getting lost in the maze-like streets with a guide
What's Included
- Professional guide
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pickup and drop off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Náměstí Republiky 1037/3, 110 00 Praha 1-Nové Město, Czechia
Departure Point: Central Prague Address: Náměstí Republiky 3 110 00 Prague 1 Directions: Meet your guide in The Yellow Kiosk, Republic Square, opposite the Municipal House (near Powder Gate)
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.10:30 am
Itinerary
Travel independently to the tour's starting point in central Prague and meet your guide and small group. Listen to an enlightening introduction to the history of Prague’s Jewish Quarter, which also goes by the name of Josefov, and then set off on your 3-hour walking tour of the area.
As you walk, listen to fascinating stories about the district, whose origins date back more than 1,000 years. Hear about the many sites that stand witness to its rich past and that made it one of Europe’s major centers of Jewish life.
Stroll through the Old Jewish Cemetery, a graveyard used between the 1400s and 1700s, and home to around 12,000 visible graves. Hear about some of the famous figures buried here, including the 15th-century poet and scholar Avigdor Karo.
In between walking and talking, visit some of the area’s six synagogues to uncover their history. Walk down Maiselova Street, one of the two main thoroughfares of the area, lined with handsome 19th-century townhouses.
Here, head inside the Jewish Museum to view its fascinating collections of maps, artifacts, and documents that chart the history of Jewish people in the Czech lands.
Stop at the birthplace of Franz Kafka, Prague’s famous literary son, and view a small exhibition on his works and tragically short life.
Finally, arrive at the Old Town Square, and end your tour at the original starting point.
As you walk, listen to fascinating stories about the district, whose origins date back more than 1,000 years. Hear about the many sites that stand witness to its rich past and that made it one of Europe’s major centers of Jewish life.
Stroll through the Old Jewish Cemetery, a graveyard used between the 1400s and 1700s, and home to around 12,000 visible graves. Hear about some of the famous figures buried here, including the 15th-century poet and scholar Avigdor Karo.
In between walking and talking, visit some of the area’s six synagogues to uncover their history. Walk down Maiselova Street, one of the two main thoroughfares of the area, lined with handsome 19th-century townhouses.
Here, head inside the Jewish Museum to view its fascinating collections of maps, artifacts, and documents that chart the history of Jewish people in the Czech lands.
Stop at the birthplace of Franz Kafka, Prague’s famous literary son, and view a small exhibition on his works and tragically short life.
Finally, arrive at the Old Town Square, and end your tour at the original starting point.
1
Jewish Museum in Prague
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
Old Jewish Cemetery
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Staromestske namesti (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Reviews
3.4
based on 102 reviews
Andrew_S, Sep 2024
It was terrible. The guide showed little interest and it would have been better to arrange the synagogue visits ourselves which we ended up doing at additional cost.
Brian_A, Jul 2024
We always try to take walking tours. This was one of the best ever. Guide (Sophie) was incredible. She displayed endless knowledge and based on questions pointed us to more things.
Jodi_L, Oct 2019
the only problem was several languages on tour and we had to share the tour guide as she spent alot of time speak to the other non english speaking participants
there were enough people to do an english only tour
Bruce_K, Sep 2019
This tour started out badly. We used the location indicated on the ticket purchase confirmation to try and find the meeting place, which was stated as a yellow kiosk. However, when we emerged from the metro, we couldn’t find it. Eventually we did, but not after 15-20 frantic minutes. We barely made the tour on time - and we had deliberately come early!
Viator needs to provide Google Maps style maps showing the meeting place! The same thing happened on a tour in Normandy.
The actual tour was ok but seemed rushed. It spent the first 15 minutes or so getting to the Jewish district, including a church stop. Why it didn’t begin closer to the district is unclear.
The tour guide, whose name I don’t recall, was fair. She was very brief with responses to questions and her eye contact was with one or two members of the group. That said, she was quite knowledgeable. Any misgivings with the tour are not because of her.
Caren W, Jul 2019
The tour was a huge disappointment. We were 4 people who ordered the tour and thought we were having a private guide as it said in the description. We had 13 people on the tour not just the four of us and two were Russian speakers so the guide kept stopping to explain everything in Russian. Because of this she was running late so skipped certain things. For example The description says
Discover an exhibition dedicated to the famous author, Kafka, in the Old Town Square. All she did was point out the house he lived in.
Totally not worth the money.
Joseph_M, Oct 2018
The tour was good but I felt we had to move very quickly. I was disappointed the old synagogue was not included. Some of the details about Jewish customs and traditions described were not accurate and I needed to correct the guide.
swschwartz, Sep 2018
The tour of the Jewish Quarter is a must for all visitors to Prague Unfortnately, our guide did not have the knowlege needed to bring this area to life. Ask your guide about the golem if he/she does not offer. The tour was very meaningful in spite of Jon’s inadequacies
Charles_D, Jun 2018
This is the WORST tour I have aver been on in any city of the world.
The guide was appalling.
We met on the far side of the city walked 10 mins to the square where we met up with others. Why not all meet in the main tourist square?
We booked an English tour, yet the tour was amalgamated with a German Tour, so every commentary was repeated in English and German which meant we went slowly and learnt far less.
We went to the first Synagogue when the guide left us for 20mins while we returned to his HQ to sort out an admin problem.
There was no toilet nor drink break for the whole 3 hour duration. In fact he told my wife she could not use the toilet in one of the synagogues which was clearly untrue, since she then asked the synagogue who were totally happy for her to use it
The guide provided few stories which would bring the tour to life.
All the people on the tour were Jewish and interested in the Prague Jewish History, yet he persisted to tell us about Judaism and very little about Pragues Jewish History.
The Tour Guide was called Petr.
Renate V, Apr 2018
Very interesting to hear the history of the Jewish people other than WW2. Lots of walking but easy to do. I cant understand why the guide didn't have the necessary tickets with her but made us wait while she buys them. But her knowledge was very good and she introduced us to the folklore as well
Victoria M, Mar 2018
Great tour guide and incredibly intuitive! Would recommend.
Gustavo E, Oct 2017
Excellent tour, dont be confused, in the picture the Jerusalem Synagogue that is not part of the tour. If you want to visit the Old New synagogue you need to buy ticket and visit by yourself
Connie C, Oct 2017
This was a really good tour. The only thing that was disappointing is we did not get to go into the Old-New Synagogue. But it was really easy to go back later in the week on my own and do it seperately. I really learned a lot about Jewish history on this tour. I would definitely recommend this trip.
MrsElizabethF_P, Oct 2017
Very very slow and what could have been done in 1 1/2 hours took 3. The guide, Sara, certainly knew her stuff but she was very repetitive and because she had to speak in 2 languages Spanish and English, the tour seemed to take forever. The synagogue with all 180 000 names of the people who died during the Holocaust was memorable as was the cemetery. The final synagogue, the Spanish Synagogue, was spectacular.
Ron D, Oct 2017
Good tour. But guide was a little snarky. Not a friendly person. But it was worth it nonetheless.
Catherine_M, Oct 2017
First of all we got lost trying to get to the meeting place and were very late. The young lady at the information booth, went above and beyond locating where the group were at so we join up with them. Then she had another team member walk us over to where the group where. I'm sorry I did not get their names as they deserve a huge recognition for going above and beyond customer service. Thank you.
The tour was very informative. Our guide was great and covered a lot.
Steve_S, Sep 2017
The tour was listed as being led by an English guide, however, it was in English, Spanish and German. That was extremely disappointing because we had two-thirds less bandwidth to hear insights in our native language -- leaving us to stand around and endlessly wait until dialogue in the other languages was completed. Strongly do not recommend.
Alan R, Sep 2017
The woman who led the tour was sub-par. Specifically unfriendly with a sour attitude. I asked her if there were Stolpersteine stepping stones by Gunther Demnig, a German artist, in Prague. She said definitely not, without even asking what they were. I looked it up in Wikipedia and it did mention their location in Prague, in Kafka Square, which I found and photographed. Just an example of her lack of knowledge and her cocksure attitude. Also, the tour organizer added 2 Spanish-speaking customers to the group. The 10 or so others were English-speaking, yet the guide spoke Spanish at least 35 of the time. Not fair to most of the customers and very ill-advised.
Jill_t, Sep 2017
A group of 10. Guide Ludmilla ,I think, explained the history of the people in the city from early days. The synagogues we visited are now used for tourism but each focussed on a different aspect. A solemn walk through the old cemetery and the museum. If you are interested in any part of Judaism I would recommend the tour.
Graeme S, Aug 2017
Great tour - revealed another view of Prague and its History. Thoroughly recommend this tour to anyone with an interest in history.
Annette A, Aug 2017
The Jewish quarter in Prague is one of the last remaining in Europe after WW2, and it's really worth checking out. We visited a few synagogues, so if you haven't been in one yet then this is your chance. The Spanish synagogue especially was beautiful, and the picture does not do it justice. If you have no problem walking and standing for three hours, then you definitely should take this tour, because it's very interesting and the guide was very good himself.
Darryl G, Aug 2017
Wow what a great tour and fantastic guide. His knowledge , description and they way he related to the group was first class. He spent time answering all questions and nothing was too much trouble for him . Overall a great experience
Jennifer M, Jun 2017
Very interesting and informative Camilla was a great tour guide with real passion for the subject. We were with Jewish friends and the tour was very interesting to both Jew and non Jew alike. I had been to the Josef quarter some years ago, but learnt far more from this tour and would thoroughly recommend it and as it was one of the hottest days of the year - way up in the 20s was quite prepared to drop out if it got too much. Very good.
BHannah_r, Jan 2017
This was one of the best tours I have ever taken. Our guide. Sarah, was both knowledgeable and interesting. I really enjoyed her extra bits of information and insights. We covered a lot of ground but it was worth every step. Thoroughly recommend this tour
Bradley R, Sep 2016
Way too many people on the tour. The guide had to explain everything twice: once in English, and once in French. He took us to a museum and read the plaques for us without including any other little known facts or idiosyncrasies, the reason we like to take tours. He could not answer questions very knowledgeably at all. We left partway through the tour because we figured we could do as well on our own.
Leslie H, Sep 2016
It was a nice tour the only thing I didn't like were that the guide had to take time to explain everything in two languages which can be boring and time consuming. He also said there are no Jews living in Prague then continued to talk about the only still working synagogue, so there must be Jews living in Prague.
LUISA_G, Aug 2016
This tour is well worth doing. The tour guide we had, Jana, was very well versed in all things Jewish and made the tour a pleasant and enjoyable one. Shame we only visited 4 of the 6 Synagogues in Prague but there is only so much one can do in 3 hours.
DARRLY F, Aug 2016
This was the worst tour I have ever taken.there were4 english speaking people and 2 Spanish speaking people. The guide spend 10 of her time speaking Spanish and should then turn and give us a 1 min explaination in engliSh. The guild left the english speaking people to go on there own and see the museum while she spent the whole time speaking in Spanish. 1 American left after 1 hour and the 3 who remained left after another 40 min. We were ignored and did not enjoy any part of this experience. I would definite not recommend this to anyone.
Noah K, Jul 2016
Excellent tour! Our guide Sara was outstanding. Her vast knowledge combined with her enthusiasm for the subject matter was an unforgettable experience. The commentary and time spent at each location were perfect. The only negative was the Viator meeting place. Out of the way but this tour is a must!
Betsy C, Jul 2016
I think seeing the Jewish Quarter and old synagogues is a must-see for anyone who is spending time in Prague, but unfortunately Viator's tour was disappointing. It felt like the guide had no more understanding and information about what we were seeing than one could read in a travel guide. I was also surprised that some of the information imparted was not entirely accurate--for instance the explanation of what a mezuzah is and its significance to Jews. You also fly through each sight with not much more than literally 8-10 minutes to take in what you are seeing. I found the placards on the displays so much more informative than what we were getting from the guide. And yes, I realize there is a lot to see and only 3-hours to do it but I took 3-hour tours in many cities and this did not impress me. In fact we were looking at our watches to figure out how much time we had left.
I would offer what I hope will be a useful critique--I highly recommend the guides dig a little deeper in their understanding of what it was like to live in the Jewish Quarter which was a ghetto. How it impacted the community. Offer something that puts into context what was going on at the time and convey it in a way that resonates with customers whether or not they are Jewish. Ultimately I felt like I should have just gone without the tour and paid for the audioguides offered at the various sites.
I took free walking tours where the guides were more engaged, better informed and made the experience memorable in a way that this paid tour lacked. Which is not to say that our guide was not a well-meaning and lovely woman or that all free tours are great. We opted out of a few as the group swelled to an unmanageable amount of people. Although frankly, this tour was very full--and it had to be done bi-lingually.
I would not recommend using this company.
Sharon M, Jul 2016
The low point of our trip to Prague. Poorly organized. While the places were amazing, we were too frazzled to really enjoy them. And of course these areas are of such interest, the crowding added to the disorientation of the actual tour. I could've just downloaded information and organized a tour.
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