Prague Jewish Quarter ToursJewish Museum Prague: A Visitor Guide
The Jewish Museum Prague runs most of what you see in Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter. One ticket covers the Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New Synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and more. This guide explains what each site shows, when the museum opens, when it closes for Shabbat and Jewish holidays, and the rules at the door. It also compares the do-it-yourself ticket with guided Prague Jewish Quarter tours that include entry, so you can choose how to visit.
The Klausen Synagogue seen from the Old Jewish Cemetery. Photo: Musicaline, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Quick answer The short answer
The Jewish Museum in Prague is not a single building. It is a circuit of historic sites in Josefov, and one ticket covers the sites that are open: the Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New Synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery, with the Klausen Synagogue partly open for temporary exhibitions. The museum puts a complete visit at roughly 2 to 3 hours. Entry to most of these sites is sold on this site as the Jewish Quarter Ticket.
Key takeaways
- Skip the queue and get a 20-minute introduction in English with the Jewish Quarter Ticket with optional audio guide, valid for one day at $51 per person.
- Prefer a guide through all five sites? The Jewish Quarter Tour with Admission Tickets is $74 per person for 2.5 hours and covers Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New plus the cemetery.
- Every site closes for Shabbat and Jewish holidays, so check the hours and closures section before you fix a date.
- New to the quarter? Start with the overview of the Jewish Quarter in Prague to see how the museum sites fit together.
The Sites on One Ticket
The Jewish Museum was founded in 1906 and today holds more than 44,000 objects and 130,000 books. Its visitor area covers several historic buildings in a few streets of Josefov, and each one carries a different part of the story.
What the Ticket Covers
One ticket covers all currently open sites, described by the museum as five synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. Each site may be entered only once per ticket, so plan your route before you start. Tickets are sold online and at the counters of the Spanish, Klausen, Pinkas and Maisel Synagogues and at the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15, which is also where all Jewish Museum tickets are sold in person. The museum puts a complete tour of the circuit at roughly 2 to 3 hours. Two buildings in the circuit are affected by renovation: the Klausen Synagogue closed for renovation in 2024 according to the museum's page but is listed as partly open for temporary exhibitions in the 2026 visitor rules, and the Ceremonial Hall is being rebuilt and is scheduled to reopen. An additional space, the ARTSCHUL gallery at U Staré školy 3, is scheduled to open in the second half of 2026 and replaces the former Robert Guttmann Gallery, which was founded in 2001 with 80 square metres of space and named after the naive painter Robert Guttmann, who lived from 1880 to 1942.
The table below lists the sites, their addresses as published in the museum's visitor regulations, and what each one shows. The figures come from the museum's own site pages.
| Site | Address | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Maisel Synagogue | Maiselova 10 | Jewish history in Bohemia and Moravia from the 10th to the 18th century, about 30 minutes |
| Pinkas Synagogue | Široká 3 | Memorial with the names of Bohemian and Moravian Shoah victims (77,297 by one count, nearly 80,000 by the museum), plus children's drawings from Theresienstadt upstairs |
| Old Jewish Cemetery | Široká 3 | The old ghetto burial ground, with its entrance at the same address as the Pinkas Synagogue |
| Spanish Synagogue | Vězeňská 1 | Jews in the Bohemian Lands in the 19th and 20th centuries, in a Moorish interior |
| Klausen Synagogue | U Starého hřbitova 3a | Partly open for temporary exhibitions during renovation |
| Old-New Synagogue | Inside the ticket area | Administered by the Jewish Community of Prague, no separate ticket since 2024 |
| Visitor Centre | Maiselova 15 | Ticket sales, audio guide rental, start of the official guided tour |
Maisel Synagogue
The Maisel Synagogue was built between 1590 and 1592 for Mordecai Maisel, the mayor of the Jewish Town, and it opened on Simchat Torah in 1592. The original was a three-nave Renaissance temple on 20 pillars and was the largest building in the quarter. A fire in 1689 collapsed the vaulting and shortened the building by a third, and the rebuild used 14 pillars instead of 20.
Another fire in 1754 damaged it again, and Alfred Grotte later gave it the neo-Gothic look it keeps today. The Nazis used the building as a warehouse for confiscated Jewish property, and the museum took it over in 1955. The exhibition covers Jewish history in Bohemia and Moravia from the 10th to the 18th century.
Exhibits include a Hebrew inscription ring from the 12th and 13th centuries, a Torah ark curtain donated by Maisel, and the original writings of Rabbi Loew. An animated Langweil Model shows the Jewish Quarter before its clearance. The synagogue is barrier-free and has a ticket counter.
Klausen Synagogue and Ceremonial Hall
The Klausen Synagogue at U Starého hřbitova 3a stands beside the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was built in 1694 in Early Baroque style on the site of three 16th-century buildings called Klausen, one of which held a yeshiva where Rabbi Loew taught. It is the largest preserved synagogue of the former ghetto and the only early Baroque building left in it. It served as the second main synagogue of the Prague community and was used by the Burial Society. It closed for renovation on 1 July 2024 and is due to reopen by 2028 at the latest with a new exhibition on Jewish customs and traditions. Under the visitor regulations it remains partly open for temporary exhibitions, and shows work by the photographer Karel Cudlín during the closure.
Next to it, the Ceremonial Hall was built between 1906 and 1908 by Jan Gerstl and Alois Gabriel, with a facade the museum calls neo-Romanesque. The basement held the mortuary of the Hevra Kadisha, the burial society founded in 1564, whose statutes Rabbi Loew finalised. An exhibition on Jewish burial customs ran there from 1997 to 2024. The hall is being rebuilt to restore its original form and is scheduled to reopen, so check the status of both buildings before you count them into your plan.
The Sites With Their Own Pages
Four stops on the circuit deserve more room than this guide can give them, so they have their own pages. The Pinkas Synagogue carries the memorial to the Shoah victims of Bohemia and Moravia, with the children's drawings from Theresienstadt on the floor above. The Spanish Synagogue has a Moorish interior and was built in 1868 and inspired by the Alhambra.
The Old Jewish Cemetery is the old ghetto burial ground, used from 1439 with its last burial in 1787. The Old-New Synagogue has had no separate ticket since 2024 because it sits inside the unified circuit.
Sources: Jewish Museum in Prague, Jewish Community of Prague synagogues, Prague City Tourism
Hours, Closures and Rules
The museum keeps seasonal hours, closes every Saturday and shuts for a set of Jewish holidays through the year. The rules at the door are enforced, and a few of them catch visitors out.
Opening Hours by Season
The sites open daily except Saturdays and Jewish holidays, and the hours stretch with the seasons. In the darkest months the circuit closes at 16:30, in high summer it stays open until 19:00. Sales at the counters stop 30 minutes before closing time, staff start ushering visitors out 10 minutes before closing, and entry is guaranteed up to 30 minutes before closing.
On 1 January the museum opens 11:00 to 16:30, and on 24 December it closes early at 14:00. Temporary changes to hours, other than holidays, are announced at least 24 hours ahead on the museum website. The table below lists the seasonal hours published by the museum.
| Season | Open |
|---|---|
| January to March | 9:00-16:30 |
| April | 9:00-18:00 |
| May to August | 9:00-19:00 |
| September to mid October | 9:00-18:00 |
| Mid October to December | 9:00-16:30 |
Saturdays and Jewish Holidays
Every site in the circuit closes on Saturday for Shabbat, so a weekend visit means Friday or Sunday. The museum also closes for the main Jewish holidays. These are Pesach and Shavuot in spring and Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in autumn.
The two official pages agree on the holidays but not always on the exact days, with the rules listing both days of Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot and the hours page listing only the second of each, so give yourself a margin if your trip falls in those windows. The practical advice is simple: check the museum's own hours page and calendar shortly before you travel, because a holiday closure can cost you a whole day in the quarter.
Rules at the Door
Security checks are required on entry at every site, and bags over 30 litres are refused at the entrance. The museum has no luggage storage, so travellers coming straight from a hotel or the station need to sort their bags elsewhere first. The dress code is enforced: exposed arms, shoulders or midriff, swimwear and bare feet are not allowed. Food, drinks, ice cream and smoking are banned in all visitor areas, dogs are banned except certified assistance dogs, and visitors with faces covered by anything other than sunglasses or a head covering are refused. Children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.
Photography is straightforward. Personal photos and video are allowed without a tripod, selfie stick, extra lighting or flash. One site carries a stricter rule: loud conversation and commentary are not allowed inside the Pinkas Synagogue, which is a memorial. Only guides accredited in the Czech Republic may guide inside the museum sites, and voice amplifiers are banned. Accessibility is partial: the Spanish and Maisel Synagogues have barrier-free access, while the Klausen ground floor needs assistance over 3x2 steps. The museum advises avoiding the 11:00 to 15:00 peak, since mornings and late afternoons are much quieter. Prague Visitor Pass and Prague CoolPass holders enter free, one visit per site for the Visitor Pass.
How to Get In
The Jewish Museum in Prague sells one ticket that covers every open site in the Jewish Town circuit. Here is what it includes, how long it stays valid, and what it costs when bought through the tours on this site.
What the Ticket Covers
One ticket covers all currently open sites: five synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. In practice the circuit is the Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New Synagogues plus the cemetery, with the Klausen Synagogue partly open for temporary exhibitions. The Robert Guttmann Gallery, renamed ARTSCHUL, is free and included in the main ticket. The Old-New Synagogue has been part of the unified circuit since 1 January 2024, with no separate ticket, although the Jewish Community of Prague still administers it separately.
The museum puts a complete visit at roughly 2-3 hours. Each site can be entered only once per ticket, so plan before you walk through a gate. Tickets are non-refundable and a lost ticket is not replaced. Prague Visitor Pass and Prague CoolPass holders enter free, with one visit per site for the Visitor Pass. Children's age limits are stated differently on the museum's pages, so check its admission page.
Validity and Where Tickets Are Sold
Tickets for individuals, families and groups of up to five people are valid for three days from issue. Tickets for groups of 6 or more are valid only on the day of issue, and the maximum group size under one ticket is 25 people. Sales end 30 minutes before closing time, and the museum guarantees entry up to 30 minutes before closing, then starts ushering visitors out 10 minutes before.
You can buy online from the e-shop at jewishmuseum.cz, at the ticket offices of the Spanish, Klausen, Pinkas and Maisel Synagogues, or at the Information and Reservation Center, which is the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15. The full rules are published in the museum's visitor regulations. On this site, entry to most of the same sites is sold as the Jewish Quarter Ticket, a Get Prague Guide product at $51 per person with a 20-minute English introduction and an optional audio guide, valid for 1 day. The ticket is picked up at Maiselova 5.
Tours That Include Entry
If you want a guide inside the sites, note that only guides accredited in the Czech Republic may guide there, and voice amplifiers are banned. Several tours on this site build entry into the price, so you never handle the museum ticket yourself. The figures below come from the tour listings.
| Tour | Price | Duration | What entry covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish Quarter Ticket with audio guide option | $51 per person | Valid 1 day | Four synagogues, Old Jewish Cemetery, Robert Guttmann Gallery, self-guided with 20-minute introduction |
| Jewish Quarter Tour with Tickets | $74 per person | 2.5 hours | Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New synagogues plus the Old Jewish Cemetery |
| Jewish Quarter and Museum Tour | $81 per person, private group | 3 hours | Entrance fee included across six sites with a museum-certified guide |
| Private Jewish Quarter Tour | $165.89 per person | 3 hours | Jewish Museum sights, Old-New Synagogue and Old Jewish Cemetery |
| Private Synagogues and Jewish Quarter Tour | $189 per group of up to 2 | 2.5 hours | Admission included, with hotel pick-up |
Audio Guide and Official Guided Tour
The museum's own audio guide runs about two hours with 80 stops and comes in Hebrew, English, German, Spanish, Italian and French. You rent it at the Visitor Centre, the Pinkas Synagogue entrance or the Old Jewish Cemetery entrance, and after the first day it can be picked up free of charge.
The official guided tour lasts 2.5 hours, starts at the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15 and covers six sites. It runs in English, French, Spanish and Italian, with English tours Sunday to Friday at 10:30 and 14:00 in September and fewer in October and November. A free alternative for planning is the self-guided route on the Prague Jewish Quarter map page, and more comparison of guided options sits on the homepage of Prague Jewish Quarter tours.
The Ceremonial Hall at the Old Jewish Cemetery. Photo: Arwin Meijer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
An Order for the Visit
The sites are all in Josefov. The museum allows one entry per site, so a route you do not have to backtrack through saves time.
A Workable Route
Start at the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15, where all Jewish Museum tickets are sold and where the official guided tour begins. The Maisel Synagogue is at Maiselova 10. Its exhibition covers Jewish history in Bohemia and Moravia from the 10th to the 18th century, and includes an animated Langweil Model of the Jewish Quarter before its clearance.
Walk next to the Pinkas Synagogue at Široká 3, the Shoah memorial with the names of Bohemian and Moravian victims on its walls and the children's drawings from Theresienstadt upstairs. The Old Jewish Cemetery has its entrance at the same address and is covered by the same ticket. After the cemetery, the Klausen Synagogue at U Starého hřbitova 3a stands beside the cemetery and is listed as partly open for temporary exhibitions during its renovation. Finish at the Spanish Synagogue at Vězeňská 1, on Dušní Street, where the exhibition covers Jews in the Bohemian Lands in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Old-New Synagogue is on the same ticket and can be fitted in at any point. The whole loop matches the museum's own 2-3 hour estimate.
Quiet Hours
The museum advises avoiding the 11:00-15:00 peak and says mornings and late afternoons are much quieter. Opening hours shift by season: 9:00-16:30 from 2 January to 31 March, 9:00-18:00 in April, 9:00-19:00 from 1 May to 31 August, 9:00-18:00 from 1 September to 17 October, and 9:00-16:30 from 18 October to 31 December. On 1 January the sites open 11:00-16:30 and on 24 December they close at 14:00.
The museum is closed every Saturday and on Jewish holidays, and temporary changes are announced at least 24 hours ahead on its website. Mornings and late afternoons are the quieter slots, and the Old Jewish Cemetery guide covers that site in full.
Do and Don't
Do
- Do check your bag size before you go, because bags over 30 litres are refused at the entrance and the museum has no luggage storage, so oversized cases have nowhere to wait.
- Do dress with covered shoulders, midriff and arms, because exposed arms, shoulders or midriff, swimwear and bare feet are not allowed at any museum site.
- Do arrive before 11:00 or after 15:00, because the museum itself says the midday peak is the busiest and the edges of the day are much quieter.
- Do buy online or arrive at least 30 minutes before closing, because sales end 30 minutes before closing time and the museum only guarantees entry up to that point.
- Do plan your route before entering, because each visitor site may be entered only once per ticket and a wrong turn costs you a second visit.
Don't
- Don't bring food, drinks, ice cream or cigarettes, because all of these are banned in every visitor area, including the synagogue interiors and the cemetery.
- Don't bring a dog unless it is a certified assistance dog, because all other dogs are banned from the sites.
- Don't send children under 15 in alone, because the visitor rules require an adult to accompany them.
- Don't count on a Saturday visit, because the museum closes every Saturday and on Jewish holidays such as Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.
FAQ
Is the Jewish Museum in Prague free?
No. Entry runs on one paid ticket for the circuit of synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery, sold on this site as the Jewish Quarter Ticket. Free entry applies to assistants of severely disabled people and to Prague Visitor Pass and Prague CoolPass holders. Children's age limits are stated differently on the museum's pages, so check its admission page.
Is the Jewish Museum worth visiting?
The figures argue yes. One ticket covers five synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery in a 2-3 hour circuit, the museum holds more than 44,000 objects and 130,000 books, and it recorded 549,288 visitors. The Pinkas Synagogue alone, with its Shoah memorial walls, is a reason many visitors come.
Is there a Holocaust museum in Prague?
The Holocaust memorial in the Jewish Museum circuit is the Pinkas Synagogue, whose walls carry the names of Bohemian and Moravian victims, 77,297 by one count and nearly 80,000 by the museum's. For the camp itself, day tours run from Prague to the Terezin memorial.
How long does the Jewish Museum in Prague take?
The museum puts a complete visit at roughly 2-3 hours, and its official guided tour lasts 2.5 hours from the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15. The audio guide alone runs about two hours with 80 stops. Jewish Quarter tours in Prague that include entry typically run 2.5 to 3 hours.
Can you visit the Jewish Museum in Prague on Saturday?
No. The museum is closed every Saturday and on Jewish holidays, such as Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Plan your visit for Sunday to Friday, check the museum's calendar for exact dates, and see the Old-New Synagogue page for that building.
Where do I buy Jewish Museum Prague tickets?
From the museum's e-shop, at the ticket offices of the Spanish, Klausen, Pinkas and Maisel Synagogues, or at the Visitor Centre at Maiselova 15, reached in a 3-minute walk from Staroměstská metro station. On this site the simplest booking is the Jewish Quarter Ticket at $51, which skips the ticket line.