Frequently asked questions

Entry to the Strahov Library exhibition, the Cabinet of Curiosities and a selection of historic books, plus a view into the Theological and Philosophical Halls from their doorways. We book it for your chosen date and email you the e-ticket.

No. To protect the books and frescoes, the regular ticket lets you look into both halls from their entrance doorways rather than walk the floor. It's the same access every visitor gets on the standard ticket, and it's still close enough to read the spines and see the ceilings clearly.

The Library ticket covers the library exhibition, the Cabinet of Curiosities and doorway views of both halls. The Joint Tour adds the Strahov Picture Gallery and the historic parts of the abbey open to visitors — the monastery church itself is not included in either.

Visitors aged 6 to 17, students under 26 with a valid ISIC card, and seniors 65 and over. Carry ID or your ISIC card, as it's checked at the entrance.

Children under 6 are admitted free, so you don't need to buy a ticket from us for them — just bring proof of age.

No. Your ticket is valid for the whole day you choose, within opening hours, so you arrive when it suits you on that date.

Strahov Library is open daily, including weekends, from 9:00 to 17:00. Last entry is 16:30 for the Library ticket and 16:15 for the Joint Tour. It closes on 24 and 25 December and on Easter Sunday.

Around 30 to 45 minutes for the Library ticket. Add 45 minutes to an hour if you've booked the Joint Tour, which also takes in the picture gallery and historic abbey rooms.

After you book, we arrange your dated entry and email you the e-ticket, usually well before your visit. You show it on your phone or a printout at the gate.

A small 18th-century collection bought by the abbey in 1798 — fabricated ‘basilisks’, so-called toadstones, wax fruit, old weapons and other curiosities gathered when natural history and folklore still shared the same cabinet.

The Intellectual Progress of Mankind, painted by the Viennese artist Franz Anton Maulbertsch in about six months in 1794. It shows figures from Moses to Socrates on humanity's path toward wisdom, above walnut bookcases brought from the dissolved Louka Convent in Moravia.

Around 18,000 theological volumes under stucco and ceiling frescoes the monk-painter Siard Nosecký added in the 1720s, with a pair of 17th-century Dutch celestial and terrestrial globes at either end. It was built between 1671 and 1679 to replace the medieval library Swedish troops looted in 1648.

Take tram 22 to the Pohořelec stop, then walk about five minutes to the monastery gate. On foot it's roughly ten minutes from Prague Castle, past Loreta.

No formal dress code, though it remains a working monastery, so quiet, respectful dress and behaviour are appreciated, especially near the abbey church.

Personal photography and filming without flash or a tripod is generally allowed in the visitor areas, for a modest on-site fee; flash and tripods are restricted to protect the books and frescoes.

No — they're two separate Baroque libraries in different parts of Prague. Strahov is a working Premonstratensian abbey on the Hradčany ridge; the Klementinum's Baroque Library Hall sits in the Old Town, in the former Jesuit college that now houses the Czech National Library.

If we're ever unable to arrange your chosen date, we contact you to find an alternative or refund you in full. All sales are otherwise final, in line with the monastery's own conditions; refunds apply only where entry cannot be honoured on the operator's side.

The monastery courtyard and library entrance are on relatively level ground, but it's a centuries-old complex with some steps and old stone paving. If you have specific access needs, tell us when you book and we'll share the current guidance.