Visiting Prague in October 2026 – Travel Tips, Events & Things to do
October is a great month to visit Prague – it’s still not as cold as in a winter, the main historic attractions are still fully open (some are switching to the weekend-only opening) and there are definitely fewer people visiting the town.
There are plenty of autumnal festivals focusing on food, culture and music. Although Czech people don’t traditionally celebrate Halloween, there are more and more events each year that include pumpkin carving, Halloween fun for all ages and comforting flavours of pumpkin pie spice in your morning coffee.
If you are thinking of visiting Prague in October, then I’ve put together practical travel tips, my favourite places to go and events to help you to plan your trip to Prague.
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Is october a good month to visit Prague?
I would say, most definitely! The weather in October is much cooler than in September, but it’s still warm enough to walk around in few layers and a light jacket most of the time.
There are still plenty of outdoor festivals and free things to do in Prague in October to choose from. Most attractions outside of Prague such as museums and castles are switching to their winter opening times and are usually just open at weekends and for a slightly shorter time.
It’s also the last month when most castles outside Prague stay open during weekends before they close for the winter season, so it’s a great time to catch the last bit of sun, plan a hike in the coutryside, visit historic castles or perhaps any of the beautiful towns on the UNESCO heritage list in the Czech Republic, which has just recently had the hop growing and beer making town of Zatec added in.
Prague is much quieter during October and it’s much easier to escape the tourist crowds. It’s also a great month to venture out of Prague and visit other nearby towns, such as Pardubice, which is hosting the most famous horse racing event in October each year – the Pardubice Steeplechase.
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Important dates in October
28 October – Czech Independence Day
The Czech Independence Day is celebrated on the 28th of October to commemorate the 1918 break up from the Austrian-Hungarian Coalition.
No matter what day of the week the 28th is it will be designated as the day off. In the same way as all the other official holidays, if the day falls on Saturday or Sunday, tough love, you don’t get another day off that year!
If you are visiting Prague around the 28th of October, keep an eye on various tourist attractions, museums and places that are not normally open, because most of the times they offer free or very reduced entry fees.
Things to do in Prague in october 2026
The International Film Festival about Architecture and Urbanism (30.9 – 5.10 2026)
This year is the 15th festival and the the chosen films are focusing on modern living in apartments. I love this year’s festival motto, which is ‘Byt ci nebyt’, which is a play on a words ‘To be or not to be’ – to be – in Czech ‘byt’ with short ‘y’ means ‘flat or appartment’.
Location: The films will be shown across the whole of Prague in independent art film cinemas including Svetozor, Mat and Edison.
Prazska Noblesa 2026 ( 3 October 2026)
This year it’s the 18th anniversary of the Veteran & Vintage Club organising a car rally on the first saturday in October. The event is completely free and you can see all cars displayed in front of the St.Ludmila Cathedral in Prague 2 and also in Branik Brewery in Prague 4 where the day starts.
The cars will race through Jeremenkova Street and through Prague 4 and Prague 2. This year, there will be just under 140 vintage cars from different years until 1970s.
National Gallery Open Days (3, 4 & 28 October 2026)
This is a great opportunity to visit the National Gallery exhibitions for free. The first weekend in October (3 & 4 October 2026) the Trade Fair Palace Art Gallery exhibition about architecture will be open for free as part of the architecture festival (see above).
On the 28 October all of the National Gallery locations will be free, including the St.Agnes Convent (close to Old Town Square), The Trade Fair Palace Art Gallery , the Salma’s and Schwarzenberg’s palace (at the Prague Castle). The only one that’s never open for free is the exhibition space at the Wallenstein Riding School at Malostranska Underground Station.
There is no need to pre-book, just turn up – the exhibitions are usually open from 10 am – 5 pm.
Designblok Festival (7-11 October 2026)
The 28th year of the international design festival will focus on the theme ‘Light as a symbol of enlightenment and truth’.
Modern design, style, fashion, photography, interactive exhibitions and talks are all part of the Designblok Festival. It’s hosted in many different locations across Prague and you can attend individual exhibitions (some are free to enter) or buy a ticket for the whole festival. Festival Pass is 590 CZK and concessions are available for students/children/ seniors.
Location: This year, the exhibitions are going to be displayed at the newly refurbished Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Grounds in Prague 7, Trade Fair Palace, Prague Castle Riding School and Museum of Decorative Arts.
MORE TIPS FOR PLANNING YOUR OCTOBER TRIP TO PRAGUE
Brevnov Monastery Celebrations – Brevnovske Posviceni (9-11 October 2026)
“Břevnovské posvícení” is always one of the best highlights of the Prague 6 cultural events and the event is always very popular event with locals and people from nearby areas.
‘Posviceni’ used to be one of the most popular celebrations in Czech villages. ‘Posviceni’ is celebrated on the first Sunday after the holiday named after the local church’s patron saint. This means that every village, town or monastery has ‘posviceni’ on a different day.
Posviceni means in Czech ‘dedication’ and it’s the celebration commemorating the consecration of the church. The “posvícení” is celebrated usually in more traditional villages, so it’s great to see that we get to experience one in Prague. The more religious nature of the celebrations are always followed with feasting on traditional food, entertainment and processions.
You will be able to taste traditional Czech food such as roasted goose with dumplings and cabbage, roasted beef, roasted ham, potato pancakes, potato spirals, the not so traditional trdelnik and also the Brevnov own-produced beer and other Czech brewed beer, mead, wine, and “burčák” (young wine).
You will be also able to see the demonstrations of medieval beer brewing and there will be fun workshops for children and various performances including juggling.
If this is not good enough reason to visit, then you might also like to know that the Brevnov Monastery will be running guided tours and you can also visit the beautiful gardens behind the monastery. And the best bit is that at the end of the last day, there will bea also festive fireworks display to finish the celebrations.
Location: Brevnov Monastery, Marketska 1, Prague 6 – Brevnov is slightly out of the way, but if you stay on the tram number 22 beyond Prague Castle and get off at the stop ‘Brevnovsky Klaster’ you’ll get there in less than 30 minutes from the centre of Prague. This event is free.
Show Jump Events – The 23 Memorial of Harry Petrlik (4 October 2026), The Eliot’s Cup Price (9-11 October 2026) & The President’s Cup Price (25 October 2026)
The horse racing stadium at Prague – Mala Chuchle has a long history – it was originally opened in 1906 and it’s one of the famous horse racing stadiums in the Czech Republic. The Eliot Price Cup is in it’s seventh year and traditionally will close the show jump events season in Chuchle. Eliot was a name of a horse belonging to Frantisek Ventura, who won the Olympic games in show jump in 1928.
When I visited last time, the atmosphere was very casual (you really don’t need to dress up in heels) and they play low level calming music (probably for the horses ?), which makes the whole experience even more relaxed. There is also a snack bar and plenty of seating spaces in tear levels, so you always have a good view no matter where you sit. The only thing I’d recommend is to bring a hat, sunglasses and an umbrella as the seating area is not covered.
Chuchle is really easy to get to from central Prague – just head to Smichov Train Station and then take the local bus or any slow train towards Beroun or Revnice.
- Location: Velka Chuchle (one stop (5 min) from Smichov Train Station by train or few stops by a local bus (about 10 min) from Smichov Train Station – Prague 90 min tickets (or multi day tickets) are valid for the whole journey)
- Open Times: 8 am – 6 pm each day
- Tickets: Free for the show jumps events, but 250 CZK, 100 CZK students/children/seniors for the President’s Cup Day
Soup Festival at Naplavka (17 October 2026)
The popular Soup Festival will take place again on the Smíchov embankment – Naplavka on 4 October from 11 am – 6 pm. You can look forward to different types of soups from all over the world, but also food stalls selling local dishes, freshly baked bread and pastries, hot cider, mulled wine, locally produced draft beer.
The Soup Festival is an annual theme for what’s normally a regular farmers market at Naplavka, so if you miss the festival, you can come any Saturday (8am-2pm) and try some delicious local produce. I always enjoy visiting the regular farmers market there and the spice festival is a great way to taste dishes from all over the world and keep warm at the same time.
Location: Smichov River Embankment – nearest underground stop is ‘Karlovo Namesti’ on line B, or trams 10, 16, 3 ,18,17 etc. The festival stalls are right next to the Vltava River and entrance is free.
Signal Festival (15-18 October 2026)
This amazing outdoor festival of lights has been going on for 14 years and it’s organised by a group of creative people called Signal.
The theme for this year is Dream on! Dreams and Visions and as always there will be no shortage of art installations, video mappings and projections.
Each year there are different routes chosen and the buildings, churches and trees are light up. Large buildings have often light installations or projected moving lights representing the themes of the festival.
This year the festival will offer two routes and seventeen festival locations. The main route will include areas around Old Town, Josefov and Namesti Republiky. Popular video mappings will light up the Old Town Hall walls or the courtyard of the Church of Our Lady of the Snow.
The second route will be around Dejvice and Bubenec in Prague 6.
Most of the festival is free, as it’s outdoors, but there are 8 areas (indoors) where there is an entry fee. This year day pass is 440 CZK for the whole festival indoor areas and you can also buy 4 day pass and VIP ticket if you wish.
The best way to explore the festival and find where the installations are is to download the festival app to your smart phone, which comes up with all locations and detailed information.
The festival is usually open from 7pm – 12 midnight – from Thursday to Sunday.
This year, you can also visit the Signal SPACE which is a permanent light exhibition at the old Prague Market Hall in the centre of Prague (at the bottom of Wenceslas Square). This new digital art gallery has over 2500 m2 of light installations and standard tickets are from 399 CZK (concession tickets are available for children, students and seniors). The exhibition is open daily from 10 am – 10 pm.
Dyzajn Market – Autumn 2026 (24 & 25 October 2026)
I love visiting the Dyzajn market because I find something different to buy. There will be over 200 local designers and makers offering original jewellery, clothes, accessories, bags and decorations. There will be also a small food festival to make sure you are not hungry whilst browsing the beautiful art stalls.
- Location: Vystaviste – Exhibition Ground – Prague 7
- Open: 10 am – 6 pm on both days
- Tickets: Free
Prague Coffee Festival (24 – 25. October 2026)
If you love coffee, you’ll love this festival! The festival started originally in 2012 and this year there will be over 50 local coffee producers exhibiting as well as offering various coffee workshops and inspirational talks about all things coffee.
- Location: Vystaviste – Exhibition Ground – Krizikovy Pavilony – Prague 7
- Open: 10 am – 6 pm on both days
- Tickets: 449 CZK – 1299 CZK
Visit museums & official government buildings (28 October 2026)
On the 28th of October, you’ll have the rare opportunity to visit many places for free or low entrance fee. A lot of government buildings are open for the public and you can view behind the scene government buildings, which are based in the old palaces and historic buildings in the central Prague.
What’s even better is that the tours are led by the staff, so one year, we had the head of the international business department to show us around the ministry buildings and we even met the minister for that department.
All tours are in Czech language, but I think it’s worth going just to check out the buildings. You can always read about the history later and find a lot of information in local English guide books or online.
Also all the main museums in Prague (government-owned) are open for free on the 28 October, so it’s a great opportunity to visit them or just pop in to see a particular exhibition if you don’t have the time to visit the whole museum.
For example this year is open Straka’s Academy for guided tours on the 28 October and the gardens are also open on 4 October ( Nabrezi Edvarda Benese 4, Prague 1 – Lesser Town – it’s a 7-10 minute walk from Malostranska Underground or tram stop towards the river).
The Lichtenstein Palace is not open on the 28 October, but this year it’s on the 4 October. You can find the palace on the Kampa Island in Prague 1 – Lesser Town right next to the famous Charles Bridge.
Visit Prague parks
Autumn is particularly beautiful in Prague, especially as the leaves start turning yellow, orange and red. If you fancy a gentle stroll on a mainly flat surface, then head over to Stromovka Park, where you can see landscaped woodland areas, lakes and plenty of autumn leaves.
If you don’t mind a bit of a hike, you can climb the steep paths of Kinsky Park to reach the Petrin Lookout Tower or enjoy a glass of vine in the Wine Pavillion at Grebovka Park.
For a day trip in a magical park with a castle and colourful autumn leaves head over to the beautiful Pruhonice Park, which is open all year round and in October open from 7 am – 7pm. Entry is 100 CZK and the longest walk is over 10 km long.
READ MORE
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This blog post was originally written on 1 October 2021 and last updated on 29 September 2026
