What the Czech Museum of Silver is and where Hrádek sits in Kutná Hora

The Czech Museum of Silver (České muzeum stříbra) is Kutná Hora's mining museum, and its main exhibition building is Hrádek, a fortified Gothic house on Barborská Street. The town grew rich on silver ore, and the museum tells that story from geology and archaeology through coin minting. Hrádek is the branch to book if you want the underground mine; the museum also runs exhibitions in the Stone House and Tylův House elsewhere in town.

Hrádek stands in the pedestrian zone of the old town, so you cannot pull up to the door. The museum's own page gives the address as Barborská 28, 284 01 Kutná Hora and notes there is no parking directly in front of the building. Free parking for private cars is on Na Valech Street, with paid parking at Václavské náměstí and bus parking on Československých legionářů Street.

From Prague, Kutná Hora is the classic day trip, and trains run from Prague's main station to Kutná Hora's stations before a short onward walk or local connection to the center. Once in the old town, Hrádek is uphill from Palacký Square toward the cathedral, which makes it easy to combine with the church in one loop.

Tour I "The Town of Silver": what the exhibition covers and how long to allow

Tour I, "The Town of Silver," is a self-guided exhibition across the ground and first floors of Hrádek. The ground floor covers the geology of the ore district and archaeological finds from prehistoric and early medieval settlement; upstairs, the displays follow Kutná Hora's rise as a royal mining town, the lives of its mining entrepreneurs, and an overview of Czech coinage struck in the town.

Because this circuit is self-guided, you set the pace, and an hour is a sensible budget for a careful read of the coin and geology halls. Texts in other languages are available on request at the box office, so ask when you buy the ticket rather than expecting a printed guide in English. The exhibition is the better pick for anyone who wants context before or instead of going underground.

Tour II "The Way of Silver": the mine passage, the trejv and the guided format

Tour II, "The Way of Silver," is the guided circuit most visitors come for, and the museum states it lasts approximately 90 minutes. You follow the whole process of medieval mining, silver processing and coin minting, including a replica mining operation, the original horse-powered mining machine known as the trejv, and a stretch of the authentic medieval mine. Visitors wear a helmet with a torch and a miner's coat with a hood, the perkyle, for the underground section.

The mine passage runs about 250 meters through the original workings, where you can see traces of miners' work and niches cut for lamps. If you would rather not go down, the museum allows you to skip the mine passage and take only the surface exposition on this tour. That option makes Tour II workable for travelers who want the technology and the trejv without the confined passage.

Tours are given every 30 minutes at the earliest, and the museum caps each tour at 25 people. A foreign-language explanation costs an extra 40 CZK per person on Tour II rather than being a standard English-language departure, so budget for the add-on if you want commentary in English. The museum recommends booking in advance through its online system, by email or by phone, and reservations need a name, contact details, date, group size and language.

Which tour to pick, or whether to book Tour I + II

If you want the mine, pick Tour II; if you want context and a flexible pace, pick Tour I. The combined Tour I + II ticket suits anyone who wants both the exhibition and the underground walk without deciding between them, and one visit covers the full arc from ore to coin. Travelers short on time should choose the guided circuit, since the mine is what sets this museum apart from Kutná Hora's churches and town squares.

A combined visit of roughly two to two and a half hours fits comfortably before or after the cathedral, so pair the museum with St. Barbara's Church in the same morning. Plan the mine first if you booked a fixed departure slot, since the exhibition can absorb however much time remains. The rest of the town's big sights, including the Sedlec Ossuary, sit in a different part of Kutná Hora and need their own time.

Ticket prices in CZK for adults, reduced admission and families

Tour I costs 100 CZK for adults and 70 CZK for children, students and seniors over 65, with a family ticket for two adults and two children at 290 CZK. The guided Tour II with the mine is 200 CZK for adults and 160 CZK for the reduced category, with a family ticket at 640 CZK. Combining both comes to 270 CZK for adults, 220 CZK reduced, or 870 CZK for a family.

The main exhibition ticket also includes admission to any temporary exhibitions running at Hrádek, so the cheaper Tour I is not a downgraded experience. Temporary exhibitions alone cost 40 CZK for adults and 30 CZK reduced. Reduced admission applies to pupils, students, holders of the EURO under-26 card and visitors aged 65 and over with identification, and several groups, including ICOM members and licensed guides accompanying a group of at least 15, enter free.

Opening hours and seasonal closures by month

Hrádek opens Tuesday to Sunday and closes on Mondays unless a public holiday falls on it. Hours shift by season: 9:00 to 17:00 in April, May and October, 9:00 to 18:00 in June, July, August and September, and 9:00 to 17:00 in November, with the December and early January window open for exhibitions only until 11 January 2026. The museum publishes its own closure dates, including 22-25 December 2025 and 29 December 2025 to 1 January 2026, and states it is closed from 12 January to 2 March 2026, reopening from 3 March 2026.

For a mine visit, aim for spring through autumn, when the full seasonal hours apply and the guided circuit runs through the day. A winter trip still gets you the exhibitions in December and early January, but not the underground passage outside the published exhibition window. Check the museum's month-by-month table before fixing a date, since the seasonal pattern, not a fixed year-round timetable, sets what is open.

Mine rules: age limits, claustrophobia and health warnings

Children under 6 are not allowed in the mine, and children aged 6 to 10 must be accompanied by an adult; school groups from age 10 or fourth grade need pedagogical supervision. The museum advises against the mine for people with claustrophobia or epilepsy, those in poor health, and women in advanced pregnancy, and bars entry to anyone under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. The surface-only option on Tour II covers anyone who would rather stay above ground.

Hrádek is not wheelchair accessible, though it does have restrooms, including accessible ones, unlike the Stone House. Groups can pre-book a special tour on request for 2,000 CZK, useful for parties wanting a fixed private slot. Because tour size is capped at 25 and departures are spaced at least 30 minutes apart, a large group should reserve well ahead rather than arriving on spec.

Other museum sites: the Stone House and Tylův House

The Czech Museum of Silver also runs the Stone House, a bourgeois Gothic building with temporary exhibits and long-running tours on upper-town burgher life and Jagiellonian stonemasons' work, plus exhibitions at Tylův House near Palacký Square. These are separate branches a short stroll from Hrádek, and they suit travelers with a spare hour after the mine. Note that facilities differ: Hrádek has restrooms, including accessible ones, while the Stone House does not, so confirm branch hours at the box office before walking over.

What is nearby: St. Barbara's Cathedral, GASK and the Sedlec Ossuary

St. Barbara's Church, the UNESCO-listed Gothic landmark of the royal mining town, stands a few minutes uphill from Hrádek and pairs naturally with a museum visit. The former Jesuit College nearby houses GASK, the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region, one of the country's largest galleries for modern and contemporary art. Both fit a single morning if you start at the museum.

The Sedlec Ossuary, the Cemetery Church of All Saints with its bone-decorated interior, sits in the Sedlec district on Zámecká Street, a separate stop that needs its own transport or a longer walk from the center. The Italian Court, the royal mint and residence in the old town, rounds out the silver story within easy reach of Hrádek. A full Kutná Hora day can hold the museum, the cathedral and one of these, but not all four at a relaxed pace.

Sequencing the town's churches, the mint and the ossuary around a fixed mine slot is easier with the Kutná Hora Attractions: 7 Visitor Guides. Building the day around that departure keeps the rest of the schedule honest, since the 25-person cap and 30-minute intervals leave little room for a spontaneous slot in high season.

Should you book the mine or just the exhibition?

Book Tour II if you want to walk through the medieval mine, since the underground passage is the one thing here you cannot get elsewhere in Kutná Hora; book Tour I if you want the silver story at your own pace. The combined ticket makes sense when you have a full morning and want both, and it costs less than buying the two separately. Reserve online once you have a date, because the 25-person cap and 30-minute departures make walk-up slots unreliable in season.

Whichever you choose, build the visit into a walking loop with St. Barbara's Church and the old town, and keep the Sedlec Ossuary for a separate stop. Confirm the current month's hours and the closure calendar on the museum's site before you set out, and ask at the box office about language texts and the foreign-language explanation when you book.