Petřín Hill & Tower

Viewpoint · Malá Strana / PetřínPrague,Czechia

A wooded hill above Prague's left bank with orchards, a funicular and an 1891 steel lookout tower built a fifth the size of the Eiffel.

Petřín is the wooded hill on the left bank, and the steel lattice tower on its summit gives one of the widest views in Prague. From the platform you see the castle strung along its ridge, the spires of the Old Town, the river bending through them, and on a clear day the hills of Bohemia beyond. The tower went up in 1891 at roughly a fifth of the Eiffel Tower's scale, and 299 steps spiral up it around a lift shaft. The hill rises about 130 metres above the river, and the slope under the tower carries older things: orchards, rose gardens, a Baroque church and a funicular railway. Across it runs the Hunger Wall, a fortification Charles IV had built in the early 1360s. Members of the Czech Tourists' Club paid for the tower after visiting the Paris exposition of 1889 and coming home impressed. The hill below is a park the city treats as its own, and in spring the orchards flower and half of Prague lies on the grass.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The top platform is worth the last flight — the lower gallery is glassed and reflective, and the open level above it is where the castle, the river and the Old Town all line up at once.
Late afternoon turns the roofs copper — the sun sets behind this hill, so the city opposite catches the last direct light while you are already standing in shade.
The orchards flower for about two weeks — the slope fills with blossom in April, and it is the one time of year when the hill is busier than the tower standing on it.

Things to do

1
Climb to the open level
Take the stairs rather than the lift: the spiral wraps a central shaft, and the city appears in slices through the ironwork as you rise. At the top, walk the full circle — the castle, the river and the Old Town each get their own quarter of the horizon.
2
Walk down through the orchards
From the summit the paths drop east through fruit trees and rose beds toward Malá Strana. It takes about twenty minutes, the noise falls away entirely, and the Hunger Wall appears on your left roughly halfway down the slope.
3
Lie on the grass in spring
When the orchards flower, the east slope above Újezd becomes the city's living room: blankets, beer, dogs and students all the way down the hill, with the castle ridge across the valley in full view the whole time.