Top new tourist attractions in Czechia 2024

Lonely Planet: You simply must visit Prague in 2024!

When deciding where to go this year, a tip from the world-famous Lonely Planet guide might come in handy. It has included Prague as one of the top 10 destinations around the world to visit in 2024! The guide described the Czech metropolis as a “vibrant capital in Gothic guise”, adding that its iconic sights such as Prague Castle with the St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge seem almost too beautiful to be true. Lonely Planet recommends trying Czech beer and suggests several places to visit – check them out here!

Our tip: You can experience Czech beer with all your senses at the giant Pilsner Urquell: The Original Beer Experience visitor centre in Prague – a new attraction that opened last year!

Prague in your pocket and the original from the Prague Astronomical Clock

If you’re feeling tempted by Lonely Planet's recommendations and go to Prague, not only can you look forward to all the classic tourist attractions offered by the city of a hundred spires, there are several new ones to enjoy as well. After a demanding four-year refurbishment, the historical main building of the Prague City Museum will be reopening to visitors in autumn 2024, giving you the chance to see exhibits such as the original calendar plate of the Old Town Astronomical Clock and Langweil's Model of Prague – the most detailed cardboard urban model in the world dating from 1826–1834 with more than 2 thousand buildings! All those miniature, finely crafted details are truly mind-boggling!

A kingdom of roses below the Czech Eiffel Tower

One of the dominant landmarks of Prague’s skyline is the “Czech Eiffel Tower” on Petřín hill. Normally, tourists can take a ride up to the viewing tower on a funicular railway, but that will stop running in 2024. After all, Czechia’s oldest funicular needs some rejuvenation. But don't despair, as it’s a lovely stroll up to the top, giving you plenty of opportunities to admire the amazing views of Prague. And that’s not all! By the top funicular station, your walk is made all the prettier by the fairy-tale Rose Garden, which is undergoing an amazing transformation. There will be hundreds of new roses and shrubs and dozens of newly planted trees to keep you company!

Experience the elegance of the 1930s and dine like a movie star or president

One big highlight of 2024 will be the completion of the extensive reconstruction of the Barrandov Terraces – a functionalist gem, built by the father of former Czech president Václav Havel. Once a famous leisure complex with a panoramic restaurant, it regularly attracted some of the biggest pre-war stars of the silver screen from the nearby film studios, not to mention Masaryk, the first Czechoslovak president. The Terraces used to be a real society hot spot. The grand opening was attended by some 50 thousand people! Every day the restaurant served up around three thousand lunches, there was a cable car with refreshments to carry people down to the pool, live music, dancing...

And new life will be breathed into the iconic functionalist restaurant with its distinctive viewing tower, like the rest of the site, which will see new luxury apartments built - right after the completion of the refurbishment works at the end of 2024! By the way, can you guess what place inspired Max Urban, the architect behind the Barrandov Terraces (and the surrounding villa district and film studios), to build this place on the rock massif above the Vltava River? It was the famous Cliff House restaurant pavilion above the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, which he visited!

Get to know Brno, the European Capital of Christmas 2024! Maybe from a bird’s-eye perspective

There are also tons of new attractions coming up in Czechia’s second biggest city, Brno, which, incidentally, will hold the title of European Capital of Christmas in 2024! So it’s definitely worth a visit during Advent, as this year’s Christmas markets (and all the other sights) in Brno will be a real feast for the eyes!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves… Right at the beginning of 2024, one place that will be fully reopening to the public after extensive refurbishment will be the Church of St. James, one of the country’s most prized Late Gothic heritage sites, also home to the second biggest ossuary in Europe, including a brand new viewpoint on the church tower.

Art Deco, Art Nouveau… Brno’s collection of iconic villas is growing

One eagerly awaited new attraction is the opening of the Arnold Villa, built in the Art Deco style with Art Nouveau elements, located very close to one of Brno’s most popular sights, the functionalist Villa Tugendhat, a UNESCO Heritage Site. The villa of builder Josef Arnold was just the second mansion to be built in Brno’s oldest villa colony, which is packed with fine architecture – we definitely recommend talking a walk around here. The Arnold Villa is so unique that it has even been included in the international Iconic Houses Network!

The garden will also be renovated, and will be connected with the gardens of another two famous villas, the Tugendhat and the Löw-Beer. Incidentally, you can visit the gardens of these two beautiful villas now completely free of charge! That’s because they were connected up last year – just as they were back before the Second World War, when both villas were home to related families. The Arnold Villa with its garden and the permanent exhibitions The Jews in Brno and Genius Loci, devoted to Brno’s architect Arnold and the history of the villa, will be fully open to the public from 1 May.

Like in the tales of J. R. R. Tolkien… the Brno Underground is opening its gates!

Brno’s water reservoirs under Žlutý kopec hill are often compared to the famous Basilica Cistern in Istanbul or the treacherous Mines of Moria from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. In 2022, two “mysterious underground cathedrals” opened their doors to visitors and were immediately a huge hit. However, the monumental spaces of this unique technical heritage site are closed from November 2023 to spring 2024. That’s because structural alterations are being carried out and preparations are under way to open the third and last cistern! Besides a cash desk in the former guard's house, there will also be a new entrance to the underground, including a lift to provide wheelchair access. We can't wait!

Austerlitz 1805: The site of Napoleon's triumph in the palm of your hand

The bloodiest Napoleonic battle in this country was fought on 2 December 1805 at Slavkov near Brno, where Napoleon defeated the armies of the Russian Tsar Alexander I and Francis, Emperor of Austria. From this year you can take an amazing bird’s-eye look at the site of the famous Battle of the Three Emperors! That’s because the Cairn of Peace monument in Slavkov is undergoing a major transformation, with a multimedia exhibition and the chance to go up to the new viewing platform that rises above roof level. And, in 2024 you can also look forward to a spectacular reconstruction of the battle, which will take place in front of the cairn on 1 December.

The second biggest riding hall in Europe? The Czech one near Tachov!

Any idea where you’d find the second biggest riding hall in Europe? Only slightly smaller than the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, it’s the Windischgrätz Riding Hall in Světce near Tachov. This monumental neo-Romanesque building will open its doors to visitors in early 2024. You’ll be able to take a peek at all the floors. You can visit the sports riding hall, the roof and the cellar, the facilities for the horses and visitors, and the tour will also include the prince's bedchamber. Be sure to visit the forge, the farrier's workshop, the blacksmith's apartment, the ironwork exhibition, the carriage corridor and the living quarters for the aristocracy and their visitors.

A new attraction for the 2023/2024 skiing season in the Czech mountains? New longest downhill slope!

It seems that Czechia’s winter resorts are racing to see which can build the country’s longest ski slope by 2025. Last year, first place went to the Klínovec Ski Resort with its new 3.4-kilometer track, but this year the title has been claimed by the Dolní Morava Mountain Resort in West Bohemia. The new 3.7-kilometre family downhill slope not only offers amazing views, but is also nice and wide, at least 25 metres all the way along. With one ski pass you can ski on more than 10 km of fully snow-covered downhill tracks of all difficulty levels at one of Czechia’s best resorts, packed with first-rate services and attractions. The start of the ski season in Dolní Morava is planned for the first weekend in December.

Yet Dolní Morava holds another record, not just the longest track! You can also take a walk along the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge and have a real blast on the second longest bobsled track of its kind in Europe! It’s open all year round.

Czechia will be celebrating classical music in 2024

This year it will be exactly 200 years since the birth of composer Bedřich Smetana, an iconic figure in the history of Czech classical music. And it is in his honour that 2024 has been declared the Year of Czech Music. This means you can look forward to hundreds of concerts throughout the Czech Republic. We’re working on the programme for you now, so keep checking our website!

Will there be some new additions to the list of Czech UNESCO sites?

After the great success at the end of 2023, when Czechia had two new entries on the UNESCO List – Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops and Czech Hand-Made Glass Production - we’ll be curious to see which Czech traditions will turn their nominations into recognition in the years to come. Will it be Vamberk lacemaking, the Moravian Slovakian feasts with the festival rights ritual, brewery cooperage, bagpiping or hand-made chenille textiles? And will it be in 2024? Let’s keep our fingers crossed!