Ever heard of the Bone Church? It’s literally exactly how it sounds. A church filled with thousands upon thousands of human bones. If you’re wanting to visit, a day trip to the Bone Church from Prague is the creepiest, yet coolest, experience you’ll never forget. Here’s how to get from Prague to Kutna Hora, where the Bone Church is located, and what it’ll be like.
UPDATED February 2021
After wandering around the city of Prague for 4 days, Dan and I had had enough. Or shall I say, I’d had enough.
Enough of the people, the enormous tour groups, the crowds on the Charles Bridge, and the hoards of humans crowding the streets of Prague.
I needed an escape.
As you can probably guess from what I just said, I’m not much of a people person. While I do enjoy the occasional tour (free tours are my jam, like these awesome free tours in Edinburgh!), I’m more of a get-off-the-beaten-path person who likes to explore on their own.
Like exploring a vacant abandoned castle or wandering through the vast forests in Wales where you’ll maybe come across one or two other people.
That’s why we planned to escape the bustling city of Prague and visit the small town of Kutna Hora. After doing a bit of research and hearing about the Bone Church via word-of-mouth, we decided to venture out of Prague to visit this strange place.
Let me just get this out there… Kutna Hora is not what I expected.
While many tour groups plan day trips to the Bone Church from Prague, they don’t actually venture into the town. They usually stick to visiting the Bone Church and then head straight back to Prague.
No doubt the Bone Church, also known as Sedlec Ossuary, is definitely the highlight of Kutna Hora, the little town has a bit more to offer.
Like delicious vegan pizza, cheap beer, and kind locals who’ll run out of their houses in the pouring rain to show you where the nearest taxi place is!
Thus, if you’re thinking of traveling from Prague to Kutna Hora to visit the Bone Church, consider going there on your own (without a tour) and wandering around the town.
VISITING THE BONE CHURCH ON A DAY TRIP FROM PRAGUE
How to Get to Kutna Hora from Prague by Train
Considering we’re on a budget whilst traveling around Eastern Europe — and, thus, Prague — we didn’t really have the spare change to book a tour from Prague to Kutna Hora.
Hence, we had to figure out getting from Prague to the Bone Church on our own!
Which, by the way, is super simple.
Throughout the day, there are multiple trains and buses going from the city of Prague to Kutna Hora.
Whether you’re wanting to go early in the morning and come back mid-day or go late in the day, spend the evening in Kutna Hora, and come back after dark, you’ll find a train or bus which suits your plan.
Since Dan and I are the worst morning people (we’re both total night owls who stay up till 1 am and get up around 10 am) we planned to go around mid-day.
So, at around 12 pm, we hopped on a train at Prague’s main station and arrived in Kutna Hora around 1 pm.
We stayed in Kutna Hora throughout the afternoon, hopping back on a train around 5 pm and arriving back in Prague at 6 pm.
What to know about train travel between Prague and Kutna Hora
- Trains to Kutna Hora from Prague run about every two hours, usually going once every hour depending on the day.
- The earliest train to Kutna Hora departs at around 3:45 am (but who’d want to go that early?!).
- The latest train back to Prague from Kutna Hora departs at around 10 pm.
- The journey takes about 1 hour without any transfers.
- Some routes have a transfer at the station Kolín; this journey also takes around 1 hour.
- At busy times, it may be hard to find a seat. Thus, you might have to stand in one of the open parts of the train (like we did).
- The train station in Kutna Hora is about a 15-20 minute walk from the Bone Church.
- From the train station to the center of Kutna Hora is about a 25-30 minute walk.
- Many of the train tickets allow a ticket validity of 24 hours. This means you can use the ticket on any route from Prague to Kutna Hora (and vice versa). For example, if you arrive in Kutna Hora but find it boring and want to leave earlier than your chosen return train, you can if it’s within the validity period (which it should be).
How much does it cost to get from Prague to Kutna Hora?
A one-way ticket from Prague to Kutna Hora runs around ~119 CZK (approximately $6, €5, or £4). Round trip journey is ~226 CZK (approximately $11, €9, or £8).
If you go at off-peak times, like 5 am or 10 pm, it’s slightly cheaper, but only by a few pennies (literally).
How to book a train ticket online from Prague to Kutna Hora
If you’re wanting to book a train ticket online to save time at the actual train station, visit this site.
In the upper right-hand corner, you’ll find a little drop down menu where you can change the language from Czech to English.
Steps for booking tickets from Prague to Kutna Hora:
1. In the from Station/Town section put in “Prague” and in the to Station/Town section put in “Kutna Hora.” Select the station which should pop up underneath the fill in box.
2. Select your departure date and return date, as well as the time you’d like to travel.
3. After clicking search, you’ll be directed to a timetable of all the trains which depart from Prague to Kutna Hora. Find the train you prefer and click “select and continue.” (Tip: Try to pick a route with no transfers, as this it’ll make the journey even simpler.)
4. Next you’ll be taken to a list of return trains from Kutna Hora to Prague. Find the one you’d like to take and select the “226 CZK, buy” button.
5. Following your chosen trains, you’ll be taken to a few other pages. Just click continue and you should be taken to the checkout page. Insert your information and payment details.
6. Your train ticket should be emailed to the designated email address you specified. The ticket will arrive as a PDF; the QR code at the bottom of the page is your verification which you’ll show to the person walking around the train asking for tickets.
What’s it like visiting the Bone Church from Prague?
Creepy. That’s what. But also insanely cool.
The Bone Church is like something out of another world. From the outside it looks like any other church; small, not too much going on, a packed graveyard, and — of course — construction on its exterior.
But on the inside?
Bones. Human bones.
Everywhere.
Imagine this: you walk in through the entrance, greeted by a pleasant lady behind a counter where you purchase a ticket.
As you slowly walk down the stairs to the bottom floor, the first thing you notice is an elaborate chalice made entirely out of bones.
But that’s not all…
You continue to walk down the stairs and — BAM! — smack dab in the middle of the not-so-big room is an enormous chandelier.
Made also entirely out of… what else? Bones.
Throughout the church, you find bone caves, the walls adorned with hanging bone sculptures, human scull towers, femur bones designed to look like walls, and a strange atmosphere you’ve never felt anywhere else.
The Bone Church is another world.
Is Kutna Hora worth visiting?
While the actual town of Kutna Hora isn’t the main attraction on this Prague day trip, it’s not worth passing up either!
There’s other cute churches to see here, delicious eateries to grab lunch at, Czech pubs where you can sip on a beer, and lots of cute little streets perfect for Instagram.
Personally, I thought Kutna Hora was worth wandering around for a couple hours!
Not to mention, if you do get bored, your rail ticket should still be valid so you can hop back on a train from Kutna Hora to Prague anytime you want.
Tours to the Bone Church from Prague
If you’ve read all the above and still don’t want to book the Sedlec Ossuary day trip yourself, book a tour! There are SO many that go throughout the day so you won’t be short on options.
Here are a few I personally recommend:
So, have I convinced you to go on a day trip to the Bone Church from Prague?
No doubt, it’s one of the coolest places you’ll visit, albeit a bit creepy, but totally worth it! Getting from Prague to Kutna Hora, where you’ll find the Sedlec Ossuary, is simple, cheap, and easy.
Just follow my steps and get ready to be wowed!
Have you ever visited the Bone Church in Kunta Hora? How did you like it? Let me know in the comments!
Sophie xx
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