I walked for about 40 minutes from Old Town, crossed St Charles Bridge, and walked all the way to Strahovsky Monastery so that I can visit the library. When I arrived to the monastery, there's a small entrance in the wall that you have to walk through like a portal that leads into the monastery grounds. I love visiting beautiful libraries, and that was the only draw for me here. At the ticket book, I got a student discount ticket for Strahov Library, only 90 CZK/ $4.30 USD. Got got multiple photos of and in front of the Baroque Library thanks to the help of tourists, and helping other tourists take their pictures for them. You can't enter the libraries, and they're barricaded from people walking in, but you can take photos and videos from the doorway of the the library. There's also interesting artefacts on display that you can take photos of, such as several illustrated manuscripts and books. read more

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The monastery is beautiful and filled with great historical artwork. The brewery next door had some decent options but I think it is better for drinks rather than food. I got the schnitzel with potato salad. I found it to be a bit bland and didn't stand out from all the other schnitzel places here. The potato as also pretty standard. The ice cream and beer were great after a hot day of walking. The service was fast and ambiance was pleasant. read more

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This Premonstratensian* monastery lies about 10 minutes walking southwest of Prague Castle, most well-known today for its library and brewery. (Since the brewery has its own Yelp page I'll review that separately.) If you're visiting Prague for more than a couple days I'd suggest adding this to your itinerary the same day as the castle grounds. Without diving too much into its history I'll just add here the origins of the monastery date back to 1140 as a Romanesque basilica founded by the Catholic bishop of Olomouc, Jindřich Zdík, with the support of the Bohemian monarchy, and built by the brotherhood of Premonstratensians. Over the centuries, and between the various wars, the buildings burned and were reconstructed several times and the theological halls, libraries and brewery were added a few hundred years after its initial founding. The different areas within the complex include the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Strahov Library with a number of rare medieval manuscripts, maps and globes, the Baroque Theological Hall, the Classical Philosophy Hall decorated with frescoes, and the Strahov Gallery with its collection of lesser known Gothic, Baroque and Rococo paintings. While not a huge complex, and because it's a working monastery and abbey not all areas are open to the public, they did a good job curating the flow of the tour and providing a fair amount of history in the self-guided audio tour. The audio guide comes complimentary with the entrance fee and I listened to most of the recordings. The full walkthrough can take about 1.5 hours. During off-peak season and later during the afternoon (I arrived around 3pm) most of the visitors were part of tour groups or only purchased the first ticket option below, so outside of the main halls and libraries the lower levels were pretty quiet and empty. Tickets can be purchased online or on location in the Church of St. Rochus across the way from the main tourist entrance of Strahov Monastery. Coin lockers (coin returned upon exit,) are also located here, to store larger bags as those are not allowed inside. I believe last entry is an hour prior to closing. There are two types of tickets available, I got the second one since I figured why not, I was there already. 1) entry and self-guided tour to main hall with cabinets of curiosities, library views but no walking into the libraries themselves. This takes about 20-25 minutes to look through. 190 CZK for adults, 90 CZK for children 6-17, seniors 65+ and others that qualify for reduced admission, and 390 CZK for a family ticket. 2) entry and self-guided tour to main hall with cabinets of curiosities, library views, lower level galleries and exhibit on church art and artifacts. 340 CZK for adults, 190 CZK for children 6-17, seniors 65+ and others that qualify for reduced admission, and 690 CZK for a family ticket. Hours are 9:30am-12pm, 12:30-5pm daily though suggest checking their website directly. After visiting the monastery it's worthwhile to drop by the brewery restaurant for a meal and a beer (brewed by the monks)! *yes that's a lot of syllables. And yes I had to google what this meant: a religious order arising from the branch brotherhood originated by St. Augustine and specifically adhere to the precepts established by their founder St. Norbert. read more

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Traditional Czech food in a traditional Czech monastery. Beer hall tables, ever-flowing beer and fantastic food. The Pork is amazing to witness and the Pork knee is the Czech version of Osso Bucco and shouldn't be missed (but also shouldn't be ordered by one person either...you have been warned). Take a group and enjoy. Finish your meal, walk left from the place for about 2 minutes and experience or of the most beautiful views of Prague you will find. This is a must try in Prague! read more

Strahovsky Klášter - Gate into monastery - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me

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The most frustrating experience regarding entry in all of Prague. The hours are posted but they don't tell you when they're closing for lunch and when the final ticket sale is before close. When we visited, the monastery gallery closed at 5 but the final ticket was sold at 4:30 (didn't let us in at 4:33). For lunch, at 11 they put out a sign that said they're closing for lunch 11-12. Our DK book said it'd be closed 12-1. On top of that, the gallery, church, and the library hours are different from each other. I'm still annoyed that I had to come three times to see the gallery because the schedule was not posted. My recommendation is to visit just the library and book a tour if you're especially interested. It's beautiful. The gallery can be skipped but has a few lovely works and three nice halls to see. I preferred the Loreto visit to this gallery but the library here is unique. The church cannot be explored except for services and even that I think is only for locals. There are bars that block you from going in beyond a glimpse from the back and even a group of visiting nuns were not let jn after they visited St. Norbert. Maybe you have to book a tour for that. read more

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I only came here for the brewery. I love beer and i guess am a beer connoisseur by hobby. So if you are reading this for the monastery itself then you may want to bypass this review. This place was a bit of a pain to get to. You must get up to the Prague Castle old town area. It's quite a climb up. The brewery is hidden in the back of the monastery. When i first arrived there it was not what i expected. I expected monks serving beer but really it's just like any other brew pub with open view of their kettle and brewing station. Their food is ridiculous huge but i think that's just how Prague is. I ordered the Pork Knuckle but learned my lesson big time from that. A few days before I order Pork Hock thinking it was a one person serving but it was the size of a football. I barely chewed through an inch of it. Then when i ordered Pork Knuckle I had thought it was something different. When it arrived at my table I said I ordered Pork Knuckle not Pork Hock. The waiter said "Pork Knuckle, Pork Hock... same difference". I screwed myself over again. Had to pack it all up and carry that sucker the whole day down the hill of the Prague Castle to the old town. The had a wide range of beers to select. I ended up bottling up a growler to take back home to Canada. However it was not easy to wrap it up to make sure it did not burst in my luggage. I still had 2 more weeks of travelling to do. Never doing that again. Anyways if you like your craft beers, go visit the monastery. read more

Strahovsky Klášter - Pork Knuckle feeds 4 - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me

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We were staying at Lindner Hotel Prague Castle which is right next to the Strahovsky Klaster. So it was easy for us to just walk to their compound. It was a very beautiful area and not too touristy compared to the Old Town Prague which was totally invaded by tourist hordes. It comprised of Church, Picture Gallery, Strahov Monastery Library and their own PEKLO restaurant where the monks used to brew their beer. In the surroundings, you could also find other restaurants like The Strahov Monastery Brewery (Klasterni Pivovar) and the backyard restaurant Bellavista overlooking to the magnificent view of Prague Old Town. Of all the mentioned, we went to all except the Church and Picture Gallery. But this review is for Strahov Monastery Library because it was a very rare find and the most beautiful library I have ever been so far. You need to make prior arrangement to tour the library. If you pay ticket on spot (120 czk), you are only allowed to view from outside. I booked through email with Erika, the library's manager for 400 ckz per person. We arrived early and the library was closed for lunch until 1 pm. Tourists (mostly on their own and not with tour) were queuing. We went along until we saw a lady holding up a board with my name on. It was Erika and we went up the stairs with her to the souvenirs shop area passing all those tourists. She was friendly and spoke fluent English. After we paid and got some brochures, she took us to the entrance of the library which was a corridor leading to the library. We started the tour guided by one of her staff who didn't speak English. It was very funny trying to guess what she meant and using all the sign language we invented on the spot. For example, she would show us a book cover made of animal skin by pinching her own skin. We were shocked thinking it was human skin but later she added a few words like goat and sheep. The words 'Oh' and 'Ah' would be uttered mostly after we understood her. She made a great effort to help us understand the history behind this library. The library has two halls : Theology and Philosophical. We are experts in neither but were still amazed by the great paintings of the ceilings and the collections of books which are all antiques and original dated centuries ago. We were the only two inside the library while the other tourists were peeping from the door outside. To them, this might be a tourist trap because many were not aware they would not be allowed inside. To us, this place was a hidden gem and a genuine library filled with priceless treasures. An experience we would never forget. read more

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Stunning libraries, church, cloisters, exhibition of paintings, grounds, views, Catholic vestments and bejeweled religious implements, historical dining halls, etc. One of my favorite visits in Prague. read more

We only came here for the beer so that's all this review covers. It was a little hard to find at first but the basement bar was super cute. Beer was good and bartender was very friendly. Free WiFi too. As an added bonus, the Outlander TV show was filming right next door. read more