Prague is a very popular tourist destination, which is yearly visited by around 8 million people. Whilst there are reasonable amounts of public toilets available throughout the city, finding a clean and accessible toilet can be a challenge.
In this blog post, I wanted to explore the public toilets in Prague, including where to find them, what to expect, and tips for navigating the facilities. Whether you’re a tourist or a local, this guide will help you make the most of your time in Prague without worrying about finding a restroom.
I never really thought it would be necessary to write a blog post about public toilets in Prague until I got braces and was constantly searching for places to brush my teeth (more than to go to the loo…).
Anyway, Prague toilets are easily a conversation piece and perhaps not in a good way. Whilst I hope your stay in Prague is not going to be tainted by the public toilet experience, here are a few things you should know about the public toilets in Prague.
- most toilets are not free
- toilets cost 20 CZK (make sure you have a change)
- always carry spare tissue paper as there is often toilet paper missing
- visit the shopping centres for modern facilities including baby changing rooms and wheelchair-accessible toilets
How are public toilets in Prague sign posted
Most public toilets are simply labelled as WC, which stands for water closet (originally in English). Sometimes you can also see ‘toalety’ (toilets) or ‘zachod’. Most toilets also use pictures to indicate a toilet for women or men or label them as ‘Damy’ or ‘Zeni’ (ladies) or ‘Pani’ or ‘Muzi’ (men or gentlemen).
Where to find toilets in Prague
- Underground Stations – usually in the underpass as before you enter the actual station – payable
- Fast food chains & international coffee chains – payable
- Main Trains & Bus Stations – Main Train Station (Hlavni Nadrazi), Florenc etc – payable
- Shopping centres (Quadrio, Kotva, Myslbek, Palladium, Flora, Novy Smichov – centre payable, outside of the centre – some are free of charge
- Museums, galleries, tourist attractions – free when you buy a ticket
Public Toilets in the Prague Centre
Old Town Square – as you are approaching the door to the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn (the biggest church with two black towers) next to the Italian restaurant (there is also a tour ticket-selling office).
Behind the Old Town Hall at the back of a little park with trees.
City Library – the public toilet is downstairs and it’s payable (20CZK).
Side of Vltava river bank next to the National Theatre – payable
Slavonic Island (Zofin) – payable
Shooters Island – payable
Public Toilets at the Prague Castle
Wallenstein Garden – payable
As you are walking up the New Castle Stairs the toilet is to your right before you start walking up.
Another toilet is close to the toy museum and next to the cafe and another one is next to the St.Vitus Cathedral. All coffee places and restaurants at Prague Castle have toilets for customers only (or you could try to ask to use the facilities for a small change 20-30 CZK).
How much are the toilets in Prague?
Toilets are usually 20 CZK in the centre and 10-15 CZK in the outskirts of Prague. Some toilets (especially the more modern ones) have an automated system where you pay at the gate and it lets you in. If there is no gate, there is always somebody sitting at the entrance who will let you in and take your money.
It’s a good idea to always have some change with you and make sure it’s in the Czech currency – Czech Crown as other currencies are not usually accepted. In very tourist areas (like the toilets next to the New Castle Stairs) they will accept euros (not dollars), but the chances are that you will pay a little more than if you had Czech Crowns.
The modern toilets, such as the shopping centre Quadrium (Narodni Trida) or Myslbeck also accept card payments.
Where to find free toilets in Prague
There are practically no free public toilets in Prague, but here are a few exceptions:
- Som shopping centres – Palladium (Peace Square in the Prague Centre), Novy Smichov (Andel Underground station),
- Prague airport
Baby changing facilities
Baby changing facilities are very rare and you might only see them in the more modern toilets, such as the shopping malls e.g Myslbeck, Palladium, Quadrium, Novy Smichov or at the Prague Airport.
Free Urinals
There are free-to-use urinals at the park at the Vrchlickeho Sady as you are approaching the main train station (Hlavni Nadrazi).
Is it possible to use THE toilet in restaurants or cafes?
If you are a customer, then, of course, that’s not a problem. Some fast food places charge for toilets, but if you buy something you get a receipt with a code to access the toilet for free.
The restaurants and cafes usually have a sign ‘toilets for customer use only’ but some might also add ‘or 20 CZK’. Even if you don’t see a sign that’s telling you to pay if you are not a customer offer 20-30 CZK to the waiter or somebody at the counter and hopefully they will allow you to use their facilities.
Public Toilets outside Prague
If you are thinking of going on a day trip from Prague, you might also like to know what’s situation with public toilets is like elsewhere in the Czech Republic. What I’ve found out by travelling around Czech Republic is that the smaller the town the less likely it is that there are public toilets and when there are, the opening times are not particularly tourist-friendly. Did you know that people don’t go to the loo on Sunday, for a whole day or don’t need to use the toilet after 6 pm? Of course, I’m joking, but every time I walk past toilets that have a lunch break or close at 6pm on Saturday in the main tourist season I do wonder what I am supposed to do? It seems like even going to the toilet requires a military-scale planning operation!
Trains
If you are travelling to your destination by train, use the facilities on board. The toilets on the new trains are actually very good and they are free to use. The only thing you might not know is that if you happen to travel on one of the older trains, the toilets are prohibited from being used in the stations. This is because the toilet doesn’t have any waste disposal unit and everything just goes on the track. There is usually a sign on the door to tell you not to use the toilet whilst the train is stationary.
The more modern trains, which thankfully are most of them, have toilets which you can use any time. This is handy, if you are waiting for a train at the small end train stations and the train is already waiting there.
Long distance buses
Long-distance buses (like Regio Jet) have a toilet on board, but all other local buses don’t.
Public Toilets in the towns
Over the years of travelling around Czech Republic I’ve worked out that the public toilets are usually located somewhere in the centre, usually on the main square. All of these toilets are payable – in smaller towns, this could be as low as 5 CZK or 10-15 or 20 CZK max in the large towns. The opening hours also vary and some (usually in small towns) even close for lunch and usually close around 6 or 8 pm (if you are lucky!).
Public Toilets at the train or bus stations
It was the norm that every train station had toilets and whilst you can still find the signs and doors, the likelihood is that they are permanently closed. Open toilets are usually at all larger train stations and they are all payable.
Large bus stations also have payable toilets, but again the opening times might not always fit with your travels, so don’t rely on them.
Public toilets at tourist attractions, castles and museums
All of these will have toilet facilities available for their visitors. The toilets are usually located somewhere inside the building or castle complex, so you can’t really just pop in if you don’t have a ticket. On occasions, you get lucky, like when I visited Jindrichuv Hradec, the public toilets were at the castle complex, but available for outside visitors and they were free! Because the town is fairly small, it was my designated toilet stop for the whole day as it was easier to just walk back than to find something else.
History of Public Toilets in Prague
I found industrial heritage history fascinating, so when I was researching the topic of toilets in Prague, I thought I’d mention a few interesting facts about the history too.
Public toilets started to be more common in Prague with the development of a water drain system in the middle of the 19th century. Initially, there were just public pissoirs for gentlemen and later they added small rooms with toilets that could be also used by women, as there were no separate toilets for ladies at the time. In 1885 there were 24 public toilets in Prague and by 1905 the number had risen to 32, situated mainly in what is now central Prague.
In 1888 the Prague town council decided that they needed a responsible company to manage all the public toilets and agreed on a contract with Mr. Prochazka. He couldn’t run the company because of his ill health and a year later he passed the responsibility to his wife – Mrs. Marie Prochazkova. This admirable lady ran the public toilet empire successfully in Prague for the next 50 years until 1937 and the town councils never had any problems.
By the beginning of the 20th century, some establishments (especially at the railway stations) were offering to store your luggage or shopping parcels for a small fee. You could also mend your clothes there, get new shoelaces or adjust your hair with provided hair curling tongs and other hair products. The toilet staff would also help you to spot-clean your clothes or clean your shoes.
Toilets were also divided into first and second class and you paid accordingly and you could even get a public toilet subscription! The cost of toilets is also interesting because in the first class toilet you’d pay 4 coins called ‘krejcary’ and the second class would cost you 2 krejcary. In comparison to the food and drink prices in Prague at the time, you could get a pint of beer (half a litre) for 6-8 krejcary. By 1900, the local Prague guidebook by M. Knapp mentions that first-class toilets are 8 krejcary and second-class 4 krejcary.
By the mid-30s the standards of public toilets started to diminish and after 1945 toilets services were nationalised and never a real priority. Interestingly, between 1960 – 1980 all public toilets were free of charge.
Where to see historic toilets in Prague
Unfortunately, most historic toilets in Prague were taken down a long time ago as they were mainly built above the ground. There are two places in central Prague where you can still see partly working historic toilets.
One is at Uhelny Trh Square as you walk from the Narodni Trida to Old Town Square through the back streets. These toilets are currently closed, but you can see one of the only examples of underground toilets in Prague.
The other historic public toilets still in use are by the side of the National Theatre down the stairs below the street level on the side of the Vltava River. When you stand at the beginning of the bridge, you can clearly see that the toilets had two staircases (presumably for ladies and gents separately), but later only one staircase was kept. The windows on each side of the doors still have the original coloured glass decoration and the toilet signs above the ground are (probably) original too.
This blog post was originally written on 19 October 2023 and last updated on 19 October 2023
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