4 Best Sights in Prague, Czech Republic

Housed in a grandiose neo-Renaissance structure that dominates the top of Wenceslas Square, the National Museum was built between 1885 and 1890 as a symbol of the Czech national revival. Indeed, the building's exterior is so impressive that invading Soviet soldiers in 1968 mistook it for parliament. The holdings are a cross between natural history and ethnography and include dinosaur bones, minerals, textiles, coins, and many, many other things. There are rotating exhibitions too, and the building itself remains a pretty spectacular draw in its own right. The gift shop has lots of treasures, too, including brooches made of the museum's original parquet flooring.

Set inside a grand, turn-of-the-20th-century building, this excellent yet often overlooked museum tells the story of Prague through the ages, from the earliest prehistoric settlers, through the city's golden medieval and baroque periods, to the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The big-ticket exhibit is the extraordinary Langweil model of Prague, an intricate, handmade model of the city circa 1826–37. There are more than 2,000 buildings at a scale of 1:480, some of which are still standing today, and some of which are long gone (including swathes of the Jewish Town). In fact, this model provides the only proof of how some of these buildings looked. As well as the permanent collection, there are also ever-changing temporary exhibitions, often focused on aspects of modern-day Prague. The museum is closed for renovation until autumn 2023.

Formerly and perhaps ironically located in the Savarin Palace next to the twin capitalist symbols of the yellow arches of a McDonald's and a casino, the Museum of Communism has relocated into a brightly lit and larger new space in V Celnici, albeit still next to a supermarket. The expanded museum offers a vivid look at life in Prague and then-Czechoslovakia under the totalitarian regime that held power from the coup in February 1948 through the Velvet Revolution in November 1989. Find works of social realist art, original texts and photos from the archives of the Security Services, film, and dozens of exhibits that explore the days of the ČSSR through sport, education, art, propaganda, and censorship. Exhibits tread the line between menacing and enlightening, showing aspects of daily life as well as the terrifying repercussions of noncompliance.

In a custom-built art nouveau building dating to 1897, this wonderfully laid-out museum of exquisite local prints, books, ceramics, textiles, clocks, and furniture will please anyone from the biggest decorative arts expert to those who just appreciate a little Antiques Roadshow on the weekend. There are superb rotating exhibits, too, and a fantastic design-led gift shop.