The history of Kutna Hora
The town started in 1142 with the settlement of Sedlec Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Bohemia By 1260, German miners began to mine for silver in the mountain region and named the city Kuttenberg, which was part of the monastery property. The area greatly advanced due to the silver mines which gained importance during the economic boom of the 13th century. The city is now called Kutna Hora. From the 13th to 16th centuries, the town competed with Prague economically, culturally, and politically. Since 1995, the town center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
How to get here?
Kutna Hora is about one hour drive by car from Prague. There are many ways how to get there. You can jump on an overpriced tour, which you can buy anywhere while you are in Prague. They will take your money and be your boss. If you get lucky, you will get a good tour guide, if you are more into exploring I would recommend to and travel on your own. You can rent a car and just drive by yourself. Use your American DL even I have Czech DL, I use my American every time I am there. Your rental car should have a Highway sticker on the windshield, as you have to pay for using highways in the Czech Republic. DO NOT speed through towns and villages!!!!
Follow the speed limits, as Czech police love to ticket people for speeding. If you see a sign for the start of a town slow down to 50KM/H and speed up at the end of the city. You won’t see a sign for the change of speed limit, the sign of the name of the town is your indicator for the change of speed limit inside towns.
Start of town/village 
End of town/village
– Train
You can also use public transportation. It is not difficult, but you do have to keep eye on the time when your train/bus will leave, and also if you do travel by train, there is not a direct route to Kutna Hora and you have to switch trains in Kolin, another beautiful city nearby. (Read more about Kolin here.) The train station is a bit far from the downtown of Kutna Hora and you will have to walk.
– Bus
The bus is another way to get there, and yes there is a direct bus from Prague to Kutna Hora. Both Train or bus takes about an hour and a half to get there. When you buy tickets for public transportation, those tickets are defined “as a section of travel” (tarifni pasmo). To get to Kutna Hora by bus, you need to travel to “the seventh section“, make sure to get an appropriate ticket. Your bus will leave from “underground line A – station Skalka” and is a #381
What to visit while in Kutna Hora?
Start at the suburbs of Kutna Hora where is much easier to get to, park if you rent a car. Do the opposite from other tourists who start downtown at st. Barbara Cathedral and work their way to the outskirts. Make sure you have comfortable shoes for walking! You can buy tickets to all buildings in one place altogether by Sedlec Ossuary info both.
1 – Sedlec Ossuary
Is a small Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec. The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel. You might think, what a creepy place, but not at all, it is really interesting to see it. ( Read more here)
2 – Cathedral of Our Lady
The full name is – The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist. It is a Gothic and Baroque Gothic church. The Cathedral is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, together with the Church of St. Barbara and other monuments in Kutná Hora. It is one of the most important Czech Gothic buildings built in the time of the last Přemyslids and also a very important and one of the oldest examples of the Baroque Gothic style by Czech Baroque architect Jan Blažej. (Read more here)
3 – The Czech museum of silver
The historical exposition of the Czech Museum of Silver is also a medieval mine located in the area between the main building of the Museum – Hrádek – and St. Barbara Church. Go to grab a tour of mines underground, it takes about 90 minutes and you will learn the whole process through which the silver ore had passed until a silver coin was struck. Also, learn about medieval technology of mining, processing raw silver, and minting coinage. You will put on an excellent outfit and hard-heat and disappear underground. It will be chili so get ready! Don’t forget to grab lunch in one of the restaurants you see downtown. There are many restaurants where you can sit on the patio and enjoy the beautiful weather.
4 – Saint Barbara’s Church
Just down the street from the Museum of silver, you will see Saint Barbara’s Church. It is as beautiful on the outside as inside! You will fall in love. (btw: if you need to use public restrooms, make sure you have coins, my husband could not believe that “the toilet lady” wants money for a little piece of TP.)
st. Barbara church is a Roman Catholic church in the style of a cathedral and is sometimes referred to as the Cathedral of St Barbara. It is one of the most famous Gothic churches in central Europe and it is a UNESCO world heritage site. St Barbara is the patron saint of miners (among others), which was highly appropriate for a town whose wealth was based entirely upon its silver mines. (Read more here)
5 – Parking
I added this parking place, if you did rent a car and need parking near downtown, this one is super easy to park at, instead of driving through one-way streets of downtown and being lost while looking for street parking. When you park by Sedlec Ossuary, just park on the street for that hour or two you will be there and then move to the parking garage by St Barbora church.
6 – Bus station
If you decided to ride a bus, here is the main bus station. You will arrive here from Prague and also leave from here to go back. Thankfully the ride is over an hour-long, so you can take a good nap on your way home. Make sure you know what time your bus will leave!
Let me know if you have any questions, or if you are staying somewhere else and need help figure out transportations. I will be very happy to give you some more ideas for your perfect day trip.
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