When is sunrise and sunset in Prague?
Quick answer: Sunrise and sunset in Prague depend heavily on the season. In mid-June the sun rises around 4:53 a.m. and sets around 9:15 p.m. In late December it rises around 8:00 a.m. and sets around 4:05 p.m. Check the times for your travel dates before you plan any shoot.
When is sunrise and sunset in Prague? It depends on the month you visit. Prague sits near the 50th parallel north, so the light shifts a lot from one season to the next. Sunrise moves by about 3 hours (from 4:53 a.m. in mid-June to 8:02 a.m. around New Year) and sunset by more than 5 hours (from 4:01 p.m. in mid-December to 9:17 p.m. in late June).
In this article, I provide all the necessary information a photographer needs to plan their trip to Prague concerning sunrise and sunset times.
What you’ll find below
- An overview of sunrise and sunset times in Prague through the year
- How daylight saving time affects the clock times
- What to expect in spring
- What to expect in autumn
Traveling with family
Sunset times matter even more if you’re traveling with family. In late June the sun sets after 9 p.m., right in the middle of dinner. In mid-December it’s gone by about 4 p.m., long before most people expect it. Check the sunset for each day of your trip and plan dinner around it.
For those who are trying to figure when to come to take pictures, I highly recommend reading my article about the best times to come to Prague with regards to weather and photography.
Overview of sunrise and sunset times in Prague
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7:55 AM | 4:29 PM |
| February | 7:13 AM | 5:21 PM |
| March | 6:16 AM | 6:07 PM |
| – before time changes | 5:50 AM | 6:26 PM |
| – after time changes | 6:47 AM | 7:28 PM |
| April | 6:09 AM | 7:57 PM |
| May | 5:16 AM | 8:43 PM |
| June | 4:52 AM | 9:14 PM |
| July | 5:10 AM | 9:06 PM |
| August | 5:52 AM | 8:20 PM |
| September | 6:39 AM | 7:15 PM |
| October | 7:25 AM | 6:10 PM |
| – before time changes | 7:49 AM | 5:42 PM |
| – after time changes | 6:51 AM | 4:40 PM |
| November | 7:16 AM | 4:17 PM |
| December | 7:55 AM | 4:00 PM |
The times in the figure are determined based on the 15th day of the month. The times in this overview may differ from the real ones by a minute or two a year after year, hence they should only serve a basic informational value. For detailed planning of individual shoots, I recommend using apps like PhotoPills.
Does the Czech Republic use daylight saving time?
Yes. The Czech Republic uses daylight saving time (DST), like the rest of the European Union. In winter we run on Central European Time (CET, UTC+1), and from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October we switch to Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2).
The clocks change twice a year, always early on a Sunday morning:
- Spring: on the last Sunday in March, clocks jump forward from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. You lose an hour of sleep.
- Autumn: on the last Sunday in October, clocks go back from 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. You get an extra hour.
The rule counts Sundays, not weekends: if a month ends on a Saturday, the change happens the Sunday before. The next dates are October 25, 2026, March 28, 2027, and October 31, 2027.
The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end seasonal clock changes, but EU member states have never agreed on it, and there is no date for ending them. Until that changes, the clocks keep changing every year.
For photographers, the change hits your schedule right away. Plan around it. After the March change, sunrise and sunset in Prague both happen an hour later on the clock. In October they both move an hour earlier, so on the first evening after the change, blue hour starts a full hour before it did the day before.
Spring
In spring, the time moves forward one hour. On the last Sunday in March, the clocks jump from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. That night is one hour shorter. The next spring change is Sunday, March 28, 2027.
For sunrise photographers, this is the weekend the alarm clock gets easier. On the Saturday before the change, sunrise in Prague comes at about 5:52 a.m. The next morning it comes at about 6:49 a.m. Evenings shift the same way. Sunset and blue hour both arrive about an hour later than they did the day before.
Autumn
In autumn, the clocks move backward one hour. On the last Sunday in October, 3:00 a.m. becomes 2:00 a.m. again, and Prague goes back to Central European Time (CET, UTC+1).
The clocks change on these dates in the next few years:
- 2026: October 25 (the spring change already happened on March 29)
- 2027: March 28 and October 31
- 2028: March 26 and October 29
For sunrise photographers, the autumn change is the opposite of spring. Your alarm moves an hour earlier on the clock. On Saturday, October 24, 2026, sunrise in Prague is at about 7:39 a.m. On Sunday morning it’s at about 6:40 a.m. The light is the same. Only the number on the clock changes.
Evenings change the most. Sunset jumps from about 5:55 p.m. to about 4:53 p.m., so if you planned an evening shoot from memory, you’ll be late for the blue hour. By the end of November, the city is dark before most visitors have thought about dinner.
Conclusion
Now you have a good idea about when you have to wake up to go shoot sunrise, when you can make dinner reservations and how much time you will be able to sleep between the shoots.
Don’t forget to check out my article on when to come to Prague for photography. You will find more useful insights to help you plan a perfect photo trip.
If you visit the Czech Republic in the summer, I recommend that you plan for naps during the day because sleeping four or five hours in not only unhealthy but it will drive your creativity and joy away, too.
