Šternberský Palace — Attraction in Prague

I never thought I’d write a negative review about an art gallery, but unfortunately, our visit to the Sternberg Palace was quite disappointing—not because of the art itself, which is fine, but because of the way we were treated. Upon arrival, we were forced to leave our bags at the cloakroom. My husband had a small Decathlon backpack, and I was carrying a small cross-body handbag. The staff insisted we leave them, even though we saw other visitors walking around with bags of the same size or even larger. It was clearly not a consistent rule, which raises questions about the criteria used to apply it. Unfortunately, the cloakroom attendant and the receptionist did not speak English, so it was difficult to ask for clarification or understand the reasoning behind this decision. Another issue was that the cloakroom had no secure storage—there were no lockers, just open shelves. Although a staff member was present, it still felt unsafe to leave important belongings like passports and wallets in such an open area. It’s not about distrusting anyone specifically, but it’s natural not to want to leave personal documents and valuables in a space that isn’t locked. On a positive note, the lady security guard during the first part of our visit was very kind and professional, and we appreciated her presence. However, the experience changed drastically in the second half of the visit. A different security guard behaved in a way that made us very uncomfortable—he paced back and forth constantly, staring at us in a way that felt intrusive and unwarranted. It became hard to enjoy the art because we felt watched and judged the entire time, as if we were suspected of something, despite carrying nothing with us. It gave the strong impression that we were not welcome, and it honestly felt like he just wanted us to leave. Please don’t say this was just standard security protocol—I’ve visited countless galleries and museums around the world, including those with far more valuable collections, and I’ve never felt this uncomfortable. What surprised us even more was how different the experience was compared to Schwarzenberg Palace, just across the street. There, the staff were welcoming and kind, and the overall atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant—exactly what you would expect from a place that values its visitors and wants them to...

The people working there are incredibly rude. We visited on a day where there were barely any people there, and it seems as though that’s not a rare occasion. The place is very dirty and worn, and had no information in English. A security lady followed us around in an almost creepy manner, as though we were going to steal their paintings. She scolded us for being to close to the paintings, though we kept half a meters distance at all times and there were no ropes or indicators of distance between viewer and paintings. In the end we left because another old security guard stopped as an spoke in a reprimanding way to us in Czech, which we let her know we do not speak. Her colleague who was stalking us told us “no bag” and we assumed she meant we could not carry our backpacks in the museum. An understandable request, which we answered: we will put it in the wardrobe. This did not satisfy her and she kept pulling us aside and bugging us while we tried to leave the place. We were forced to carry our backpacks in hand, as she would not let us walk away if we carried them correctly on our backs. We sped out the building with 2-3 security guards in our heels until the moment we stepped out again. Very uncomfortable experience, totally ruined our visit and...

It took us a while to find the entrance of the museum, which is not clearly indicated. The entrance fee is not expensive, and it is free for students (a student card or ID will be required to get the reduction). The museum has a few very nice paintings among its collection, but that's the only thing we appreciated about it. The other painting are quite mediocre, so the experience overall isn't overwhelming, as we believed it would've been instead. Museum guards follow you everywhere as if you could damage the paintings any minute now, and it is extremely unpleasant. It makes the visit stressful and you end up focusing on those weird people following you everywhere rather than on the paintings. Besides they don't want to show you that they're observing you, so they act as if everything's normal. The only reason to visit the museum are the few very beautiful painting that it offers, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a...