Last year, almost 610,000 people visited the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Pilsen (Plzeňský Prazdroj), with a significant increase in interest in tours of the brewery site. At the same time, guided tours of the brewery’s historic cellars—one of the city’s most visited attractions since opening in 1985—welcomed a record number of tourists.
Almost 540,000 visitors came directly to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery last year, an increase of nearly 2% compared to 2023. In addition to tours of Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus, and the historic brewery electricity centre, visitors can enjoy numerous other experiences, including the Na Spilce restaurant and various events in the brewery courtyard. The most significant growth was in the tours themselves, which saw a 15% rise in attendance compared to the previous year.
“Domestic tourists have traditionally been the largest group of visitors, followed by Germans, South Koreans, and Taiwanese. However, many Americans and Chinese also visited the brewery. Notably, we saw the return of tourists from Asia last year, who primarily come for the Pilsner Urquell tour,” says Pavla Mášková, Head of Visitor Services at Plzeňský Prazdroj.
Last year, the Pilsner Urquell tour was voted the best brewery tour in Europe. At ITB Berlin, Europe’s largest tourism trade fair, it was awarded the title of ‘Europe’s Leading Beer Tour Visitor Experience’ at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2024, beating stiff competition from Heineken, Guinness, and other European brewery tours.
The Brewery Museum and the historic cellars of the Pilsen brewery recorded over 70,000 visitors last year—an increase of more than 6% compared to the previous year. Guided tours of the brewery’s historic cellars had their best year ever, even surpassing pre-pandemic visitor numbers.
This year, the brewery plans to expand its range of experiences on-site. A completely new exhibition on raw materials for beer production is set to open in May. Additionally, to mark the 40th anniversary of the brewery’s historic cellars opening, a previously inaccessible section will be made available to the public.
Traditional and popular events will also return this year, including ‘Summer in the Brewery’ (Léto v Prazdroji), the ‘Pilsner Fest’, and special guided tours marking the anniversary of Pilsen’s liberation by the American army in May.
