Transportation in Prague
This page summarizes basic info on different kinds of transport in Prague, how to use them, what to be aware of, etc.
Note to pedestrians: According to a law, all cars (except trams!) must yield to pedestrians on crosswalks. Anyway, if you walk, please do not rely on this. It is a relatively new law, people still did not get used to it and many drivers violate it! Always be careful when you cross a street.
Public Transport
Public transportation system is the cheapest mean of transport (beside walking on foot). You do not need to worry to use it, it is quite common in Europe to use public transports.
The Prague public transport consists of a subway system ("metro"), streetcars ("trams"), and buses. There is also one scenic funicular line to the hill of Petrin (unfortunately out of order for maintenance at this time).
Tickets
If you want to use the public transport, you have to buy a ticket in advance, prior to getting into a vehicle or metro area.
The same tickets are valid for all types of vehicles (metro, tram, bus, funicular). You may buy one-ride ticket (12 CZK), 1-day ticket (70 CZK), 3-day ticket (200 CZK), one-week ticket (250 CZK), or even 15-day ticket (280 CZK).
The one-ride ticket is valid for 60 minutes on bussiness days and for 90 minutes on weekends. Within this time period, you may change lines as you wish. There is also a special 8 CZK ticket for short rides, it is valid for 15 minutes in a single vehicle without changing (buses and trams) or for 4 stations (metro).
If you have a piece of baggage larger than 25cm x 45cm x 70cm (you will have it when travelling from the airport), additional ticket for the baggage is required, which costs 6 CZK.
Detailed information on the public transport system, including all fares, can be found at Prague Public Transit Co. web page. You can see there also pictures of the tickets.
Contest Hotels
To get to the contest area, use metro line "B" (the yellow one) to go to the stop called "Namesti Republiky". Then follow the signs which say "Namesti Republiky". You will arrive just next to the Municipal House (Obecni dum).
If you travel from the airport, you need to take the bus Nr. 119 first. It will take you to "Dejvicka" station (it is the terminal stop of the bus). Then you change to metro line "A" (green), go to "Mustek" station, and finally change to metro line "B".
Cabs (taxi)
Cabs are very expensive in Prague and the drivers often try to abuse foreigners' lack of information to get more money. Thing you should know before you go by a cab:
- Every cab car must have a price written on the doors. The price will usually consist of two parts: some fixed amount (typically about 25 CZK, i.e., $1) and a price per one kilometer (20-22 CZK, i.e., $0.8).
- The cab must have a taximeter inside, displaying the current price in CZK during the whole ride. Although some drivers will turn it off at the beginning or during the ride, it is illegal to do so. Theoretically, you should pay just the amount shown at the display.
- You can ask the driver to give you an estimate of the total cost in advance, based on your target place.
- If possible, do not stop cabs directly on the street. It is much better to call a taxi dispatcher and tell them your position. The drivers that work for large companies usually behave very well, since they are under control. Moreover, the price is usually much lower if you call the cab by phone.
- Credit cars are rarely accepted in cabs.
List of some radio-control taxi services follows. Disclaimer: we are not recommending any of these, we just found the phone numbers in a directory. We can take no responsibilities for anything.
| Name | Phone Nr. |
|---|---|
| AAA Radiotaxi | 14014 |
| Halotaxi | 2 4411 4411 |
| City taxi | 257 257 257 |
Traffic regulations
You may want to rent a car and drive it. We strongly recommend not doing that, unless you really know what you are doing and unless you are experienced with driving in big European (!!!) cities, such as Paris or Rome.
Czech traffic regulations differ from those in the U.S. Drivers behave totaly different and they are less predictable. Streets in the city center are overfilled with cars, there are almost no parking possibilities.
If you would still like to rent a car and drive it, some basic traffic regulations follow. But remember: you have been warned.
The most important thing is the right of way. A system of "priority roads" is used here. A traffic sign before a crossing tells you whether you are on the priority road (yellow rectangle) or not (red triangle). All traffic on non-priority roads must yield to the traffic on the priority roads.
 |
 |
| you have right of way | yield |
If there are no signs or more cars are on the same type of road, the one coming from the right side has the right of way. This also holds for T-shaped crossings: the traffic coming from the straight street might have to yield to the street joining from right!
Speed limits are given by signs in kmph. If there are no explicit limits, default values aply: 50 kmph in the city, 80 kmph on highways in the city, 90 kmph on roads other than in cities, and 130 kmph on regular highways.