Home --> Tourism --> Prague public transport
General information - Czech Republic
Currency: Czech Crown (Korun ceskych) of 100 heller (haleru) - 1 UK pound=approx 40 Kc; $1 US=approx 22 Kc. (as at June 2006)
Coins are all inscribed "Ceska Republika" (do not accept former Czechoslovak currency (Czechoslovak crowns - korun ceskoslovenskych - Kcs) - notes issued by the Czechoslovak National Bank - Ceskoslovenska Narodni Banka, and coins issued in the name of the old Czechoslovak Republic and Czechoslovak Peoples' Republic (Ceskoslovenska Republika - to 1960), or the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia (Ceskoslovenska Socialisticka Republika - 1960 - 1990) or the Czech and Slovak Federated Republic (CSFR - Ceska a Slovensko Federativna Republika - 1990 - 1993) were withdrawn in 1993) and are in the values of 10, 20 and 50 haler (which tourists are unlikely to come across) and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50Kc. Banknotes are issued by the Czech National Bank (Ceska Narodni Banka) in values of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 Kc.
If you need to change money, you will see Bureaux de Change all over Prague. For the benefit of your wallet, I recommend you don't use them more than you absolutely have to, as they frequently charge nearly 10% in commission fees! It's much better to use one of the regular banks (e.g.Komercni Banka, which also has Visa cash machines). The American Express office on Vaclavske namesti (Wenceslas Square) has a cash machine which you can use to draw money from your bank account at home if you've subscribed to Amex' service. To get to the American Express office from hlavni nadrazi, the main railway station, walk out of the main exit of the station directly opposite the stairs to the platforms; you will find yourself in a little park --Vrchlického Sady -- turn left and the footpath eventually turns into a little street -- Washingtonova -- keep walking, you will pass the Czech parliament on the left and soon come to the corner of Vaclavske namesti (in the summer of 1995 there was building work going on here and you had to take a shortcut through the department store on the corner!); you will find yourself at the top of Vaclavske namesti, by the famous statue of the saint on his horse. The Amex office is on the left hand side by the first or second corner if I remember correctly.
Czech currency is now theoreticaly freely convertible, but you're more likely to get a decent rate for your leftover crowns while you're still in the country.
WARNING! Particularly in the area of the main
railway stations (hlavni nadrazi and Holesovice nadrazi) you will find quite a
large number of gypsies, (including small children) begging for money. They are
not popular with the local folk, who unfortunately do exhibit racist tendencies
with regard to the Romanies which led to attempted Romany exoduses to Canada
and Britain in 1997. Please do not encourage them by giving them money, or
you'll be pestered for a long time. Useful phrase: "nemluvim cesky"
(NAME-loo-vim chesski - "I don't speak Czech") - or you can feign ignorance by
speaking in an obscure language (I always knew Welsh would come in useful
sometime!). BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS in these areas!
This is not to say that you shouldn't give money to obviously deserving cases, of course.
When I first wrote this page in 1996, I said that "Pragues' public
transport system is based on an immaculate Metro system which has three lines
(A - colour-coded green; B - colour-coded yellow; and C -
colour-coded red) and a rather less pristine but
still reliable tram and bus system". When I revisited in March 1999, I was
disappointed to see that the city has received the attention of graffiti
"artists" in a big way, and I'm afraid the Metro's no longer as immaculate as
it once was, though it's still very efficient. It's worth buying a map of the
city which shows all the routes (Plán mesta, 1:20000 scale, ISBN
80-7011-345-6, costs around 50Kc) and studying it for a while!
The
ticketing system is fairly simple, but the ticket machines found at Metro
stations are a little intimidating if you don't read Czech! Tickets are sold on
a timed and zonal basis - as a tourist, you are basically interested in 2-zone
tickets which are the cheapest ones you can buy, and cover all the areas served
by the Metro, and a fair way further out of the city. There are two types of
single journey ticket: the neprestupni jizdenka or "non-changing ticket"
which are valid for 15 minutes after validation on trams for 14 Kc (these
tickets are also valid to travel a maximum of four stops on the Metro (not
including the one you started from) within 30 minutes of validation), and the
prestupni jizdenka or "changing ticket" which is valid for 60 minutes (5
a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday to Friday, valid for 90 minutes at all other times) for 20
Kc. (all prices from 1 July 2005, which was the first fare increase since my
first visit in 1996). If you run out of time on your ticket, you must
immediately validate another ticket to continue your journey. (Half price for
children 6-15 years old (i.e. until their 15th birthday); you also need a
half-price ticket for large items of luggage -- see the notices in Czech,
English and German headed Dopravni Informacie on the platforms of
all Metro stations for details of the maximum dimensions your luggage can be to
travel on your own ticket). The clock starts ticking when you validate the
ticket in the yellow machine on the tram or at the entrance of the Metro
station. You CAN change mode (tram to metro, or metro to tram, or tram to tram)
within the time validity of the prestupni jizdenka, but you're only
allowed on one tram with the neprestupni jizdenka, although you can
change metro lines if your destination is within 4 stops of where you started
your journey. The neprestupni jizdenka is not valid on the Petrin
funicular, or on the night tram routes (the ones with a white number on a blue
background -- ordinary day tram routes have a blue number on a white
background).
It is possible to buy period tickets for 24 hours from the Metro ticket machines for 80 Kc, and for 3, 7, or 15 days (3 day ticket costs 220 Kc, 7 day ticket costs 280 Kc, and a 15 day ticket costs 320 Kc from 2005) from the public transport information office (DP informacie) at certain Metro stations (e.g. Karlovo namesti, Muzeum, Mustek, and Nadrazi Holesovice). You MUST write your name and date of birth in the appropriate space on the back of a tourist ticket, otherwise the ticket is not considered to be valid and you will be liable to a fine if you're stopped by the plainclothes ticket inspectors (they'll just flash a little "DP" badge in front of you when they want to see your ticket - I was in Prague for a week in August 1996 and had my ticket inspected twice, and also once the one day I was there in March 1999 and once when I was there the following August).
How to use Metro ticket machines: Single tickets can be bought from the little yellow machines seen on the walls or fixed to posts at metro stations (these aren't the same little yellow machines that you validate your tickets in!). Select the type of ticket you want (stick to the buttons marked "2 pasma" as you're not interested in travelling through more zones) -- press either neprestupni 14 Kc, prestupni 20 Kc, or prestupni 7 Kc (for a half-price ticket), or 24 hodin 80Kc for a 24 hour ticket (the prices may, of course, change before your visit!). If you want more than one ticket, just press the relevant button as many times as you want tickets, then press the button near the bottom marked "vydej/issue". The display will then show the amount of money to be paid, and the coin slot will open. The total will be reduced as you enter coins into the machine, and the machine can give change. If you make a mistake using a ticket machine, press the "Storno" button to cancel and start again. All tickets, whether bought from a machine or from a manned office, must be validated in the machine at the entrance to the Metro, or on the tram or bus, when first used; the time stamped here starts the validity of the 24 hour ticket, but it's the date on the timestamp that starts the validity of the 3,7 or 15 day tickets, so if you don't stamp it until 6 p.m. you've wasted 18 hours of your tickets' validity.
Here are some examples of what you get for your money! ...
The text reads approximately:
Public transport
of the Capital City of
Prague
PRAGUE INTEGRATED TRANSPORT
Ticket machine 000874, ticket
no. 23715/6
Changing ticket
Valid for Prague in 2 zones
- working
days 5-20 hours ... 60 minutes
- other times ............... 90 minutes
*12 Kc 2 zones
The validation details on the left hand ticket
show that I used this ticket in tram vehicle 7244 on tram route 9 on the 27th
March 1999 at 11:56 a.m.; the right hand ticket was used at Nadrazi Holesovice
(NH) metro station, validation machine 11 at 10:45 a.m. the same day (I used a
second ticket on the tram because I wouldn't have finished my journey before
12:15). The fares quoted are those in use from 1996 to 2005
Maps of various aspects of Prague's Public Transport system can be found by following these links. You can either link directly to the maps on the PPT site, or to my copies of them (which may be out of date) which have the legends translated into English.
For a scrollable map of Prague's bus, tram, and metro routes, click here.
For full details of Pragues' Public Transport system, including details of all metro, tram, and bus routes, timetables for each stop, fares, conditions of carriage, history of the public transport system, and much more, see the home page of the Prague Public Transport Co.
Long-distance public transport information.
The timetable search engine of the Czech Railways can be found here. It gives details of the times and fares for train journeys throughout the Czech Republic.
The BUSportal can be found here. Unfortunately it's exclusively in the Czech language!
Internet connections while you're in Prague.
I have used the Spika Internet Cafe, which is located near Masarykovo nadrazi/Namesti Republiky - follow the tram tracks in the direction of hlavni nadrazi, and it's just after you cross the first street at the end of Masarykovo nadrazi. It's open from 8.00 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, and charges 20 Kc/15 minutes (16 Kc/15 minutes at weekends, or 50 Kc/hour with a subscription card good for a month). I have to say I'm surprised at the 2006 price - they were charging 25 Kc/15 minutes back in 1999!
Take a look at Arwels' Guide to Alcoholic Refreshment in Prague
If you would like to keep abreast of Czech news, you can subscribe to this mailing list: Radio Prague sends a daily digest of three or four news items and the weather forecast! Send an email to robot@radio.cz with the subject "SUBSCRIBE".
Return to the tourist menu.
Return to the
menu.
Last updated: 08-06-2006.
Served from http://www.demon.net/