Cheap & Reliable (Transport in Prague)

Member Name: Irp13

Product:	Transport in Prague
Date:	24/05/02 (366 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, frequent, saves feet

Disadvantages: -

To be honest I don't have that much to add to what the other opinions in this category say, but I feel they missed a couple of points so I decided to write my own op.

The Airport

If your arriving in the Czech Republic this is where you are likely to be entering so I feel a special mention is worthwhile. The airport is actually quite near the center of the city with the bus taking probably less than half an hour. Depending on your amount of luggage, the time of day and how much you like getting lost in a new city with you luggage, will effect your choice of how you get to your hotel/hostel. The cheapest way is without a doubt by bus and tube, which is likely to cost 12Kc (24p). All you need to do is find the bus stop for the 119 that take you to the end of Metro lina A, Dejvicka. There you can get the metro which ever station is nearest to you accomodation. This method will mean that you'll need to find the hotel on your own, which could put some people of this method.

The second method (and the one we used, since we arrived gone 10pm) is the airport to Hotel minibus service. This service has a both in the airport terminal were you can go and enquire about it. It costs 350Kc (7ukp) for each drop-off for 1-4 people and a bit more for 5-8 people. Whilst this is a lot more expensive than the bus/tube route, they will drop you outside the door to your hotel/hostel, which can save on stress and the arms. Just make sure you have an address of where your staying.

The third method is to take a taxi, I guess if you arrive in the middle of the night this may be your only choice. Since we never used Taxi's I've nothing really to say about them, except they apparently rip-off tourists, so probably best to make sure the meters on or agree a price before setting off.

On the way back to the airport I felt that there was only one option for us, the Metro/Bus route. This is sheer simplicity, get the metro to Dejvicka and
then get bus 119. The stop for 119 is easy to spot since it has a plane taking off logo on it. The only possible problem with this route is that there is not much room for your luggage should the bus be full.

Around Prague

Tickets

I have to say that if young, relatively fit and centrally located you won't really need public transport but it does speed things up. The first thing you need to know about is tickets. The easiest place to find tickets is in a metro station, there they will have machines and a manned office in some to buy tickets from. We never found anywhere else to buy tickets but I'm sure there are places.

The types of tickets are a single journey 9Kc (18p), this has different conditions on depending on how your travelling so I avoided it. The 12Kc ticket (24p), this gives you either 60 or 90 minutes of travel depending on the time of day, with this ticket you can change as much as you like (as long as its in the center two zones - which is a large area). The only thing to be aware of is that with these tickets you need an additional 6Kc ticket for any piece of baggage over a certain size, whereas with longer tickets you get one piece of large baggage in the price. Next is the 24hour ticket at 72Kc (1.44ukp) which is valid for twenty four hours after stamping, this is the largest ticket available from the ticket machine. From ticket offices you can get a 3day (200Kc/4ukp), 7 day and 15 day tickets, these are ideal if you intend to use the public transport quite often in your stay since they cover trams, metro and buses to anywhere in Prague your likely to want to go.

When you first use a ticket you will need to validate it. On buses and trams this done by inserting the end in one of the bright yellow machines that are mounted on the vertical grab bars, on the Metro they are located, normally, at the top of the escalator, you can't miss them since there is a whole load of metal bollards that are
about a person wide. You only need to validate your ticket once. The validation prints the time and date on your ticket along with some miscellaneous information, this is the time from when your 72 hours starts on a 3 day ticket for example. I guess that it is feasible to bulk buy tickets and then validate them as you need them if your not going for a long validity ticket. Once you validated your ticket you can then put in your pocket/wallet/bag and forget about it since there are no ackward barriers to get through. The only reason you'll need it again is if a ticket inspector wants to see it, but we never encountered any of them in the three days we were there.

One of the most useful thing that you can pickup is a map of the tram network, it is free and in english with an explanation of the ticketing system. We found ours in a bureau de change. This is essential as not many tram stops have maps and hence you can easily ending up jumping on a random tram and seeing where it takes you.

The trams are possibly the best way to get around the city. The only problem is that they will occasionally get stuck in traffic. There are tram stops all over the place and they are easy enough to find, just follow the lines. Tram stops are usually 3 foot wide islands in the road with a sign telling you which routes go from there. These aren't necessarily the most pleasent places to stand with traffic flying past you on one side but they never feel stupidly dangerous. It is important to note that you can't buy tickets at tram stops so it is essential you've already brought one (validated or not). When your tram stop simply jump on board and validate your ticket if necessary. Be warned when the lights start flashing above the doors starts to flash and a horn sounds the doors are closing and I wouldn't recommend you try to get on or off. Depending on the age of your tram you will either get just audio announcements of where the next stop is, or a
small screen announcing it as well. At the front of all carriages is a clock a display showing which zone your in (normally P). Some trams do get very crowded and can be hard to get a seat, with only one row on either side. If you over shoot you stop it is very simple to get back by just crossing the road and catching one headed the other way.

Buses are very similar to trams but go to different places and have more seating. Simply jump on and validate your ticket if necessary.

The metro only has three lines and is consequently nice and simple compared to London. The metro is the fastest way to get across Prague but there's onot much to see. The main difference with the underground is the fact you need to have a valid ticket enter certain part of the station, so when you see the validation machines make sure you have a valid ticket. The underground is spaceous, clean and has a remarkably smooth ride. However it can be confusing coming back to ground level as lots of stations have multiple exits which feel like they a located some way apart. Unfortunely, my most enduring memory is people injecting herion in the phone booths in a station one evening.

The furnicular railway is also covered by the public transport tickets. This will take you up Petrin. This hill is on the west of the old town and affords spectacular views. You'll need to get off at the midway stop and climb some steps. I walked up this hill early one ver warm evening and it is quite tiring so the railway is reccomended.

Apparently there are pickpockets in operation on the tube and trams, so be vigiliant. We never had any trouble but two blokes in their mid-twenties who are both around 6'4", aren't likely to be a pickpockets favourite target.

Overall Prague public transport is good value and clean. It also runs very regularly . I would recommend that you invest in a 3,7 or 15 day ticket if you intend to stay in Prague for any length of
time and want to travel around a lot.

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