Prague at any time of the year and with any political system is incredibly popular with tourists. People come here to admire ancient bridges and castles, shop, improve their health. If you bought a sightseeing tour to the Czech Republic, then the question of how to get from Prague Airport to the city center is unlikely to worry you, as representatives of the travel agency will take care of this. They will provide you with a comfortable shuttle that will take you to the door of the hotel.
If you travel around the Czech Republic yourself, then information on the existing transport in Prague will be very useful. In this country, the majority of the population speaks only their native language. People of the older generation who studied under the socialist system still remember Russian a little, but they are reluctant to communicate. For these reasons, it is advisable to at least be a little guided in the routes of buses and other modes of transport existing in the Czech capital in order to move around the city without extra time and money.
Tickets
Before you figure out how to get from Prague to the Prague airport and back, you need to familiarize yourself with the train payment system adopted in the Czech Republic. Supervisors here work in good faith. They do not make any concessions for tourists. In this wonderful country, the government made it as easy as possible for citizens to purchase tickets for all types of transport. They can be bought in special vending machines, in kiosks that have the inscription “Traffic”, in department stores, in some stores, even in some beer bars.
The machine will require you Czech crowns in coins or a bank card. If the exact amount required to purchase a ticket is not available, the smart machine will give change.
In other places you can pay with paper bills.
The third option to purchase a ticket is to order it via SMS over the phone. The service is provided by all mobile operators in the Czech Republic. The order must be made before boarding the vehicle, and not when the controllers entered the cabin. The fact is that in the reply SMS, which must be presented during the check, not only the code of the electronic ticket will be indicated, but also the time of its purchase, from which the validity period of the travel document is counted.
In the Czech Republic, as in many European countries, there is a very convenient system for using transport.
All residents and tourists who have come here for a long time can buy a ticket. These documents are issued for a period of one, three and 12 months. They are sold at the terminals of the Vaclav Havel Airport. In Prague, such a ticket can be purchased at some metro stations.
Who does not need a travel card, he can purchase one-time tickets. They indicate the time during which they are valid. It may be:
- 30 minutes.
- 1,5 hour.
- 24 hours.
- 72 hours
During this period, you can use any type of transport, but the ticket must be stamped. Otherwise, it is considered invalid. The stamp is placed once in the first vehicle that you used.
From the moment of composting, the time indicated on the ticket begins to be calculated.
Be careful! In the Czech Republic, composters (validators) are not located in bus and tram salons, but directly at bus stops.
Fare
For many Russians, it is important not only how to get from Prague to the Prague airport, but also how much it will cost. In the Czech Republic they love children and respect old age. Therefore, for passengers under 6 years old and over 70 years of age, travel here is free, and not only for Czechs, but for all citizens. You can obtain this right by taking special permission at the PID box office. It takes 5 minutes to complete and a passport. For children, you must additionally provide a passport for mom or dad. A certificate costs 20 kroons (53 rubles).
If you purchase an Opencard city card with an application for 120 CZK (323 rubles) and present it at the cash desk, free travel can be issued for a child under 15 years of age and an adult over 65 years of age.
Such a card can be taken at metro stations and free of charge. But in this case, children from 6 to 15 years old will have to buy a ticket.
The fare will depend on the time during which the card can be used.
The price of a monthly pass is 670 kroons (1800 rubles).
An adult single ticket costs from 24 to 310 kroons (from 64 to 830 rubles). Children from 12 to 55 crowns (from 32 to 148 rubles). In extreme cases, you can buy a travel document directly from the driver, but in a vehicle its price is higher than at points of sale.
In the Czech Republic, a rule has been established according to which luggage, for example, large suitcases, must also be paid. One place costs 16 kroons (43 rubles). It is free allowed to transport:
- Animals in special baskets for transportation or with muzzles.
- Baby carriages (if the baby is in them).
- Skis (1 pair).
- Bicycle (only in the subway).
- Small bags or boxes (45 x 25 x 70 cm).
Buses
This is the most common form of transport in Prague. In total there are about 300 routes. They cover with their network almost all areas of the capital and suburbs. Buses work round the clock. Among the routes, there are only daytime ones that carry passengers from 4-30 in the morning until 12 at night. There are night buses, starting to work after midnight, from 0-30 hours to 4-30 in the morning. In the city, these are routes from 501 to 514, and in the countryside from 601 to 607. Therefore, it does not matter when you arrive in Prague. When you get from the airport to the city, you can always easily and inexpensively get to the object you need.
A nice feature of Czech buses is that at each stop there is a timetable for their movement, which is strictly observed by drivers.
Tourists should take into account that this type of transport is prohibited in the historical part of Prague and in some urban areas. Basically, buses only reach metro or tram transfer stations, and they also go out of town.
Metro
In the story of how to get from Prague to the Prague airport, you can not ignore the subway. It consists of three branches (yellow, red, green) and covers most of the city. It is very convenient for tourists to get by metro to the transfer point for buses to the airport. On the green branch is the station "Nadrazhi Veleslavin". On the yellow - Zlichin station.
The metro runs from 5am to 12am.
Tram
This mode of transport cannot be reached from the Vaclav Havel Airport to Prague, but it is better than others for trips around the city, each of which can become a small tour. In total, there are 35 tram routes in the Czech capital. You can ride on this type of transport in all areas of the capital, including the center and the old part. On weekends, the Nostalgic tram is launched, intended mainly for tourists.
This type of transport operates from 4-30 to 24-00. It also provides 9 routes that operate at night from 0-30 to 4-30 hours.
In addition to the metro, buses and trams, Prague has a funicular and ferry crossings. With their help, you can make tourist excursions.
Taxi
Private carriage is prohibited in the Czech Republic, but all taxis are owned by entrepreneurs, not the state. The most popular carrier is AAA. Taxis in Prague must have a stationary lamp, which has the inscription "TAXI". The registration number and company name must be indicated on the doors of the machine.
The cost of services for all carriers is approximately the same. For landing, you need to pay 40 crowns (197 rubles), for 1 km of travel - from 20 to 30 crowns (53 to 80 rubles). Waiting for 6 crowns (16 rubles) per minute. In traffic jams nobody turns off the counter. At the end of the trip, the driver must issue a receipt, but in practice this is not always done. Many tourists report in their reviews of a taxi in Prague that drivers here, taking advantage of the ignorance of foreign passengers, often take them to their destination in roundabout ways, and they require large sums of money for travel without providing any financial document.
If you want to get to your destination from Prague airport by taxi, it is better to book it in advance on special sites. The most popular of them are Free Taxi and KiwiTaxi. These sites provide the opportunity to choose the brand and capacity of the car, specify some features of the trip, for example, transportation of an animal or a disabled person. The driver must meet you at the airport, put you in the car and take you to the point specified in the order. It can be any address in Prague or outside the city.
An airport
The Czech Republic is a small country. Only 5 airports operate on its territory, one of which is named after Vaclav Havel. It is located from the center of Prague about 20 km. There are 4 terminals at the airport. The average tourists may be interested in two of them. They are indicated by numbers:
- Terminal 1 accepts flights from countries that have not yet entered the Schengen zone. That is, most Russians come here.
- Terminal 2 serves flights from Schengen countries, but in emergency situations passengers from Russia can also be accepted here. It also serves our compatriots who traveled to the Czech Republic with a transfer in any country of the European Union (in Poland, Germany, Latvia, Belgium and others).
The transport from Prague airport to the city for tourists of both terminals is the same, since the facilities are not far from each other and are connected by an internal corridor. The difference between them is that the passengers of the first have to go through passport control, and the passengers of the second can take their things on the conveyor and freely go out into the city.
Also at the airport there is terminal 3 (intended for private airliners and charter flights) and terminal 4 (serves only VIP-persons).
How to get from Prague airport to the center cheap
We have already figured out what types of transport exist in Prague. If you want to get from the airport to the city cheaply, it is better to use buses. There are three such routes - 100, 119 and 910. Stops are located in the immediate vicinity of the terminals. Tickets can be bought at the vending machine or at a kiosk with the inscription “Information”.
Bus number 100 in 18 minutes and 32 kroons will take you to the Zlichin metro station. Interval of movement up to 15 minutes.
By bus number 119 you can get to the metro station Nadrazhi Veleslavin in 7-8 minutes and 24 kroons.
Route 910 is nightly. It begins to function from 24-00, ends - at 4-30 in the morning. The interval of movement is 20-25 minutes. This bus runs through the city.
How to get from the airport to Prague with comfort
It is no secret that the fastest and most convenient means of transportation is a taxi. It is inconvenient to take a bus from Prague airport to your hotel with suitcases for several reasons. Firstly, it is possible to drive on it only part of the way, and then you have to change to the metro or tram. Secondly, it’s not enough to get to the desired stop, it will still take some distance with things to walk to the place of temporary residence. Thirdly, you need to navigate the city well in order to know where to go and where to go.
Another thing is a taxi. The driver will load your things in the car and take you to the door of the hotel. True, this service will cost from 600 kroons (from 1600 rubles).
Another way to get in comfort is to book a transfer from Prague Airport to your destination in advance. In this case, this type of transport does not imply a comfortable bus from a travel agency, but a car from one of the private carriers, that is, the same taxi, but with an officially registered trip and with fixed prices. You will be served a car - a classic foreign car. There will be no TAXI logos on it. In order not to make a mistake and not get into someone else's car, you need to verify its number with the one indicated in your order.
On average, the service costs from 600 to 900 kroons (from 1600 to 2400 rubles).
How to get from Prague to Prague Airport
No matter how beautiful the Czech Republic may be, the time will come to return home. During your stay in Prague, you are sure to understand how transport works here. Therefore, the path to the airport will not be difficult for you. If after all the excursions Czech crowns remain available, they can be spent on a taxi. Drivers will take you to the airport in minutes.
A cheaper option is to use buses. If you leave during the day, you need to take the green line to the Nadrazhi Veleslavin station by metro, and then transfer to bus number 119.
You can also get to the Zlichin station on the yellow branch . Next, take bus number 100, next to the airport.
If you are leaving at night, you need to find out in advance where the bus stop number 910 closest to your hotel is. Using this route, you can get from Prague to the airport for only 32 CZK per passenger.