Throughout my semester in Prague, I've been able to travel quite a bit and use most forms of Czech transportation. Prague has a great system of public metros, trams, buses, and trains. Here is a some basic information about the most common ways to get around.
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| If there isn't a metro stop nearby, a tram stop usually is. |
Tram
The trams run on rails in the streets. Don't cross the street if you see a tram coming, they usually won't stop for pedestrians unless there's a stoplight. Trams run 24 hours a day, with special night trams that come only every 20-ish minutes from midnight to 5am. Your metro tickets will also work on the tram. You can't buy tickets on the tram, but you do validate them on the tram. Stop lists are posted on these red signs. They usually have electronic stop lists in the inside. They make more stops than the metro and you can usually find a line that goes where you want it to go.
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| These ticket machines let you buy tickets that work for both the metro, the bus, and the tram. |
Bus
I haven't seen a lot of buses in the center of Prague, but I know there are several lines. You can easily transfer from the metro to the bus to the airport, and that's the only time I have taken a public bus. If you are taking a charter bus like Eurolines or Flixbus to go to another country, for example Germany or Hungary, you will most likely be leaving from Florenc, Prague's central bus station, which is a stop accessible on the red metro line. To get to the buses, you usually have to go through the station and go up some stairs to the right to get up to ground level and walk across a parking lot.
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| Stand single-file on the right side of the escalator to let people in a hurry walk down the left side. |
Metro
This is my preferred form of public transportation. There are 3 lines: red, green, and yellow, and they run from 5am until midnight every day. Metros come every two to eight minutes depending on the hour. At the Muzeum and Mustek stops, you can transfer between two lines. When you take the metro, you will probably go down an escalator. If you do, go single file and stand on the right side, leaving space for people to walk down the steps to the left. You can buy tickets before going down the escalators at each stop and you validate tickets in the little machines before you get to the second escalator down to the actual metro.
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| This is the inside of the Malostranska metro stop. |
Plane
While studying abroad in Prague with CEA, you'll probably be flying in and out of Vaclav Havel airport. To get to the airport, you can take the green or yellow metro lines. Get off at the stop with the airplane icon next to it on the map, then you'll take a bus to your terminal. The terminal stops are not in order. Terminal 1 is first and that's for private jets. Terminal 3 is next, and it's for flights going out of the Schengen Area, so at the moment, you'll use this if you're going to places like the UK. Terminal 2 is the final terminal stop, and that's for flights within the Schengen Area, so this is the one I use the most. If you have to check-in for your flight at the airport, the earliest you can do that is two hours before you take-off time. Flights don't start boarding until 20 or 15 minutes before the take-off time.
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| Trains can take you to other Czech cities or to other countries. |
Train
You can buy train tickets online or at the train station, Hlavni Nadrazi, which is a stop on the red line. There are trains that go to other cities in the Czech Republic like Brno and Karlstejn and there are some that go out of the country like to Vienna. Look for your train on the departure boards, the platform probably won't be posted until 15 minutes before you're supposed to leave. The "S" platforms are the north platforms and the "J" platforms are the south platforms. Follow the signs to your platform. Some people reserve seats on the Cesky Drahy trains, and you can tell which seats are reserved if you look above the seats at the numbers. If the destination is on the electronic board next to them, then they are reserved. The ticket officer might take a couple hours to come check your ticket.
Laura C. is the Fall 2016 CEA MOJO in Prague, Czech Republic. She is currently a sophomore studying Public Relations and Advertising at Chapman University
