Getting around Prague

The conference venue is near the Prague Castle, and about 20 minute downhill walk to Mala Strana with Charles Bridge and other touristy places. The most touristy part (not counting the Castle) is on the opposite side of the river if you cross the Charles Bridge. To go back to the hotel from downtown you can take a tram 22, 23 or 25 depending on where exactly you are. There is an extensive park Petrin near the hotel with a small copy of Eiffel tower.

Local transport

Public transport: Prague has excellent network of public transportation (buses, trams, metro), and most locals depend on it. Google maps seem to have a good idea about the public transport schedules, so they do a very good job in finding routes within Prague using public transport.

To use public transport you need to buy a ticket. The tickets are timed: they are valid for up-to 90 minutes from the moment you time-stamp them in a yellow box on a tram, bus or at the entrance to a metro station. You stamp them only once upon entering the first bus/tram/metro and then as long as you are within the 90 minute window you can change between buses, trams and metro as much as you like. Whether you have a valid ticket (=current stamped ticket) is checked at random by a plain-clothes officers. They like to frequent the same lines as tourists do for example tram #22. Tickets are available to buy at news stands, ticket machines at some tram/bus/metro stops, and also on most trams and buses. (Look for a small orange box usually in the middle of a car which dispenses tickets; you can pay by a contactless card or cell phone. Such a ticket should be already time-stamped.) A 90-minute ticket costs 40 CZK (about $2 USD), there is also a 30-minute ticket for 30 CZK and a daily ticket for 120 CZK.

Taxis: We recommend using Uber or some other similar app. Prague airport has a deal with Uber to serve the airport and there are kiosks at the airport to book it. We do not recommend hailing a taxi on a street because you might get ripped-off with high probability.

Things to do when you get tired

  • Climb one of the many towers to get a great view of Prague:
    • Petřín Tower - a two-year-younger cousin of the Eiffel Tower.
    • Charles Bridge towers - located on either side of the bridge.
    • Clementinum Astronomical Tower - including the old Baroque library.
    • Tower at St. Vitus Cathedral.
  • Cross the Charles Bridge before tourists wake up (by 9 AM).
  • Stroll around the crooked streets of Old Town, Lesser Town, Kampa, and Prague Castle.
  • Rent a pedal boat on the river near the National Theater.
  • Visit:
    • Prague Castle, its gardens, and St. Vitus Cathedral.
    • Old Town Square with the astronomical clock and a procession of apostles every full hour.
    • Old Jewish Quarter and Old Jewish Cemetery.
    • Vyšehrad - the old site of Czech emperors with Slavín, the cemetery for the famous Czechs. (Find the grave of Karel Čapek, who invented the word robot, the graves of Dvořák, Smetana, etc.)
    • The old sewage plant in Bubeneč.
  • Watch:
    • Animals in Prague Zoo, one of the top zoos worldwide. It's really good, trust us. You will need at least a day to see a reasonable portion of it.
    • Stars in the state-of-the-art Planetarium,
    • or the real deal at the Štefánik Observatory near Petřín Tower.
  • Listen to:
    • Live jazz at some of the venues around town.
    • Classical music all around.
  • Learn about Czech artists between the two world wars at the Trade Fair Palace of National Gallery with a nice collection of French art from that period. If you are after fine-art in general visit MET (New York), Louvre (Paris), Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam),... I think you got the idea. Still itchy? Then you might give a shot to a current exhibition in Kunsthalle, DOX, Rudolfinum Gallery, Sovovy Mlýny.
  • Avoid tourist traps: If it smells like a tourist trap, it is a tourist trap.