Prague - mecca for the Tatra T3 tram
Prague - using Public Transport
Using public transport in Prague is pretty easy. The metro, all the trams, all the red and white buses, and even the Petrin funicular, are operated by city-owned Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy. Tickets are transferable when you have to change, and can even be used on many of the local rail services operated by Czech Railways (ČD). Normally you buy your tickets from a machine or one of the information offices. Best value if you are making a lot of journeys are tickets for 24 or 72 hours.
DPP Website
The operator's comprehensive website is www.dpp.cz, which has a lot of information in English and German as well as Czech (click on the flags top right). The website includes a range of maps (dopravní schémata) showing metro, tram and bus services. If necessary you can also find detailed timetables in pdf format either for whole routes (linkový jízdní řád) or for individual stops (zastávkové jízdní řády). You can also input your origin and destination to find possible connections - look under Journey Planner in the English version, or Vyhledání Spojení (find a connection) in Czech.
Fares and tickets (from July 2011)
From July 1st 2011 a simplified fare system is in operation, with a choice of four different periods of validity: 30 minutes (24 CZK), 90 minutes (32 CZK), 24 hours (110 CZK), or a 3-day ticket valid for 72 hours (310 CZK). All tickets are transfer tickets, which means you can change between modes, for example from metro to tram or bus or vice versa, as many times as necessary within the time limit. Included in this are the Petrin funicular, night buses, and ferries. The DPP website has a full chart of fares in English.
You must validate your ticket in one of the yellow validators when you start your journey (near the doors on board trams and buses, or at the entrance to metro platforms). Note that you only validate your ticket once, so even the 3-day ticket should only be validated the first time you use it. The date and time stamped on your ticket when you validate it is the start time for the period of validity. You can therefore purchase your tickets in advance. So if you are staying for, say, four days, you could buy a three-day and a one-day ticket on arrival, validate the three-day ticket immediately, and save the one-day ticket for validating on your last day. Remember that the one-day and three-day tickets are valid for 24 and 72 hours respectively, so a one-day (24 hour) ticket validated at 1815 hrs on Friday will be valid until 1815 hrs on Saturday.
A Prague ticket machine
Children aged 6 to 15 and Seniors aged 65 to 70 with appropriate photo ID travel at half price (but holders of an 'Opencard' travel free). There is no discount, however, for the 3-day ticket. Children aged under 6 and seniors aged 70+ travel free.
Public transport in Prague operates as an open system, meaning that there is no need to show your ticket unless requested. You can therefore board trams and buses at any door, and there are no entry barriers at metro stations. However, you do need to remember to validate your ticket on first use. Roving inspectors are likely to ask to see your ticket, and hefty fines are imposed for travellers without a correctly validated ticket. On trams and buses ticket inspectors are likely to be in plain clothes and if you have any doubts about their authenticity you can ask to see their gold identity badge. At metro stations they are more likely to be in uniform and work in teams.
Until the fare change on July 1st 2011, fares in Prague had remained unchanged since January 2008. The changes in July 2011 included the extension of time limits, the abolition of transfer restrictions on the short journey ticket, and the withdrawal of the 5-day ticket. You can read more about the changes by viewing the 2010 version of this page.
Where to buy tickets
Ticket machines are located at metro stations and principal tram stops. They are easy to use and have instructions in English. You can buy 24-hour tickets from the machines as well as single tickets, but for 3-day tickets you may have to visit a DPP information centre or the ticket office at a metro station. If you are arriving at the airport there are DPP information centres in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, both open from 0700 to 2100 every day. If arriving at the main railway station (Praha hlavní), there are machines on the modern concourse near the exits, and the adjacent kiosk may also be open. Failing that it is only a 600 metre walk (or one stop on the metro) to the main DPP information office in the underground shopping area at Muzeum metro station, open daily 0700 to 2100. To get there from Praha hlavní station, exit through the main doors from the concourse (i.e. the lower level), turn left through the gardens and head for the front of the distinctive Muzeum building with the domed tower. Entrances to the metro are close by, designated by an M symbol - the information office is one level down and is a small walk-in glass fronted affair.
As well as the full range of tickets, the information centres sell a very nice detailed transport map (plán města Praha) and also have basic give-away maps, including an English version "Getting Around Prague: metro tram bus", which includes details of fares and how to use the system. A further free booklet has information in 10 languages. Sometimes there is also a small range of books and models aimed at enthusiasts. Other information centres are situated at the metro stations of Mustek, Anděl, and Nádraží Holešovice; these open 0700 to 2100 on Mondays to Fridays, and 0930 to 1700 on Saturdays.
Fare Zones
An older T3 tram showing the yellow validator and time/zone indicator
Most visitors to Prague don't need to worry about fare zones as the standard Prague tariff includes all metro and tram services, as well as bus services right out into the suburbs, including the airport. You only need to pay extra if you are travelling beyond the immediate suburbs of Prague into the surrounding country area. The standard Prague tariff covers two zones, P and 0, the latter being a border zone between the Prague zone and the peripheral zones, which are numbered 1 to 5. Actually, zone 0 consists of two zones for the purposes of single tickets (0 and B) but counts as one for tickets valid for 24 hours or more.
If you are in any doubt about which zone you are in, there is a clock inside trams and buses at the front, which also displays the zone, so if you thought the "P" meant p.m. it actually indicates that you are in zone P. Since all Prague tram routes are in zone P, you will never see anything else displayed on trams!
The peripheral zones cover a large area surrounding Prague going out to places such as Beroun, Kladno, Lysá nad Labem and Milovice. An integrated fare system known as PID (Pražská Integrovaná Doprava or Prague Integrated Transport) operates throughout the whole of the area, administered by an organisation known as Ropid. The Ropid website has an English version, including maps and fares. A 24 hour ticket covering Prague (zones P,0,B) and all five peripheral zones (1 to 5) costs 160 CZK.
Tickets for the standard Prague tariff area (zones P,0,B) are also valid on local trains operated by Czech Railways (ČD). PID tickets valid in zones further away from Prague are also valid on certain lines - those lines which are fully integrated into the fare system are shown in blue on the zonal map. Single journey PID tickets can be used on these sections of line as well as day and season tickets. Note that a couple of local lines in Prague were not previously fully integrated into the tariff system (see the old map from 2009) but this was rectified at the beginning of 2011. If you are mainly using rail services, then you should consider the good value regional and national passes offered by Czech Railways.
