Prior to visiting Prague, one of the only things I did research on was how to get to and from the airport – I did not want to pay for a taxi. Fortunately there are cheaper. The route I took was the cheapest I could find and one of the most logical to get into the city centre from the airport.
After exiting through arrivals at the airport I looked for the slender yellow ticket machines labelled ‘public transport tickets’. They are easy to spot, I found one almost straight away. there are multiple language settings and various ticket options.
- 90 minutes – 40 CZK (£1.33)
- 24 hours – 120 CZK (£4)
- 24 hours (including suburbs) – 240CZK (£7.99)
There are other ticket options available, depending on your travel plans. I chose the 24 hour ticket including suburbs since my hostel is was what I considered to be out in the suburbs, I also wanted to be on the safe side. These ticket prices offer great value for money, as they allow unlimited travel on all buses, trams and the metro.
Alternative: Airport Express Bus
An alternative option into the city is to take the Airport Express Bus which is clearly marked on the front of the bus and is a direct service form the airport to the main train station, this however is not covered on the day ticket, it is a separate service but offers a faster and more direct service into the city. This service costs 100CZK (£3.34) one way.
Validate your ticket
Please make sure after purchasing your ticket to validate it at one of the yellow machines at the bus stop before you get on the bus. Its fairly obvious which way round to validate the ticket but I still messed it up. I somehow managed to validate it the wrong way round and didn’t realise till my ticket got checked later in the day and the poor man was trying to figure out when I had done it.
Here is the route I took: it is not direct but only requires one quick change en route and is covered on the day ticket.
- Exiting the terminal you want to head straight across to the bus stops which are right outside the terminal.
2. You are looking for Bus 59 which will have the destination Nádraží Veleslavín on the front. (It is quite hard to miss the bus as its the longest bendy bus in Europe)
3. Exit the bus at the destination – Nádraží Veleslavín (the last stop)
4. Head for the stairs to the metro (there is a green arrow pointing down)
5. If you don’t have a station to go to, do what I did and pick one at random (I chose Malostranská as it had a picture above the name)
If you’re looking for an easy and cheap way to reach Prague’s city centre from the airport, I highly recommend using the public transport system. It’s straightforward, reliable and saves you money!