Recommendation

As a tourist in a foreign city you may come into a situation where you will need help but your clever guidebook will stay silent and your mother will be miles away. What to do then? Well, first of all, don’t panic! You can solve this on your own. Just ask a local!

How easy you may say, however, not every Praguer know your native language. Unless you can speak Czech, this may cause huge misunderstanding on both sides! But don’t worry, you should pretty much always succeed with English. It is just the question of whom you ask.

The safest pick is of course the policeman. Unfortunately, not every policeman speaks English or other foreign language. They should, however the reality is some place else.

Students are always a good choice. English is taught nearly at every school or university in Prague. And it should be fresh in their heads. Don’t be afraid to speak to those 15 years old and up – their English should be sufficient. University students are a strike home.

Praguers in their thirtieths and fortieths should be able to help you too. However, don’t forget that for forty years, during the communist era, English was not the language number one to be taught in the Czech Republic. It was Russian.

So, what is the conclusion? Don’t be afraid to talk to Czechs, they are usually happy and ready to help a polite tourist. When asking a question, try to slow down and not use slang. It is always good to have a map on hand when asking for a direction.

If English is not working, try other languages. And if you can’t find a language that both of you understand, try to „talk“ like a mime – that is the universal language of all.

Without any doubt, the nicest view of the Prague Castle is from the river. If you don´t feel like swimming, you can very easily rent a boat and comfortably admire the fantastic castle complex together with the Charles Bridge, National Theatre and others.

It´s a really romantic thing to do! But I would not recommend it only to lovers. I would recommend it to everyone who wants to take a break from walking around the city but at the same time wants to do something new and exciting.

You can rent a pedal-boat or a rowing boat, whatever you prefer. There are even some boats looking like swan for a rent. For a 70,- CZK the boat is all yours and you can fit in 4 adults. For 60 minutes you can cruise round Prague´s islands and enjoy the magical views. When on the Vltava river, you have the chance to wonder at the unknown angles of the truly unique architectural complex. It is worth it!

And where do you find those rent-a-boat places? They are on the island Zofin near National Theatre or by the Charles Bridge. They are open till 10 p.m., so you can also enjoy night views of Prague.

Enjoy your cruise!

As tourists are usually mad about Prague, they – unfortunately quite often – tend to forget to buy a ticket for their ride. But this pettiness can, at the end, cost you a fortune!

If you are lucky enough to meet a controller when travelling with public transportation without a valid ticket, you can get a fine amounting to 950,- CZK! For that price you could buy yourself about 40 pints of beer!! If you pay the fine off hand, it will be reduced to 400,- CZK, which is definitely better than the first option, but still is quite a money.

So why to risk the unpleasant acquaintance with the controller? One ticket for an adult (non transfer) costs only 14,- CZK and is valid for 20 minutes. For a ride that last up to 75 minutes (on weekends and past 8 p.m. it´s 90 minutes) you pay 20,- CZK. That´s not even one beer!

Now, tell me, isn´t it better to pay 20,- CZK and enjoy the ride with the bus, tram or subway than to be worried all the time when on the public transportation and risk the penalization?

And where do you buy the tickets? You can buy the tickets by the bus driver for a slightly higher price. However, you can´t buy them in trams or when in the subway. So what to do? You can find them nearly in all stores where they sell cigarettes and newspapers. They are called „trafika“ over here. Or you can buy them near bus and tram´s stations, and in all undergrounds – look for yellow boxes. You just choose the ticket you would like, press the button as many times as how many tickets you want, and then put in corresponding amount of money.

When on the tram, bus or when entering the subway station, don´t forget to mark the ticket! Holding a ticket that is not marked is the same as travelling without one!! So don´t fail to put the ticket into the little yellow box inside the bus, tram or when entering the metro station. The yellow box prints the exact time and from that time on you can travel anywhere for 20, 75 or 90 minutes, depending on the ticket.

If you assume you will use the public transportation a lot or will stay for more days, it´s worth it to get a ticket that is valid for the whole day (24 hours), 3, 7 or 15 days, a month or more. Those „special“ tickets you can find at Information Centres (Informacni stredisko), e.g. at metro station Muzeum (line A and C) and Mustek (line B).

It is really smarter to buy yourself a ticket and mark it right after you get on a public transportation, so you can enjoy the holiday at full.

During hot summer days like those we have right now back in Prague (check weather forecast), there is nothing better then to go to the beach. But there is a little problem with that – Czech Republic doesn’t have any sea! What to do then?

The solution is quite easy. You don’t have to have a sea in order to have a beach. You can visit a beach on the riverbank. And there is such a place in the very heart of Prague!

The 1st Prague beach is not only for sunseekers who want to top up their tans. There is a pretty big, 15×7 meters long, swimming pool that floats in the Vltava River. You can play beach volleyball, badminton or petanque on payment of a small fee. Sunbeds, sunshades as well as the swimming pool are included in price.

The 1st Prague beach on the Vltava River will welcome you with 500 tonnes of imported sand, 236 deckchairs and 1080 cubic meters of a pool water. Of course there is a playground for kids, as well as a restaurant with a bar, where they make a great Mojito.

At the evening serves the 1st Prague beach as a dancing place, live concerts take place here as well. Together with other entertainment, such as special night events called Fire & Coctail Show or Tropical Night and others, is 1st Prague beach the place to party!

The 1st Prague beach is along the west bank of the Vltava River by the Horejsi nabrezi (alongside the Botel Admiral), in between Palackeho and Zeleznicni bridges, just three blocks from the metro station Andel. The beach is open every day till the end of September from 9:30 a.m. For the whole day you pay 59 CZK; students 39 CZK ; kids and seniors 29 CZK.

Enjoy yourselves and stay cool in hot days!

It’s been a while since I didn’t get to write anything for Prague.net or blog… Exams period, a new job and spring in Prague is a bit too much to handle. I finally have some free hours, so thought I too a look at Prgue blog and give you folks some tips on Prague transport system.
These days some friends from home came to visit Prague and they were really impressed with the public transport system here. Come to think of it, who wouldn’t?
Just imagine: underground, tram and bus stations where you can see exactly when the tram, bus or train arrives, how much it takes to get to your next destination and everything just for a few crowns! Yes, if you compare it to the taxi prices it’s almost for free.

And almost forgot… everything is on the web, on a program where you just state the station you are departing from, the station you want to get to and time. The program tells you the connections, the time it takes, number of km and price. Wonderful…
But if you want to make it even more efficient, just by on the first day a short-term ticket (according to the length of your stay: one, three, seven days), validate it the first time you get on a means of public transport and you won’t have to worry about buying tickets any more…
Maybe it’s good to know that the public transport system works also by night. The normal, day links are functional until midnight.

On Saturday evening we went out. That is me and my fiancée and his colleagues from work. We all went to Hanny Banny, quite a cozy pub close to Old Town Square, just a few steps from the underground station Staromestka (green line A). Thank God we had a reservation, otherwise it would have been impossible to find a chair.
I guess Hanny Banny might be cute, but it was so crowded that the trip to the toilet was really an adventure. If you manage somehow to forget about the almost unbreathable air (but that’s in almost every pub, right?) and you start enjoying the live music, the pleasant company of friends and the pretty cheep cocktails, Hanny Banny is a good choice after all.

Since last week it was Easter and everything, and Prague was “attacked” by endless rivers of tourists, it made me think:” ...too bad it’s not May yet and the trees are not green and blossomed.“ Prague seemed still a bit gray and tired after the almost endless winter. Just a few days from that, everything seems to have exploded in a fantasy of colours and sunshine. It’s a pleasure to be here! This weekend it rained a bit, but still, seeing the face of Prague changing every day and sunbathing at 20 °C/ 68 F, I’m speechless, one just doesn’t know where to look next.

The beginning of May is maybe one of the best times to visit Prague. Hotels are not that booked (and maybe even a bit cheaper), the weather is not that hot as in the summer, museums are already open until late and mainly, the boom of fresh spring colours of the parks and streets is absolutely fantastic. And if in addition to that you count the fact that in May begins the Prague Spring, the famous music festival, you will definitely not get bored in Prague during your stay.

Getting back to the weather, the thing is a bit tricky… just like weather in general: you never know… For example, this half of the week the thermometer didn’t go below 20 °C/ 68 F, but surprisingly, starting from Friday it gets colder and colder, announcing hell of a cold weekend for this time (just when we were setting off for a weekend in the nature…:-(
Anyway, a few Celsius degrees more or less never killed anyone and a sweater is always welcomed. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the 7 days weather forecast, just to know if to bring along an umbrella or not. Prague is fabulous even when it rains, you know :-)