Prague has one of the best public transport systems in Europe — three metro lines, an extensive tram network, buses, a funicular and a ferry, all on one integrated ticket. It is frequent, punctual, cheap and clean.
There is one thing that catches visitors out, and it costs money.
Validate the ticket
A paper ticket is not valid until it has been stamped in the yellow machine — at the top of the metro escalators, or inside the tram or bus.
Nobody checks as you board. Inspectors board at random, in plain clothes, and produce a badge. An unvalidated ticket is treated as no ticket and the on-the-spot fine is many times the fare.
This is the single most common way visitors lose money in Prague. If you buy a paper ticket, stamp it before you travel.
App tickets activate at purchase and do not need stamping. Travel passes likewise.
The tickets
Time-based rather than journey-based, and they cover metro, tram, bus, the Petřín funicular and the river ferries.
30 minutes for a short hop, 90 minutes for anything with a change, and 24-hour and 72-hour passes for visitors. If you are making more than about three journeys a day, the pass is the better buy.
Buy from the PID Lítačka app, from machines at metro stations, or from newsagents. Machines take cards.
Luggage over a certain size needs its own half-price ticket, which is enforced more often than you would expect.
Children under six travel free.
The metro
Three lines, colour-coded and lettered:
A (green) — the tourist line: Malostranská for the castle, Staroměstská for the Old Town and Josefov, Můstek and Muzeum for Wenceslas Square, and out to Jiřího z Poděbrad in Vinohrady.
B (yellow) — Národní třída, Můstek, Náměstí Republiky.
C (red) — the main station, Vltavská and Nádraží Holešovice, and Vyšehrad.
They interchange at Můstek (A/B), Muzeum (A/C) and Florenc (B/C).
It runs roughly 5am to midnight, every two to three minutes at peak. Several stations are extremely deep — the escalator at Náměstí Míru is the longest in the EU — and they move faster than you expect.
Trams
The better way to see the city, and the network is dense.
Tram 22 is the useful one for visitors: it runs from Vinohrady through the centre, over the river and up to Prague Castle and Pohořelec for Strahov. It is also, notoriously, where pickpockets work.
Trams 2, 17 and 18 run along the river with good views.
Night trams — numbered in the 90s — run all night, every thirty minutes, and all pass through Lazarská. Night buses likewise. This is why Prague does not need night taxis.
Historic tram 23 runs a scenic route with vintage carriages at ordinary fares.
Walking
The centre is small and walking is often quicker. Castle to Old Town Square is twenty-five minutes including the bridge.
The cobbles are uneven and the hills on the castle side are real. Sensible shoes matter here more than in most cities.
Taxis
Prague taxis had a bad reputation for overcharging visitors and it was earned. The situation is much better, and the safe approach is unchanged: use an app — Bolt and Uber both operate, and the local Liftago is well regarded — rather than hailing on the street or taking one from a rank outside a tourist site.
If you do take a street taxi, agree the fare first and check the meter is running.
From the airport
There is no metro or train to the airport. Bus 119 to Nádraží Veleslavín and metro A, or bus 100 to Zličín and metro B, both on an ordinary 90-minute ticket. The Airport Express runs to the main station. See the airport guide.
Cycling
Prague is hilly, cobbled and not especially cycle-friendly in the centre, though it has improved. The riverside paths and the route out to Trója and the zoo are the pleasant rides.
Scooters and e-bikes are widely available and are banned from parts of the centre.
Pickpockets
Worth its own paragraph because it is the one genuine crime problem a visitor is likely to meet. Prague’s pickpockets work the crowded tourist routes systematically: tram 22 to the castle, the metro escalators at Můstek and Muzeum, and Charles Bridge in the busy hours.
They work in groups and use distraction — a jostle, a dropped item, a fold-out map pushed into your chest. Nothing about it is violent.
Bag in front on tram 22, phone out of a back pocket, and nothing valuable in an outside jacket pocket. That covers it.
Accessibility
Improving and incomplete. Most metro stations have lifts and the newer trams are low-floor, but a substantial part of the tram fleet is not, and the historic centre is cobbled throughout with kerbs that predate any standard. The transport authority publishes an accessible network map, which is worth consulting rather than assuming.