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Frequently Asked Questions


Over the years I've been asked thousands of questions about Prague but this list have been the most asked for.

1. How do I get from Prague airport into town?
2. What is this Headstart Kit?
3. Can you recommend a place to stay?
4. What's best, a Prague hotel or apartment?
5. What is Czech Food like?
6. Can you recommend a good restaurant?
7. My hotel is not listed on your site?
8. Is it safe in Prague?
9. What are the Prague scams?
10. Can you recommend a good place for a Stag/Hen night?
11. How do the ATM's (cashpoints) work?
12. How can I get a cheap flight to Prague?
13. How is Prague after the flood?
14. What is the weather like?
15. Do they speak English?
16. Do you recommend a Prague guidebook?
17. Should I bring Euros or Czech Korun?
18. Do I need a power adaptor or transformer?
19. Can you recommend a Prague city tour?
20. Is Prague public transport easy to use?
21. Are taxis really bad there?

ANSWERS

1. How do I get from the airport into town?
The main page to answer this question is my Airport Transfers page where you'll find all the current options.

2. What is this Headstart Kit?
The Headstart Kit is a useful pack of items including an artistic map (only in English and no adverts etc), "point and order" menu guide, help cards and four adult transport tickets that will get you better prepared to come to Prague. You'll find more details on here.

3. Can you recommend a place to stay?
Everybody has different views on what they want. The Accommodation Introduction page gives some good tips on the types of places available and what to expect from the room. Accommodation suggestions are on various pages depending on where you want to stay i.e. the Old Town Square suggestions are on one page, the Wenceslas Square suggestions are on another. The Prague accommodation pages all have the links to each other at the bottom of their respective pages.

4. What's best, hotel or apartment?
This will normally be decided by personal preference i.e. space, number of rooms, whether it has a kitchen or not etc. There are hotels that offer apartments as well but most apartments are privately owned. Again the Accommodation Introduction page makes some recommendations based on both class and location. Here you'll find links to different areas in Prague both central and non-central.

5. What is Czech Food like?
If forced to compress it into one word, I would choose "filling". I've tried countless different meals and I have my favourites. I've tried to create a page that would encourage people to try Czech food by describing what to expect and how it will look. Some people have described the page itself as "mouth-watering". You can read about it on the Czech Food Guide page and a printed menu guide is also available as part of the Headstart Kit.

6. Can you recommend a good restaurant?
There are all kinds of restaurants catering to all tastes. I make recommendations based on requirement. I have my favourites and these along with others are on the Restaurants page. Also on this page are restaurant search engines and booking service recommendations.

7. My hotel is not listed on your site?
All the accommodation listed on this site have either been stayed in or visited by me or I've received consistent information from different sources about that accommodation i.e. friends, colleagues, message boards etc. This does not amount to a large list and so there are always many hotels/apartments/pensions that have no mention here. As I get good reports about places I go and check them out. It does not matter to me if somewhere is good or bad, I just give my opinion. My aim is to point people in the right direction and help them make a good decision.

8. Is it safe in Prague?
Like all capital cities Prague has it's criminal element but, this normally only stretches to pickpockets and car radios. Crime against the person is still very rare. Of course at night I would advise you to stay away from the train and bus stations but, generally everywhere is OK. For more info on how to combat pickpockets click here.

9. What are the scams?
All the current scams are now listed on the Scams page. Basically this comes down to withdrawing or changing money, taxi charges, general overcharging and fake officials.

10. Can you recommend a good place for a Stag/Hen night?
Some places in Prague have restrictions on the types of groups they admit. As a general rule, the Irish bars are OK but, have a little respect for the place. There is now a specialist page on the site for Stag and Hen Parties which points out many of the places to go and the issues that large groups will have to deal with.

11. How do the ATM's (cashpoints) work?
I wrote a special How to....... guide that walks you through the process to operate a Prague ATM.

12. How can I get a cheap flight to Prague?
There are several "no frills" service providers flying into Prague including Easyjet, Jet2, Baby BMI and Ryanair. I use a Skyscanner search tool for flights from the UK so you'll find the options and prices. You'll find details of carriers flying to Prague here.

13. How is Prague after the flood?
The last bad flood was in August 2002 and much has changed since then. Most commercial properties have been repaired although residential properties severely damaged are still empty. You won't notice any difference in the centre but on the outskirts going towards Karlin you'll see that facade damage still exists. Work has now finished in Prague to install a flood defence system in Kampa. A personal record of the events of that week can be found here. The latest floods in 2010 affected areas in the north and east of the country but not Prague.

14. What is the weather like?
The expression "how long is a piece of string?" comes to mind. We've had hot summers, wet summers and Indian summers. There can be no accurate forecast more than 10 days in advance. The When to Come page has a rough estimate of what to expect and links to historical/almanac data (if you like that sort of thing).

15. Do they speak English?
English is becoming much more widely spoken everywhere and has overtaken German as the most taught second language in school. The bigger restaurants will have some staff that speak English although not everybody. Smaller restaurants may have one person who speaks broken English so keep your requests short and clear. The Headstart Kit has help cards and a basic vocabulary guide as well as a menu guide to help you with the language for the day-to-day stuff.

16. Do you recommend a guidebook?
Bring a decent guidebook with you. In my experience, unless you are a backpacker looking for "shoestring" information then avoid buying LP, Rough Guides, Frommers etc. I have 5 guidebooks from different publishers and without doubt the best for the tourist is the "Everyman Guide". My copy from 1998 (ISBN 1-85715-831-8) is now a bit out of date but the latest version has a lot of visual info that will help you get the most out of your trip. You can see my recommended options for different types of guidebooks here.

17. Should I bring Euros or Czech Korun?
All my recommendations regarding the currencies and how to get them are on the Money page. Bear in mind that although the Czech Republic is now in the EU, it does not have to use the Euro until 2016 at the earliest. Places that do accept Euros do so for profit as the exchange rate will be pretty bad and normally you get your change in Czech Korun. Each business will have it's own rules but, if somewhere accepts Euros it must display the exchange rate.

18. Do I need a power adaptor or transformer?
In general, unless you are visiting here from another central European country then you will need a power adaptor. If you come from a country which uses 110v then each appliance has power details printed on it. You should see one of two options:
1) 100v to 127v only i.e. a single numeric value
2) 110/230v i.e. a voltage less then 200 with an option for 220/230/240

If you have option one then you need a transformer. If you have option two then your appliance will function but, it is often a problem for laptop computers using adapted power as US 110v, Asian 100v and EU power sources use a different frequency. You can buy a special "anti-spike" transformer/adaptor with a separate circuit breaker.

To see the type of plug/socket arrangement used here then take a look at the www.kropla.com plug guide.

19. Can you recommend a city tour?
I list most of the tour options available on my tours page. I recommend some tours over others if they are offered by different companies. I list organised bus tours, cycling tours, walking tours and private guides. Prices are reasonably consistent. People looking for walking tour info should also check the Prague Card page as one of the options includes a 50% discount at the tour company called "Martintour".

20. Is public transport easy to use?
You select the correct tariff based on your journey requirement, pay the money, validate the ticket when you first enter the DPP transport system. It's as easy as that. My public transport page explains clearly how it works and the current tariffs.

21. Are taxis really bad there?
I always advise people to walk into any hotel and ask the reception to order you a taxi from 3 or 4 reputable companies. If you get in one parked on a central rank or flag one down on the street then expect to be ripped off.