Prague (Tourist Discount) Card - Find out which is best for you.

Prague Card or not Prague Card

NOTE: Prices are correct for 2008.

Firstly to try and end some of the confusion, two different companies started offering a tourist attraction discount card in the 1990's. Currently there are two "Prague Cards". The original Prague Card sro (registered Czech Company) and also called the Matilda Prague Card has been trading since 1991. This Prague Card (Matilda Card) is available from many recognised sites like American Express offices, Cedok travel offices etc. A second "Prague Card and Prague Passport" can be bought from hotels and other offices around Prague. Whilst the prices are different (the Matilda Prague Card is slightly cheaper) it's important to note the price based on how you use it. TIP: have a calculator ready to see if it's worth it by totalling the tourist discount that you might get against the cost. A brief idea of who might want one or the other is below (conversion rate was 27kc = 1 Euro). The websites contain comprehensive listings of locations and free/discounted entry.

Webpage: www.praguecard.biz
Company name: Prague Card sro
Card name: Matilda Prague Card - Also see the card test at the end of the page.
Cost: 790kc or approx 29 Euros (530kc for students).
Validity: 4 Days
Matilda Prague Card Primary offers: Most offers are free entry with a few tourist discounts and mostly to Museums, Galleries and main attractions.
Public travel pass is NOT included. This is extra depending on the duration you want.
Possible user: Primarily somebody on a long weekend trip who wants to visit the whole of the Prague Castle complex and the major museums/galleries on a free-entry basis. Somebody who is not bothered about using public transport but, wants it as an option. See the test at the base of the page.

Webpage: www.praguecard.info
Company name: Reklama sro
Card name: Prague Card and Prague Passport
Cost: 860kc or approx 31 Euros
Validity: Unlimited (includes 2x 24 hour travel passes)
Prague Card and Prague Passport Primary offers: Many tourist attraction discounts, less in the way of "free entry" but still a good offer. Limited Medical insurance is offered. The Prague Card and Prague Passport is not restricted to museums and main attractions etc, it has tourist discount offers with different bars, restaurants, hotels and clubs. People looking for walking tours should take a look at the 50% tourist discount section.
Public travel pass included: Yes, 2x 24 hour passes included and can be upgraded to longer duration passes.
Possible user: Primarily somebody in Prague for longer periods or somebody frequently visiting Prague. People on shorter visits can still use the card but, it can only pay for itself in the short term if you use the higher value offers. The medical insurance is valid for 7 days after card validation. There's a large offer and is aimed at a widespread audience. Personally I would not go out of my way to visit a bar based on getting 25% tourist discount off my first drink but, the option is there and whether you use it or not, you have paid for it. In the last year there has been an improvement as the price has come down from 35 Euros to 31 Euros. Also it is now clear where in Prague you get the 50% tourist discount (before it was "up to 50%"). Walking tour enthusiasts should take a look at this card as one of the savings is 50% of the Citywalks "Ultimate tour" (saving of 600kc) plus a free "Ghost tour" (another 200kc saving) which would effectively pay for the card.

My View of the Prague Card offers

What's in a name? It looks like a company set up in 1991 around a name but, did not license the name. A second more commercially savvy company licenses the name and then gets local administrative approval for it's project. From an internet perspective, neither company has secured all praguecard.biz/info/com/cz domains. The tourist discount cards cannot really be compared only by price. The thing to look for is which offer is best for your own requirement i.e. the Matilda Prague Card would work out more expensive if you wanted to include public transport but it is offset by having many "free entry" offers. Prague Card (and Prague Passport) on paper looks more expensive but, includes transport so is actually cheaper than the Matilda. This is offset by less "free entry" offers and more "50% off" deals. The target customer of both cards was quite different but with Matilda Prague Card introducing more discounts and Prague Card (and Prague Passport) dropping it's price it is becoming more difficult to find big differences. It may come down to the duration period i.e. Matilda Prague Card is 4 days and Prague Card (and Prague Passport) is now unlimited (from 2008). Personally I wouldn't trust the health insurance. In Prague you get almost what you pay for so, if you see the insurance as almost free then you've been warned. Personally I will continue to call both offers "Prague Card" but I will be specific in calling one the Matilda Prague Card and the other the Prague Card (and Prague Passport).

Card Test - Matilda Prague Card

Why did I pick this card?

I was aiming to recreate an average tourist user which meant visiting a concentrated list of main tourist attractions areas including the castle, some scenic points, galleries and museums etc. I was not intending to do any parachuting or visiting strip clubs so I didn't want to be paying for tourist discounts that I would never use. The other main reason was that I hate carrying around a pocket full of small change so I went for the primarily "free entry" card (you'll find this out when you keep having to fish out between 10kc and 50kc in small coins because the tourist attraction cashier "doesn't have change for a note").

Places where it was bought:

I bought my first Matilda Prague Card in May 2006 at the Cedok office in Na Prikope (they know it as the "Prague Card"). This was not as easy as I thought it would be. I asked from which desk I could buy the card and was directed to 16-17 (no ticket required). I waited until a desk was free and asked for the card. Then I was told that this desk only sold the whole package i.e. Card and Transport ticket (total 960kc) so to get the "Card only" I had to take a ticket, wait for it to be called (last desk on the left) and the cost was 740kc (from 2008 it is 790kc or 530kc for students).
A second card I bought from the American Express exchange office in Wenceslas Square (for a friend) in July 2006. This was straight forward enough. You go to a desk and ask (in English) to buy the card without the transport ticket. You get an invoice for 740kc (from 2008 it is 790kc) which you pay at the cash
counter. Take the receipt back to the desk and you get the package.

How it works:

You get a booklet when you buy the card (6 languages combined). Throughout the booklet are described the tourist attractions and if it is a free or tourist discounted entry. At the rear of the booklet are "coupons" which you tear out of the booklet when you want to use them. You present your signed and dated card and the relevant coupon at the attraction entry or ticket office. And that's it.

Observations:

1) Cedok staff in their "Na Prikope" office did not speak English. That's no problem for me but if a tourist went here they should take the "Matilda Prague Card" pamphlet (or go to the last desk on the left and get one from there).
2) Both places wanted me to sign the card there and then (probably so that if you lose it, it is less likely to be used by somebody else) but, you don't have to sign and date on the day of purchase, only on the first day of use.
3) I had the booklet with me during my walk and had torn out the required coupons before entering the attractions. Nobody asked to see the booklet, only the card.
4) Only the ticket office at Prague Castle asked for ID when looking at the Matilda Card and my driving licence was enough.

How I used my card:

I did not buy the optional 3 day pass so the cost was 740kc (from 2008 it is 790kc). I was only interested in the "free-entry" tourist attraction options and that is primarily why I bought this card. I decided on a fairly standard tourist route (Petrin, Prague Castle, Mala Strana, Charles Bridge, Old Town, New Town). I started at Petrin Tower (50kc) and mirror maze (50kc). I walked over to Strahov Monastery and then over to the castle where the card is valid for route A (350kc). I went in St Vitus, Old Royal Palace, St Georges Basilica and Golden Lane. I walked back to the front of the castle and over to Sternberg Palace (150kc). I walked down the hill into Mala Strana and to the St Nicholas Church (50kc) then over to the Charles Bridge towers (50kc each). The Matilda Prague Card had now paid for itself. I walked to the Old Town Square town hall (50kc) then over to the Stone Bell house (90kc). After lunch I went in the Fine Arts Museum (50kc) and then went up to the National Museum in Wenceslas Square (100kc but, does not include special exhibitions). I only used it for one day and it had paid for itself within 6 hours. I imagine, if you sat down and made a plan, that you could see a lot for free in a long weekend. I see no reason to buy the travel pass if you plan your route well. Even if you went to Troja Chateau you could do the return journey with 2x26kc tickets on the 112 bus (Holesovice).