Early Preparation
Introduction
First things first. The Czech Republic is now an EU member state but, it does not have an open-border policy with neighbouring EU countries. To enter the Czech Republic even if you have the valid visa, you must have a passport with at least 6 months validity on it i.e. if you arrive on January 1st, your passport must not expire before June 1st of that year. If you have children aged 15 or over they must have their own passport. Researchers should now take a look at the Interior Ministry website (with English version options on some documents) which is a goldmine of information if you have the patience to work through it. To find out if you need a visa read the paragraph below and then click HERE.
If you've clicked on the link above then you are now looking at a list of countries. The list contains the countries that have a visa waiver scheme agreement with the Czech Republic. Normally these waiver agreements have some associated time limit like 30 days or 90 days etc which means that is the amount of time you are allowed to stay here without visa requirement. Note that all EU member countries do not need a visa and can stay as long as they like. Non-EU but still European are generally allowed 90 days. Find your country on the list and you'll see the specified number of days for people wishing to come here and for Czech citizens wishing to visit that country. If your country is NOT on this list then no waiver scheme exists for you and you need to get a visa BEFORE you come here. Note that British Passport holders who are NOT British Citizens should contact the nearest Czech Consulate for details on visa restrictions.
British Embassy in Prague
Webpage is here
Postal Address:
British Embassy Prague
Thunovska 14
118 00 Prague 1
Czech Republic
The consular section is open at the following times:
Monday to Thursday: 0900-1200 1400-1630
Friday: 0900-1200
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
Normal Number: +420 257 402 111
Emergency number for outside the hours above: +420 602 217 700 (Emergency constitutes the arrest, serious injury, serious ilness, death, or disappearance of a British Citizen, it does not include petty crime or replacing lost passports).
Lost or stolen credit/bank cards and travellers cheques
The Lost cards and cheques page details the telephone numbers of all the English banks and international banks with branches in the UK. It lists numbers for calling from both the UK and internationally. Make a note of the numbers that you require.
Lost or stolen cards should also be reported "in person" to the following police station:
Foreign Police HQ
Jungmannovo Namesti 9
Prague 1
This Police station is open 24 hours and has on-site English language translators (and some of the police speak English as well).
Health
Your primary concern in Prague should be no more than how much space to leave in your suitcase for your souvenirs but, of course there are other matters to attend.
A visit to the Healthy Travels page might be useful for you. Prague has many well stocked chemists etc but, you may wish to bring medicine with you if you need a certain type. Mains water in Prague is safe to drink but, I wouldn't recommend lots of it. You will find that most Prague shops stock mineral water (perliva means with bubbles, neperliva means still, jemne means mild i.e. with bubbles but not sharp). The local brand is Mattoni (perliva) and you may also see "Dobra Voda", "Aquila" or "Toma". We regularly use all of these brands.
Adaptors and Transformers
For types of plugs and sockets etc, look at the Kropla website (www.kropla.com) as this has all the "compatibility" info i.e. for which types of plug will fit which type of socket etc for both power and telephone. Also the Resources page on this site contains other information that may be helpful at this stage.
You need a power transformer if your appliance does not say that it can run on 220-240V and 50Hz i.e. if it runs only 110v 60Hz then bring a transformer.
You need a power plug adaptor if your appliance has a "three pin" or "two flat pin" arrangement.
Other advice
Read what the British Foreign Office advises for a trip to the Czech Republic.
The Guidebook advice page will help you with selecting a good guidebook.
The Important Information page lists many details that you may want to note in order to help assist you in a medical emergency.
The Checklist page will help you keep focused on the basic pre-travel requirements.
The Duty Free page keeps you up to date on the import/export limits here in Prague.
The other links on the main link bar should answer most of your questions and what you can't find here you might be able to find at Marys.cz news page.
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