Prague Bus and Train Stations Guide

The Stations page

Local Information about Prague train and bus stations.

For train stations this includes the main station at Hlavni Nadrazi and Holesovice (Masarykovo will follow). For bus stations this is Florenc (Andel, also known as Na Knizeci, will follow). For each station I've tried to include the following;
1) General layout if you were arriving there.
2) Ammenities within the station.
3) DPP station connectivity
4) Most used for. National and International destinations.
5) Closest accommodation to the station.
6) Station location in relation to the city.
7) Local warnings.

Train Station - Hlavní Nádraží (also called Wilsonovo Nádraží) - The Prague Main Train Station

NOTE: In 2007/8 there will be extensive renovation of the main station public areas. An updated list of amenities will be published when the work is completed. The description below is accurate for January 2008.

Layout - Mostly vending machines are on the station platforms but a couple of them have "Obcerstveni's" selling coffee and rolls etc. After you have arrived at the platforms you exit them by descending down to an underground walkway. The walkway emerges onto the upper floor of the station.

Note that the main train station is closed 0100 to 0330 for cleaning.

The Upper Station Floor
This contains the better bars and cafes one of which has seating. You can exit this floor on the far left or right where you will find taxis (I don't recommend them). The upper floor has the big departure and arrival information boards for National and International arrivals. With your back to the platforms, the sit-down cafe is on your right. Also on your right is the Relay newsagent, passport photo booth (80kc for 4 pics), and a money exchange booth. On the left is the Casino, the better toilets (small charge and serviced) phones (card phones) and two useful shops. One of the shops is AVE travel which is good for decent quality accommodation (they own there own places as well), the other place is almost opposite and is Wasteels (www.wasteels.cz - the website is mostly in Czech but they answer emails in English). This is good for accommodation and transport tickets, phone cards, bus tickets etc. You now descend to the lower floor.

The Lower Station Floor
Immediately on your right and left are the ticket booths for local services and International services. This floor has the main exit at the front where you emerge onto a small park. A secondary exit is on the left and leads to a small taxi rank (worst in Prague). Depending on the time of day, the train station concourse is filled with snack bars, exchange booths and magazine sellers (two of the snack bars are non-stop). Approximately in the centre of the station concourse is an automatic machine for dispensing local train service tickets. Over on your right is a supermarket (0600 to 2200 seven days), a florist, showers (40kc per use), a quick passport photo booth (1 min developing) and a money exchange booth. Over to the left in the centre is an ATM (Ceska Sporitelna). Close to here is the PIS (Prague Information Service) for getting directions and Prague tourist maps etc. On the far left by the exit is another Info shop (for train enquiries), next to it a small bar and next to that a "passport photo" booth. In front of the exits are the card phones. On the far left (on the other side of the ticket booths) is another toilet/shower place (5kc toilet, 40kc shower and there are separate Men and Women facilities). In the basement around the corner from the shower place is a hairdressers and Internet bar. Over centre-left are the entries to the Metro system.

DPP metro station connections - The lower floor has the access to the Metro station on line "C" (RED). There are two specific entries to the metro depending on which direction you want to travel. The direction "Ladvi" is closest to you and the direction "Haje" is closest to the front exit. Take the direction "Ladvi" for transferring to the Holesovice Train Station or the Florenc Bus station. Take direction "Haje" and go one stop to "Museum" (Wenceslas Square) and the Green line metro which goes towards the airport.

The Main train station generally covers geographically the south and west of the Czech Republic. International services will be going to Vienna, Munich and all Western European cities. Immediately outside the station are the 3* "Holiday Inn by Express", 4* "Hotel Maria Prague" and 5* "Esplanade". 5 mins walk to the right and you'll find the 5* "Carlo IV" and 3* "Tulip Inn". 5 mins walk to the left brings you to all the accommodation on Wenceslas Square.

Local Warnings - To be honest, I don't like the main train station day or night. It is a real magnet for drug dealers and hence drug takers. Don't even think about sitting down on the grass and pickpocketing is a risk. The station closes for two hours to allow for cleaning but sometimes they leave the bums asleep on the benches. As mentioned earlier, the taxis are not recommended. If being met by a tourist agent you are most likely to leave the station and get the agent transport on the other side of the small park or up on the outer station car park.

Train Station - Holesovice (pronounced holesh-ovitser).

Layout - Vending machines are on the station platforms. After you have arrived at the platforms you exit them by descending down to an underground walkway. The walkway emerges onto the commercial area of the station.

There are only 3 platforms at Holesovice. As you exit the walkway you find the first group of shops. Right and left are souvenir shops. On the right is a reasonable restaurant and a non-stop obcerstveni. Next on the right is an Internet cafe and an exchange booth and at the end is a Tabak and a kebab cafe. Also here is a card and coin phone. On the left is the ticket info and purchasing area. At the end of the small concourse you emerge outside of the station environment. In front of you is a Relay newsagent. On your immediate left are two ATM's operted by Ceska Sporitelna and Komercni Banka. Straight ahead is the direction to the DPP trams. The metro and taxi options are to your right, the DPP and private bus services are to the left (if you are travelling to Melnik then it's the No.10 stop). If you want the airport bus it parks on the same rank as Neratovice (the sign says "Nerabus").

DPP metro station connections - Holesovice has the access to the Metro station on line "C" (RED). There is only one entry to the metro. The direction "Ladvi" would be used for the Hotel Duo i.e. going away from the centre. Take direction "Haje" and it's two stops to Florenc, three stops to the Main Train station and 4 stops to "Museum" (Wenceslas Square) and the Green line metro which goes towards the airport (a 14kc ticket is required if you only intend a maximum of 5 metro stops. If you want to change to bus/tram you will need to buy the 20kc ticket instead plus 10kc ticket for each piece of luggage).

Holesovice train station is about 3km outside the centre of town. Generally people will be coming here to the open-air market (now called Rivertown) or in order to get a train to the East of the Czech Republic or North to Dresden or the bus to Melnik or Liberec. Accommodation in the immediate train station area includes the Hotel Splendid, the Hotel Extol-Inn and Sir Toby's Hostel.

Homeless bums are usually located at the cafe end of the outer station concourse where the smell of toilet is most prevalent (connection maybe?). Not as threatening as the main train station and not so much in the way of begging.

Bus Station - Florenc (pronounced floor-rents).

I didn't even get to the station ticket office before somebody asked me for money. Even speaking English does not put them off as they can speak at least four languages it seems.

Route to the Florenc Bus Station
As you exit the metro carriage you follow the signs for "bus". As you exit the metro station doors, turn right and take the sign for "Zizkov-Bus-Centrum". You go down into the underpass with a couple of bars and you come up onto the street. About 20 metres down the road there is an entry on the right. As you go in you'll find the ticket offices. There are about 6 or 7 different companies selling tickets for various routes. Apart from CSAD, the major CZ-UK carriers are Eurolines and Capital Express. The other main CZ carrier is Student Agency.

Once you have bought your ticket you keep going down the corridor and up the steps into the bus station parking area. At this point, on your left will be a ATM (CSOB Bank) and a small shop. In front of you is the overhead walkway to the far stands (London-Prague routes). On your right is the Student Agency stop and at the far end is the open air Vietnamese market.

Outside Florenc metro station
As you exit the metro station main door the first thing to see is the non-stop "Royal" bar. If you exit to the left you'll find a florist (Summer only), a supermarket (0700-1900) and an ATM to the left of the supermarket entry. The main trams passing the station during the day are 8 and 24. At night there are the 52 and 55. If you walk around the side to the left you find another ticket office buried in the corner opposite the clock (you can buy 3 and 7 day passes here. Opposite the main entry is a small beer garden. If you exited the main doors and turned right i.e. following the "Zizkov-bus-centrum" sign into the underpass, you'll find the supervised toilet facilities (0700-2100).

Homeless bums appear to be totally out of it and are often slumped on the low walls and flower beds outside of the metro station. Within the Florenc Bus station you'll find a bit of begging but, these appear to be professional beggars.