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Prague (Czech: Praha) is the capital city and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is one of the largest cities of Central Europe and has served as the capital of the historic region of Bohemia for centuries. [edit] Understand

Jan Palach A university student, Jan Palach became a Czechoslovakian martyr when he set himself ablaze in protest to the Warsaw Pact intervention against the Prague Spring reforms, which liberalised government policies and human rights restrictions. Palach died three days later from his injuries. Palach's funeral erupted into mass protests against the government. Many Czechoslovakians mourned Palach and sympathized with his ideals including Jan Zajc, who killed himself in the same fashion as Palach to encourage his countrymen to fight the Warsaw Pact occupation of the Czechoslovakian nation. A little more than two months later, on Good Friday, Even Plocek also set himself ablaze in the town of Jihlava. However, Plocek's protest went largely unnoticed since his death was not reported by the media. In 1989, twenty years after Palach's death, large scale protests were held in what became known as Palach Week, a precursor to the Velvet Revolution later the same year.

This magical city of bridges, cathedrals, gold-tipped towers and church domes, has been mirrored in the surface of the swan-filled Vltava River for more than ten centuries. Almost undamaged by WWII, Prague's compact medieval centre remains a wonderful mixture of cobbled lanes, walled courtyards, cathedrals and countless church spires all in the shadow of her majestic 9th century castle that looks eastward as the sun sets behind her. Prague is also a modern and vibrant city full of energy, music, cultural art, fine dining and special events catering to the independent traveller's thirst for adventure.

It is regarded by many as one of Europe's most charming and beautiful cities, Prague has become the most popular travel destination in Central Europe along with Budapest and Krakow. Millions of tourists visit the city every year.

Prague was founded in the later 9th century, and soon became the seat of Bohemian kings, some of whom ruled as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The city thrived under the rule of Charles IV, who ordered the building of the New Town in the 14th century - many of the city's most important attractions date back to that age. The city also went under Habsburg rule and became the capital of a

province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1918, after World War I, the city became the capital of Czechoslovakia. After 1989 many foreigners, especially young people, moved to Prague. In 1992, its historic centre was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two countries and Prague became capital city of the new Czech Republic. The east bank of the Vltava river

The Vltava River runs through Prague, which is home to about 1.2 million people. The capital may be beautiful, but pollution often hovers over the city due to its location in the Vltava River basin. [edit] Climate

The weather conditions in Prague correspond to the overview mentioned in the previous paragraphs. But the fundamental is that it has temperate climate with variations throughout the year.

In the winter Prague has definitely its own magic. The snow may cover the surface but it sooner or later melts so it doesn't usually last till too long. However, the weather is of course pretty unpredictable so it may as well burst into snow storm but it is not very common.

Spring season - is maybe one of the best times to come for a visit, especially in the month of May. All the nature wakes up after months of hibernation. The cherish atmosphere when everything comes back to their lives is all around. Summer months - are a very popular touristic season and no wonder why. The weather is warm and sunny but sometimes the heat waves are overwhelming so the people with respiratory problems may have some trouble. The rain showers come up more often than any other time.

Colourful and chilly - these two characteristics define the fall/autumn season. Getting dressed warmer is a must because the wind and overcast sky may get in your way. Nevertheless there are also these beautiful sunshine days that literally call you out for a walk. To check the current temperatures and the forecast click here. [edit] Chaty

Many Prague residents have a small cottage (which can range from a shack barely large enough for garden utensils to an elaborate, multi-story dwelling) outside the city. There they can escape for some

fresh air and country pursuits such as mushroom hunting and gardening. These cottages, called chata (plural form chaty, pronunciation of ch as in Bach), are treasured both as getaways and ongoing projects. Each reflects its owners' character, as most of them were built by unorthodox methods. There were no Home Depots under communism. Chata owners used the typically Czech "it's who you know" chain of supply to scrounge materials and services. This barter system worked extremely well, and still does today. Chaty are also sometimes used as primary residences by Czechs who rent out their citycentre apartments for enormous profit to foreigners who can afford to pay inflated rent. [edit] Use-It

Also has a physical location at Trojanova 3. Stop by and pick up a free map chock-full of great tourist information! The maps are made by young locals, they are non-conventional and non-commercial, they are made for young travellers and for people who want to step out of the crowd and see Prague from a different point of view. In the infocentre at Trojanova 3 you can also find coffee and tea, internet, good mood, maps of other cities. [edit] Districts

Confusingly, several incompatible district systems are used in Prague. Partially, different systems are from different historic periods, but at least three different systems are used today for different purposes. To make things even worse, a single district name can be used in all the systems, but with different meanings.

For purposes of this guide, the "old" district system is used. In this "old" system, Prague is divided into ten numbered districts: Praha 1 through to Praha 10. If you encounter a higher district number, a different system is being used. For example, Praha 13 is part of the "old" Praha 5 district. The advantage of the "old" system of ten districts is that it is used on street signs and house numbers throughout the city, so you can always easily determine the "old" system district you are located in.

Praha 1 is the oldest part of the city, the original 'Town of Prague', and has by far the densest number of attractions. Praha 2 also contains important historic areas. In this central area, the "old" district system (or any of the newer systems) is too crude to be practical, a finer division is needed. Traditional city "quarters" provide such a division. Their disadvantage is that they are somewhat incompatible with the modern district systems - although "quarters" are smaller than the "old" system districts, a single quarter can belong to two or even more districts. The advantage is that these central quarters are well known and widely used and identical with the homonymous cadastral areas shown on on street and house number signs along the "old" district designation, allowing easy orientation.

Buildings in big cities in Czech Republic have two numbers, one blue and one red. The blue ones are the orientation numbers - it is the ordinal number of the building on its street. Historicaly these numbers always started from the end of the street which is closer to a river. As is normal in Europe, odd numbers belong on one side of the street and even numbers on the other. This allows you to find quickly the house you are looking for. The red numbers are related to the house register of the entire quarter (for example, Star Msto), and thus usually correspond to the order the buildings in that district were constructed. Most people do not remember them; if somebody says e.g. the house is in Dlouha str. number 8, they will usually mean the blue number. Red numbers usually have 3 or more digits. View over Prague (Castle on the left)

Castle (Hradany) The historic nexus of the city, and the highest point on the left bank. Mostly belongs to Praha 1, although a small part belongs to Praha 6.

Lesser Town (Mal strana) The settlement around the castle; location of most governmental authorities, including Czech Parliament. Mostly belongs to Praha 1, although a very small part belongs to Praha 5.

Old Town (Star msto) The nucleus of the right bank, the oldest part of Prague. The whole Old Town belongs to Praha 1.

New Town (Nov msto) The district adjacent to Old Town, established in the 14th century. Large parts of the New Town belongs both to Praha 1 and Praha 2. A small part belongs to Praha 8.

Jewish Town (Josefov) A small enclave within Old Town, the old Jewish ghetto. The whole Jewish Town belongs to Praha 1.

Vysehrad (Vyehrad) The site of the old Vyehrad castle south of the medieval Prague. The whole Vyehrad belongs to Praha 2.

Charles bridge

Rotunda at Vysehrad

North - Praha 7, Praha 8 and Praha 9. Praha 7: The large river peninsula just north of the city center. Includes the districts of Letn, Holeovice, Bubny, Bubene, Troja as well as a small part of Liben. Praha 8: Karlin is the small strip of land sandwiched between Zizkov and the river and bordering the old town on the west side. Karlin belongs to Prague 8 and prior to 2002, it was a rather unsavory part of the city. After the flood of 2002, Karlin was revitalised and is fast becoming a somewhat conservative, cosmopolitan, professional-class area. On the north-east side, Prague 8 balloons out and encompasses urban areas, business premises and furniture/homeware shopping districts. This is generally not regarded as a tourist area.

East - Praha 3, Praha 10, Praha 14 and Praha 15. ikov is the name of the district referred to as Prague 3. Previously a working class suburb, ikov is home to many expats, short term travelers and university students; and sits on a hill on the right side of the old town. The plentiful array of intriguing and often unusual bars and restaurants, combined with a small but dedicated culture of poets, artists and musicians, gives the area its reputation for being both fun, relaxed and alternative. It is considered one of the more Bohemian districts of Prague.

South - Praha 2, Praha 4, Praha 11 and Praha 12. A large part of Praha 2 is divided between historic quarters of New Town and Vysehrad described in individual articles. The remaining part includes most of Vinohrady. Praha 4 is the biggest and most modern district in Prague.

West - Praha 5, Praha 6 and Praha 13.

[edit] Get in [edit] By plane

Vclav Havel Airport Prague, (IATA: PRG), +420 220 111 111, +420 296 661 111. Located 20 km (12 mi) northwest of the city centre, it generally takes about 30 min to reach the city centre by car. The airport is served by a number of airlines:

Czech Airlines (SA) is the national carrier operating to many European and international destinations.

Wizz Air is a low cost airline with a significant base in Prague operating to European destinations including London, Barcelona and Milan amongst others. easyJet operates low cost services to European destinations. BMIbaby [1] low cost services from the UK only. Jet2.com [2] low cost services from Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford & Edinburgh SmartWings to Europe & Turkey. Swiss International [3] flies to Zurich, Basel and Geneva. Aer Lingus from the Irish cities of Dublin & Cork. Norwegian [4] from Scandinavia. Delta Air Lines [5]from New York. Aegean Airlines [6] from Greece KLM Royal Dutch Airlines [7] 5 direct flights per day from Amsterdam. British Airways [8] has 4 direct flights from London Heathrow daily. Brussels Airlines [9] offers 3 flights a day to Brussels. Lufthansa [10] offers 6 flights a day from Frankfurt and 4 from Munich. TAP [11] offers daily direct flights from Lisbon and Oporto. Iberia [12] offers 3 flights daily from Madrid. Germanwings [13] offers daily flights from Cologne/Bonn. Air One [14] from Milan-Malpensa

[edit] Get in to the city from the airport

By bus: The cheapest way to get to the city is by bus, but be sure to have some Czech Crowns ready. Buy a ticket from the kiosk called Public Transport in both (Terminal 1, 2) the arrivals halls (07:00-21:00, credit cards accepted) or the vending machine, next to the bus stop, for 32 CZK (16 CZK extra for a larger piece of luggage). You can also buy the ticket from the driver, but it is more expensive. No machines or drivers accept foreign currencies. Take bus 119 to its terminus (Dejvick, Metro A) and go downstairs to the metro. Your ticket will continue to be valid in the metro. Alternately, bus 100 takes you to subway

station Zlin (Metro B). At night, bus 510 takes you to the "Jirskovo nmst" or "I.P.Pavlova" stop close to the centre. Remember to validate your ticket as soon as you get on the bus by sticking it into a yellow machine with green glowing arrow. If you fail to do so and an inspector catches you, you'll be fined 900 CZK. Tickets are also available from the DPP kiosk in the arrivals area of Terminal 1. 24-hour, 3day and 5-day tickets are also available here. Info on the schedules and routes can be obtained here [15].

Airport Express (bus operated by Czech Railways): These buses leave the airport every 30 minutes; the first one at 05:46 while the last one at 21:16 at a price of 60 CZK per person (or less, if bought as a part of railway ticket further into Czech Republic). Tickets are available from the driver. They will take you to the railway and subway station Dejvick and Masarykovo ndra. The last stop will be Prague's main train station ("Hlavn ndra" which is commonly abbreviated in Czech as "Praha hl.n."). From there the bus operates back to the airport. Schedule: [16] or [17]

Cedaz bus: [18] (but in fact the owner is AAA taxi) These buses operate from 07:30 to 19:00 every half hour. They will take you into the city centre to the "V Celnici" street. Fares are 130 CZK per person.

By shuttle: Various companies run shuttle services to the hotel and back. They can be found at the airport arrival halls. They usually charge around 400 to 500 CZK for trip and in general are a bit cheaper than the taxis.

By taxi: The most comfortable method to reach the city centre will cost around 650 to 850 CZK with AAA Taxi [19]. They have an exclusive contract with Prague airport and taxis waiting outside. For a bargain, call one of their competitors listed in Get around Taxi section or cheaper Prague Airport Transfer [20] or Prague Airport Transfers s.r.o, an private owned and operated taxi service [21] or shuttle to the nearest tube station Dejvicka [22].

By private cars: Many companies offer private transfers for fixed prices - to the hotel, apartments, etc. and back. This service must be booked in advance because driver will be waiting directly to you. They usually charge around 500 to 600 CZK for trip and in general are a bit cheaper than the taxis. Chosen companies: Transfer-Service.cz [23], Prague Airport Shuttle [24], Transfer Prague [25].

[edit] By train

Prague is well connected to European EC train network, however there is no Czech high speed rail, so the maximum train speed is 120160 km/h (75-99 mph), but usualy the speed is much lower, about 70 km/h. Also calculate with delays (more than few minutes) when using local trains.

Berlin: 4h, EC trains every 2 hours

The train line from Berlin to Prague passes through the Erzgebirge mountains, and for a couple of hours the passengers are treated to a series of beautiful alpine river valleys, surrounded by rocky escarpments and mountains.

Munich: 6h, 4 regional expresses a day. Alternatively you can use non-stop bus operated by German Railways (5h, 4 buses a day). Vienna: 4h, EC train roughly every 2 hours Linz: 5h, 2 REX trains a day Bratislava: 4h, EC train every 2 hours; one night train Metropol Budapest: 7h, 5 EC trains a day; one night train Metropol Warsaw: 8h, EC Praha; one night train rava

Direct night trains connect Prague also with Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Zrich, Basel, Krakow, Moscow, Kiev, Saint Petersburg and Odessa. For ticket prices see Czech Republic#By train.

All international trains arrive at Praha hlavn ndra (the central station, abbreviated to Praha hl.n.) which has a connection with Metro Line C. The station has undergone a major refurbishment in 2010.

Beware of the taxi drivers operating from the (official-looking) taxi rank alongside Praha hl.n.; they will attempt to charge a fixed price of CZK1760 (~$100) for a trip within the city center zone, or more than this if you want to travel further.

The park in front of the main train station is a haunt for some of the city's undesirable elements and should be avoided after dark. If you do have to come through on foot, it's best to avoid coming through the park and approach from the Southeast along Washingtonova. As you get to the corner of the park there's a police station, so the likelihood of running into problems from this direction is minimalised. [edit] By bus

The main bus station for international buses in Prague is Florenc, in Praha 8 (metro lines B and C). It is located east of the city centre. In June 2009 a new terminal building was opened.

The second largest bus station is Na Knec, located next to Vltava river at west bank, south of city center. It is connected to Andl metro station (line B). It is used mostly by regional busses.

Other, less frequently used bus stations are at Ndra Holeovice (metro C), Dejvick (A), Zlin (B) and ern most (B).

Eurolines [26], Ecolines [27], Student Agency [28] and Orange Ways [29] connect Prague to major European cities.

Budweis-shuttle [30] operates daily bus service between Ceske Budejovice, Cesky Krumlov and Prague (2.5 hours, 1000 CZK)

Polski Bus *31+ has two connections daily to Warsaw, Poland via Wrocaw and d. [edit] By car

Prague has highway connections from five major directions. Unfortunately, the highway network in the Czech Republic is quite incomplete and some highways are old and in poor condition. Thus, the highway connection from Prague to the border of the Czech Republic is available only in two directions: southeast and southwest.

The southwestern highway (D5; international E50) leads through Plze to Germany. The D5 highway continues in Germany as A6. Riding from the state border to Prague takes about an hour and a half (160 km / 99 mi).

The southeastern highway (D1) is the Czech Republic's oldest and most used highway but is in a rather poor condition. It leads through Brno to Bratislava in Slovakia. It offers a good connection to Vienna, Budapest and all traffic from the east. It runs for 250 km (155 mi), and usually takes over two hours.

To the northwest, you can take highway D8 (E55), but it is not complete to the German border. It ends now at Lovosice (about 60 km (37 mi) from Prague and starts again in Usti nad Labem and continues to the northern Germany via A17 (Dresden, Berlin, Leipzig).

To the northeast, you can take highway R10 (E65). It is strictly speaking a motorway, not a highway, but it has four lanes and differs little from a highway. It leads from Liberec to Turnov. It is not regarded as an important access route, as there are no major cities in this direction (Zittau in Germany, some cities in Poland), but it offers a good connection to the Czech mountains Jizersk hory and Krkonoe (Riesengebirge) with the best Czech skiing resorts.

To the east, you can take the newly completed D11 (E67), which goes to Hradec Kralove. It leads to Poland.

Czech highways are under development (D8 and D11 are being extended, D3 to Ceske Budejovice and Linz is supposed to be completed in 2020) so things will get better. Unless there are road works, there are only seldom traffic jams on Czech highways, with the exception of D1 near Prague (and near Mirosovice (direction to Ceske Budejovice and Linz, and Brno, too)).

Prague suffers from heavy traffic and on week days the main streets are one big traffic jam. Moreover, Prague doesn't have a complete highway outer ring yet. It is a really good idea to use the P+R (park and ride) parking places, where you can park your car for a very small fee and use public transport.

The P+Rs are situated near all highways and are well marked. Note that traffic wardens are rife and parking in most residential streets in and around Prague city centre (even after dark) without a valid

permit will result in a parking fine. In particular, avoid blue-marked areas which are parking-restricted area if you don't want your car to get towed away within the hour.