Travel Information | Transport in Prague | Tourist Information | Money | Security | Language |

# Travel Information

Most of you will travel to Prague by plane. International flights arrive at the Prague International Airport, Ruzyne, PRG.

## From Airport to Hotels

There are three basic means of transport you may choose from.

Mean | Approx. Price | Approx. Duration
--- | --- | ---
| Taxi | 650 CZK | 25 EUR | per ride | 25-30 min
Public Transport | 20 CZK | 0.7 EUR | per person | 45-50 min

### Taxi

Cabs are expensive in Prague, especially those at the airport. The price depends on a company -- expect a price of about 500-800 CZK (approx. $15-30) or even more for one ride to the city center. Moreover, if a typical team consisting of 4 persons come, their baggage will hardly fit into a single car. More info on taxi services.

### Public Transport

Public transportation system runs very well in Prague. It is the cheapest mean of transport, of course. You do not need to worry, it is quite common in Europe to use public transports. One ride from the Airport to the city center will cost you 20 CZK including a ticket for your baggage. More info on the public transport.

## Maps

By clicking on any of the maps, you will enter an interactive map system. It is in the Czech language only, but you should be able to work with it by intuition.

The first map shows the overview of Prague, with the airport location and major routes entering the city.

View Larger Map

In the next map, there you can see the position of the CTU complex.

View Larger Map

The last map shows where the Betlem Chapel (Betlémská kaple) are.

View Larger Map

## Flying to Prague with CSA

A special reduced price has been negotiated for all flights operated by the Czech Airlines (CSA). The reduction includes all World Finals participants.

Czech Airlines Reduction
Economy | 15 %
Business | 25 %

If you want to apply for the discount, please use e-mail to contact the CSA office nearest to you.

If you experienced any problems booking your tickets, do not hesitate to contact us.

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# Transportation in Prague

This page summarizes basic info on different kinds of transport in Prague, how to use them, what to be aware of, etc.

Note to pedestrians: According to a law, all cars (except trams!) must yield to pedestrians on crosswalks. Anyway, if you walk, please do not rely on this. It is a relatively new law, people still did not get used to it and many drivers violate it! Always be careful when you cross a street.

## Public Transport

Public transportation system is the cheapest mean of transport (beside walking on foot). You do not need to worry to use it, it is quite common in Europe to use public transports.

The Prague public transport consists of a subway system ("metro"), streetcars ("trams"), and buses. There is also one scenic funicular line to the hill of Petrin (unfortunately out of order for maintenance at this time).

### Tickets

If you want to use the public transport, you have to buy a ticket in advance, prior to getting into a vehicle or metro area.

The same tickets are valid for all types of vehicles (metro, tram, bus, funicular). You may buy one-ride ticket (20 CZK), 1-day ticket (80 CZK), 3-day ticket (220 CZK), one-week ticket (280 CZK), or even 15-day ticket (320 CZK).

The one-ride ticket is valid for 60 minutes on bussiness days and for 90 minutes on weekends. Within this time period, you may change lines as you wish. There is also a special 14 CZK ticket for short rides, it is valid for 15 minutes in a single vehicle without changing (buses and trams) or for 4 stations (metro).

If you have a piece of baggage larger than 25cm x 45cm x 70cm (you will have it when travelling from the airport), additional ticket for the baggage is required, which costs 10 CZK.

Detailed information on the public transport system, including all fares, can be found at Prague Public Transit Co. web page. You can see there also pictures of the tickets.

### Contest Hotels

To get to the contest area, use metro line "A" (the green one) to go to the stop called "Dejvicka".

If you travel from the airport, you need to take the bus Nr. 119 first. It will take you to "Dejvicka" station (it is the terminal stop of the bus).

## Cabs (taxi)

Cabs are very expensive in Prague and the drivers often try to abuse foreigners' lack of information to get more money. Thing you should know before you go by a cab:

- Every cab car must have a price written on the doors. The price will usually consist of two parts: some fixed amount (typically about 40 CZK, i.e., 1,5 EUR) and a price per one kilometer (25-30 CZK, i.e., 1 EUR).
- The cab must have a taximeter inside, displaying the current price in CZK during the whole ride. Although some drivers will turn it off at the beginning or during the ride, it is illegal to do so. Theoretically, you should pay just the amount shown at the display.
- You can ask the driver to give you an estimate of the total cost in advance, based on your target place.
- If possible, do not stop cabs directly on the street. It is much better to call a taxi dispatcher and tell them your position. The drivers that work for large companies usually behave very well, since they are under control. Moreover, the price is usually much lower if you call the cab by phone.
- Credit cars are rarely accepted in cabs.

List of some radio-control taxi services follows. Disclaimer: we are not recommending any of these, we just found the phone numbers in a directory. We can take no responsibilities for anything.

Name | Phone Nr.
--- | ---
AAA Radiotaxi | 14014
Halotaxi | 2 4411 4411
City taxi | 257 257 257

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# Tourist Information

Visit the Prague Information Service for information on sightseeing in Prague, its history, photos, etc.

## Major Sightseeings

| Charles Bridge
| Prague Castle
| Old Town Square
| Wenceslas Square

## Faculty of Electrical Engineering Virtual Tour

The contest will be held in FEL (Faculty of Electrical Engineering). Now, you can take a virtual tour through the building.

The tour was created as a 3D computer model by Computer Graphics Group at the Czech Technical University. You can download an application in RAR archive by clicking here or on the image below. Size of the archive is 20MB!

The presentation video is here

## Virtual Prague

If you want to take look at what you could expect in Prague, you can visit one of the other projects of the Computer Graphics Group at the Czech Technical University. The projects are not finished yet, so, expect some minor bugs and strange behavior.

Virtual Old Prague allows you to walk through some parts of Prague using a VRML plugin in your browser.

Virtual Heart of Central Europe contains descriptions and videos about some Prague monuments.

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# Money Information

## Currency

The Czech Republic has its own currency, Czech Crown (CZK). Its local name is "koruna ceska", you may see the abbreviation "Kc" in shops etc. One hundredth of the crown is called "haler".

Euro currency is not used in the Czech Republic, although there are some shops and stores that accept euros. Such stores are still exceptional. However, there are many exchange offices in Prague which accept major currencies, such as U.S. dollars and euros.

The exchange rate is approximately 27 CZK for 1 euro, or 22 CZK for 1 U.S. dollar. You can find exact rates (daily updated) at the Czech National Bank web page. Please note that these are mean exchange rates for bank purposes. Thus, count on receiving a little less crowns for your money in exchange offices (they want to profit, of course).

Banknotes and coins: There are 0.5 CZK (50 haler), 1 CZK, 2 CZK, 5 CZK, 10 CZK, 20 CZK, and 50 CZK coins and 20 CZK, 50 CZK, 100 CZK, 200 CZK, 500 CZK, 1000 CZK, 2000 CZK, and 5000 CZK banknotes. The pictures of them can be seen at the Czech National Bank web page. There is also a description of protective elements.

Note: 0.1 CZK (10 haler) and 0.2 CZK (20 haler) coins were in use until several year ago. Nowadays, they are not valid anymore and the smallest coin is half-crown. Anyway, the prices in shops are often given in tenths of CZK. In this case, they are sumed together and the total price of the purchase is then rounded to the nearest 0.5 CZK value.

## Credit Cards

Major international credit cards are widely accepted, especially Visa and EuroCard/MasterCard. American Express and Diners' Club are rarely seen, do not rely on them. There are also many shops and restaurants that do not accept some or any cards. Please always check for Visa or EC/MC logo at the door.

There are plenty of ATMs in Prague city center, thus, it should be no problem to get some cash. The ATMs usually accept Visa and EC/MC (watch for logos again). Anyway, it could be quite expensive to use ATMs. Check with your card issuer if you want to know exact charges.

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# Security in Prague

## Criminality

Prague is a relatively safe town. You do not need to worry there, nobody will rob you with pistols in the streets. Anyway, there are pocket thieves in Prague, as in other big cities all over the world. Please take care of your personal things all the time! Do not carry your passport and/or money in the pocket of your knapsack, back pocket of your pants, or in other easily accessible places. Never leave your things unattended, even for a few seconds.

## Cabs

Taxi drivers often try to abuse foreigners' lack of information. If you intend to use a taxi, read our transportation info page for more details, there are some advices for you.

## Emergencies

Important phone numbers for a case of an emergency. We strongly hope you will never need them.

Phone Nr. | Description
--- | ---
112 | new emergency number ("integrated system")
150 | fire fighters
155 | ambulance
156 | city police
158 | state police

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# Czech Language

People in the Czech Republic speak their own language, the Czech. Many people in Prague speak English or German, especially young people. Try to ask them if you need something.

It is very hard (almost impossible) to learn Czech for foreigners, because the language is very difficult (more difficult than Latin or German, for example). This page gives you some basic vocabulary to read various signs and to say very simple things.

More words to be added soon. Maybe...

## Signs

Czech | English
--- | ---
Damy / Zeny | Ladies (restroom door)
Muzi / Pani | Men (restroom door)
Policie | Police
Potraviny | Food Store
Pozor! | Attention!
Restaurace | Restaurant
Toalety | Restrooms
Vchod | Entrance
Vychod | Exit
WC | Restrooms

## Words and Phrases

English | Czech | Approx. Pronunciation
--- | --- | ---
Good morning / afternoon | Dobry den | Doh-bree-den
I don't speak Czech | Neumim cesky | Neh-oo-meem chez-kee
Please | Prosim | Pro-seem
Thank you | Dekuji | D-ye-kooh-yee

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