There were over 180 Prague travel related questions asked on the TripAdvisor forum in November 2019. Below is the top 20 most common questions with the best replies. I dug into it, so you do not have to.
Q: Where to go on the New Year’s Eve in Prague?
Answer 1: Try to avoid the Squares during the period between 23.00 – 01.00, it can get dangerous, when drunken folks start to celebrate the New Year with the random fireworks.
Answer 2: Enjoy New Year celebration from high points like Letna or Petrin Hill.
Answer 3: A lot of restaurants and bars as well as hotels prepare New Year party packages. One can spend a pleasant dinner and evening at the bar and then celebrate the New Year in the relative indoor safety.
Q: We are traveling from / to Prague by train, where to buy the tickets?
The train travel between various cities appears on the Tripadvisor a lot. In November the most common were questions related to the train or even bus between Prague and Terezin, Prague and Vienna and Prague and Berlin. I chose several answers that appeared the most number of times.
Answer 1: There are a lot train travel related websites, but the safest is to stick with the official rail websites. Routes in Germany: www.Bahn.de; Routes in Austria: www.oebb.at/en; or stick to the Czech rail: www.cd.cz or alternative train/bus operator www.Regiojet.com.
Answer 2: There is no advantage with using the resellers such as Omio, Trainline or EuroRail. Despite the advertising blurb, there are no cheaper tickets on popular routes. All you will do is pay an unneeded booking fee plus the potential issues should you need to cancel / amend your tickets.
Read the post about traveling by train to/from Prague.
Q: I am doing a Christmas market tour by coach, I am visiting Prague only for one day. Are there cashpoints to get CZK (Czech Korunas) as it is not worth buying it in my home country as all other places we are going to visit on the coach trip are on Euro?
Answer 1: There are ATM’s everywhere in the city. It is the best to check prior the trip with your home bank, which local banks’ ATM’s to use in Prague to pay the least fees / rates.
Answer 2: A lot of places accept Euro, if you ask in advance about the exchange rate and it is acceptable for you, you basically do not need CZK at all. Also it is possible to pay by a credit card. The exchange rate you get is typically your home bank exchange rate to the day.
Answer 3: Avoid the ATM’s that are normally yellow and blue in color and say on them something like “ATM – CZK/EUR”. These have high fees and lousy foreign exchange rates.
Answer 4: Avoid exchange places that do not offer clear and final exchange rates. A lot place charge commissions or fees for low amount exchange.
Q: I booked a hotel in Prague, Vinohrady area, but then I found a hotel in Narodni street. Has anyone stayed in either areas? What are your recommendations?
Answer 1: You could be looking for hotels in Prague forever.. pick one and go with it. Prague in general is very safe city. So you only need to decide based on criteria that you choose. E.g. price, distance from core sightseeing places you wish to visit, facilities, star rating, guest reviews etc.
Answer 2: Prague is safe and well organized city. Public transportation or taxi can ease your life, when trying to get around, although it is possible to cover most areas on foot.
Answer 3: Be aware of the little tricks. A lot of places call themselves according to the popular locations (e.g. Ibis Wenceslas Square). It is usually not a total scam with hotel chains or bigger names, the place is not too far from the Square, but Air BNB places or smaller private accommodation can lure you to stay at their place and in reality, you will pity the choice. When picking accommodation always look at a map and reviews. Prague is very touristic and bad places get off the list pretty quickly.
Q: Is getting a transfer from the airport to the hotel / early morning taxi to the Prague airport difficult?
Answer 1: No. it is very easy. You can prebook the Prague airport taxi for fixed price in advance at many websites. Prices vary from 550 CZK – 1000 CZK depending on the district and vehicle. (Editor’s tip: you can book airport transfers in Amsterdam, Eidhoven, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Brno, Cracow and Salzburg with us :-))
Answer 2: There is UBER and BOLT app as well as other taxi companies like AAA, City Taxi, Halo Taxi, Profi taxi and so on. The taxi companies and apps typically can not be prebooked more than 1 day in advance (some not at all).
Answer 3: Why to spend money on taxis, it is not too difficult to get to the airport or from the airport by the public transportation. The airport Express takes you between the airport and the train station. Buses are available to Metro A and B.
Q: I would like to know, how much in average people spend in Prague per day per person or food and drinks.
Answer 1: Travelling solo I budget £30 (855czk) per day for food and beer, taking into account that I avoid expensive, touristy restaurants and pubs.
Answer 2: Prices in Czech Republic seem to go up every year that I go there, but only by a minimal amount. You really will be surprised how cheap it is compared to the UK and most other European countries. In average you should be fine with 1000 CZK per person per day. Of course you have to avoid expensive and fancy restaurants or steak houses.