Arriving & Departing

By Plane

Prague's Ruzyne Airport (tel. 220-113-314; www.prg.aero or www.csl.cz) is located 19km (12 miles) west of the city center. Its new, airy, and efficient departures and arrivals terminals have lost the Communist-era feel and have many added amenities. There's a bank for changing money (usually open daily 7am-11pm), car-rental offices, and information stands that can help you find accommodations if you've arrived without reservations.

Getting Downtown -- You can make your way from the airport to your hotel by taxi, airport shuttle bus, or city bus.

Official airport taxis are plentiful and line up in front of the arrivals terminal. Alas, the Volkswagen Passats queued directly outside the terminal's main exit all belong to the same cartel sanctioned by the airport authority. The drivers are getting more pleasant but are still often arrogant and dishonest. Negotiate the fare in advance and have it written down. Expect to pay about 700Kc to 800Kc ($29-$33) for the 20 or so minutes to the city center, depending on the whims of the syndicate. If you want to save money, find other travelers to share the expense.

CEDAZ (tel. 220-114-296; www.aas.cz/cedaz) operates an airport shuttle bus from the airport to námestí Republiky in central Prague. It leaves the airport daily every 30 minutes from 5:30am to 9:30pm and stops near the námestí Republiky metro station. The shuttle costs 90Kc ($3.75) for the 30-minute trip.

Even cheaper is city bus no. 119, which takes passengers from the bus stop at the right of the airport exit to the Dejvická metro station (and back). The bus/metro combo costs only 20Kc (85¢), but the bus makes many stops. Travel time is about 40 minutes.

By Train

Passengers traveling to Prague by train typically pull into one of two central stations: Hlavní nádrazí (Main Station) or Nádrazí Holesovice (Holesovice Station). Both are on line C of the metro system and offer a number of services, including money exchange, a post office, and a luggage-storage area.

At both terminals you'll find AVE Ltd. (tel. 251-551-011), an accommodations agency that arranges beds in hostels as well as rooms in hotels and apartments. It's open daily from 6am to 11pm. If you arrive without room reservations, this agency is definitely worth a visit.

Hlavní nádrazí, Wilsonova trída, Praha 2 (tel. 224-614-071), is the grander and more popular station, but it's also seedier. Built in 1909, this once beautiful four-story Art Nouveau structure was one of the city's beloved architectural gems before it was connected to a darkly modern dispatch hall in the mid-1970s. It has been neglected for years, but the city already has plans for a massive reconstruction of the station's building complex and its surroundings. From the train platform, you'll walk down a flight of stairs and through a tunnel before arriving in the ground-level main hall, which contains ticket windows, a useful Prague Information Service office that sells city maps and dispenses information, and restrooms. Also useful is the CD center (tel. 840-112-113; www.cd.cz) run by the Czech Railways. It provides domestic and international train information as well as currency exchange and accommodations services. It is open daily 7 to 11am, 11:30am to 2pm, and 2:30 to 5:45pm. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. An information window is open 3:15am to 12:40am (the train station is closed 1-3am). The station's basement holds a left-luggage counter, which is open 24 hours and charges 30Kc ($1.25) per bag per day. The nearby lockers aren't secure and should be avoided.

After you leave the modern terminal hall, a 5-minute walk to the left puts you at the top of Wenceslas Square and 15 minutes by foot from Old Town Square. Metro line C connects the station easily to the other two subway lines and the rest of the city. Metro trains depart from the lower level, and tickets, costing 14Kc to 20Kc (60¢-85¢), are available from the newsstand near the metro entrance. Gouging taxi drivers line up outside the station and are plentiful throughout the day and night but are not recommended.

Nádrazí Holesovice, Partyzánská at Vrbenského, Praha 7 (tel. 224-615-865), Prague's second train station, is usually the terminus for trains from Berlin and other points north. Although it's not as centrally located as the main station, its more manageable size and location at the end of metro line C make it almost as convenient.

Prague has two smaller train stations. Masaryk Station, Hybernská ulice (tel. 221-111-122), is primarily for travelers arriving on trains originating from other Bohemian cities or from Brno or Bratislava. Situated about 10 minutes by foot from the main train station, Masaryk is near Staré Mesto, just a stone's throw from námestí Republiky metro station. Smíchov Station, Nádrazní ulice at Rozkosného (tel. 224-617-686), is the terminus for commuter trains from western and southern Bohemia, though an occasional international train pulls in here. The station has a 24-hour baggage check and is serviced by metro line B.

By Bus

The Central Bus Station-Florenc, Krizíkova 4-6, Praha 8 (tel. 900-144-444 for timetable info), is a few blocks north of the main train station. Most local and long-distance buses arrive here. The adjacent Florenc metro station is on both lines B and C. Florenc station is relatively small and doesn't have many visitor services. Even smaller depots are at Zelivského (metro line A), Smíchovské nádrazí (metro line B), and Nádrazí Holesovice (metro line C).