Before purchasing your public transport tickets, you should first consider if you really need them during your stay in Prague. The historic centre isn’t large and can be easily explored on foot, so you might not even need to use your tickets. If you want to explore the neighbourhoods outside the city centre, you can take public transport.

How to buy a public transport tickets in Prague and where?

• At a newsagent’s (trafika).

• At ticket machines, which you’ll find at all metro stations.

• At contactless ticket machines installed in the trams and city buses. Payment is only possible with a contactless payment card. The ticket is valid from the moment it is issued. It no longer needs to be stamped; all the necessary data (zone, time, date) is already indicated on it. Attention! If the ticket machine is not working, this does not justify free travel, and you are still required to purchase a ticket.

• In the PID Lítačka application, which you can download from Google Play and App Store. Don’t forget to activate your ticket before boarding the vehicle!

• At the Prague Public Transport Company information centres (see below).

• Often, you can buy tickets at the reception of your hotel.

• By text message (from a Czech telephone number only): simply send the message “DPT31” (for a 30-minute journey), “DPT42” (for a 90-minute journey), “DPT120” (for a 24-hour ticket) or “DPT330” (for a 72-hour ticket) to the number 902 06. In a few minutes you should receive a text message with your ticket. During a ticket check, you should show the text to the inspector. Please note that you can only board the metro, tram or bus once you have received the text message. Otherwise, you may have to pay a fine!

• Please note that you can’t buy your ticket from the bus/tram driver in Prague.

Fares

Ticket validity period | Full adult fare from age 15 | Half price fare for seniors aged 60 to 64

30 minutes | CZK 30 (approximately EUR 1.2) | CZK 15

90 minutes | CZK 40 (approximately EUR 1.6) | CZK 20 – for the journey from the airport, we strongly recommend this ticket (in case the connections are delayed)

24 hours | CZK 120 (approximately EUR 4.8) | CZK 60

72 hours | 330 CZK (approximately EUR 13.2) |

Children up to 15 years old and people aged 65 and over entitled to free travel on public transport in Prague. All you have to do is show your identity card or passport when you are stopped by an inspector (children between 10 and 15 years old may be asked to present some valid ID, while the age of younger children does not need to be proven).

Prague Public Transport Company information centres

• Terminal 1 and 2 at the prague airport, open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Můstek metro station (access from Vodičkova Street), open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Anděl metro station, open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Hlavní nádraží metro station, open Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and at weekends from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Hradčanská metro station, open Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Sunday.

• Nádraží Veleslavín metro station, open Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Sunday.

Handy tips

• Tickets must be validated when boarding a bus or tram, or when entering the metro pay zone. Please note that Prague inspectors show no mercy towards fare dodgers and treat foreigners and locals equally harshly. Sometimes, they don’t wear uniforms, but if they stop you, they should always present their Prague Transport Company (DPP) identification. All useful information about the inspectors and fines can be found in our article Fines in Prague Public Transport.

• Tickets are validated at the yellow terminals on trams and buses and when entering the metro pay zone.

• The ticket validity period is calculated from stamping.

• The stamping should be done only once. So, if you need to transfer, you should validate the ticket only at the start of the journey.

• 1-day and 3-day tickets should also be stamped only at the beginning and don’t need to be stamped again.

For more information on public transport in Prague, see the website of the Prague Transport Company. Information is available in English.