PragN21: allgemeine Infos

ACCOMMODATION

There are many affordable accommodation spots in and around Prague, the majority being hostels and hotels. However, with the combination of NATO summit visitors and the protestors of the meetings, the city is well-booked. Book as early as possible to guarantee that you have a place to stay.
If you are looking for the accommodation in Prague during November, try to visit this server www.hostel.cz, here you can find hotels and hostels in Prague, their location, prices and you can make a reservation here. Other useful sites are  http://www.prague-accommodation.cz/1001/cesky.htm or  http://www.ds-bohemia.cz/abacus/abacus.htm

RESTAURANTS, CAFES and BARS

Below is a basic list of good eating, drinking and relaxing spots. Czech pub food is mostly made up of meat, potatoes and fried cheese, so we've also noted restaurants that offer vegetarian dishes.
Bohemia Bagel, Ujezd 16, Prague 1. phone 257 310 694. A good place for bagel sandwiches and internet access (1,5 Kc a minute).
Country Life, Melantrichova 15, tel. 224 213 366, closed weekends. An organic food store that boasts a good restaurant located behind the shop.
Govinda Vegetarian Club, Soukenicka 27. phone 224 816 016. Hare Krishna run, this is a great, cheap vegetarian restaurant, open from 11 am to 5 pm. Most of the food is grown on their organic farm outside of town.
Radost FX, Belehradska 120, Prague 2. phone 224 254 776. Near I.P. Pavlova metro stop. A little more expensive than other Prague restaurants but it serves great food and some vegetarian dishes.
37. patro, s.r.o., Jungmannovo námìstí, Praha 1 (in the underground vestibule), tel. 224 225 157. Vegetarian specialities, salads, fast-food... Open till 20.00.
CZ beat, Balbínova 26, Praha 2, tel. 222 254 418. Cheap food, even vegetarian, open till 23.00.
Mayur - Indian restaurant, Stepanska 63, Praha 1, tel. 224 227 073. Should have vegetarian food, open till 23.00.
Miyabi - Japan restaurant, Navratilova 10, Praha 1, tel. 296 233 102. Should have vegetarian food.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

The Czech currency is the Koruna ( Kc) or crown. Exchange rates are around the following:
Currency Koruna (Kc)
1 EUR = 31 Kc
For exchanging money, banks tend to offer the best deal and generally charge 2% commission. Exchange centers on tourist routes often charge up to 10% commission. If you are using American Express or Thomas Cook travelers checks, you will get a good exchange rate with no commission at their offices. ATM machines are scattered around Prague and for bank cards the commission is much lower than for credit card withdrawals.The best advice is to look around. It hardly needs saying but refuse to exchange money with anyone who approaches you on the street.
American Express, Wenceslas Square 56. phone 2421-9992.
Ceska sporitelna banka, Na prikope 29. phone 2422-9268.
Thomas Cook, Narodni 28 and Staromestske namesti 5. phone 2110-5272, 2481-7173.
Zivnostenska banka, Na prikope 20. phone 2412-1111.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Transport in Prague is terribly complicated by the recent floods. However, you can get almost anywhere day or night by cheap, but sometimes overcrowded buses and trams. The metro was hard hit by the flood and a big part of it is still out of order, especially in the city centre. Instead of metro, extra trams and buses (tram X-A instead of metro "A", tram X-B instead of metro "B" and buses X-C instead of metro "C") are running. Regular trams and buses goes till midnight, then you can use special night trams and buses (trams 51-58, buses 501-513) every hour or half an hour.
You can buy tickets from yellow machines in the subways, newsstands, tabacco kiosks. Listed below are the different ticket options.
8 Kr 30 minute tram or bus, 4 metro stops. Non transferable. Not valid on night buses or night trams.
12 Kr 90 minutes, unlimited transfers.
70 Kr day pass Unlimited travel all day.
180 Kr 3-day pass Unlimited travel.
250 Kr weekly pass Unlimited travel
280 Kr 15 day pass Unlimited travel
Buy tickets before you travel and validate them in a yellow time clock before you enter the system. Anyone riding the transportation system without a valid ticket will be fined 400 Kr on-the-spot.
It is recommended to use a ticket, because travelling without ticket could be used as an excuse for arrest. Be careful and never let your ticket leave your hand. In case you are checked just show it to the reviser, not give it to him!
However, a few advises for people without tickets: the reviser has no legal right to hold you. If you don't have a ticket and are checked, just get off the tram or bus and go away quickly. If you are caught by the police though, say you didn't understand and the reviser shouted at you.
As for bikes, there are quite a few bikes but very few cycle lanes.

TELEPHONES

There are two types of public phones in Prague: card and change phones. Phones that take cards greatly outnumber the change phones, so it's a good idea to purchase a phone card as soon as you arrive in town. They're on sale for a minimum of 175 Kr or 200 Kr at most tobacco kiosks, newsstands and any other place that displays the blue and yellow Telecom sticker.
There is a much cheaper option for calling home in the way of the THINK Smartcard. The card costs 500 Kr and is available at many ex-patriot hangouts like the Globe and Bohemian Bagel, also at Country Life the organic shop noted above. They'll save you around 50% (compared to Czech Telecom rates) on calls to every country in the world (except Burma). You will however still need a Telecom phone card or a home phone to access the THINK number.
Public phones are cost-effective when calling other land-lines; when calling mobile phones, they eat credits. You may want to consider buying a mobile phone in Prague if you'll be calling many other Czech mobile phones. They cost around 1,500 Kr for the second-hand phone and 400 Kr for the initial calling card with 400 Kr credit.

Here are some international dialing codes, dial your normal national number after these:

Australia 00 61
Canada 00 1
Ireland 00 353
UK 00 44
US 00 1

Here are some emergency toll-free phone numbers in Prague:

First Aid 155
Czech Police 158
Prague City Police 156
Fire 150