If you are planning your first trip to Prague, you might be wondering where exactly is Prague. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic – a small country located in the central Europe. The Czech Republic (or Czechia as it’s known more recently) has natural borders consisting of low to medium-high mountains. The Czech Republic is completely landlocked and doesn’t have access to the sea.
Where is Prague in Europe?
If you look at a map of Europe, Prague is right in the centre, which is why some Czech people find it slightly insulting when visitors say ‘Prague is in Eastern Europe’.
The term is more likely to refer to the political division of Europe before 1989 than the geographical location, but I would still say, that Prague is in the heart of Europe, not in the East.
Countries bordering the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic shares its borders with Slovak Republic (until 2002 Slovak Republic & Czech Republic were one state – country), Austria, Germany and Poland.
Distance & travel times to Prague from Europe by bus & train
Whilst most people will use airplanes to travel to Prague, it’s actually fairly easy to get to Prague from other European cities by bus or train.
I’m mentioning this because, if you are already in Europe and want to visit Prague for one day on the way to your next destination, it’s quite easy!
Direct train connections from the Main Trains Station in Prague are linking Prague with Vienna (about 4 hrs) or Dresden (about 3-4 hrs). You can also get to Poland and Slovak Republic by international trains.
Direct buses to other European towns take often slightly longer, but are usually much better value, especially if you are travelling to Prague on a budget. The long distance buses start from Florenc Main Bus Station close to the main train station.
Examples of travel times from Prague by train
- Dresden, Germany – 2 hours 15 minutes
- Leipzig, Germany – 3 hours
- Bratislava, Slovakia – 4 hours
- Vienna, Austria – 4 hours
- Regensburg, Germany – 4 hours
- Berlin, Germany – 4 hours 20 minutes
- Wroclaw, Poland – 4 hours 30 minutes
- Nuremberg, Germany – 4 hours 30 minutes
- Munich, Germany – 5 hours 30 minutes
- Salzburg, Austria – 6 hours
- Budapest, Hungary – 6 hours 45 minutes
- Hamburg, Germany – 6 hours
- Frankfurt, Germany – 6 hours
- Graz, Austria – 6 hours
- Cologne, Germany – 7 hours
- Krakow, Poland – 7 hours 30 minutes
- Warsaw, Poland – 8 hours
- Ljubljana, Slovenia – 8 hours
- Zagreb, Croatia – 9 hours
- Brussels, Belgium – 10 hours
- Copenhagen, Denmark – 11 hours
- Amsterdam, Netherlands – 12 hours
- Zurich, Switzerland – 12 hours
- Bruges, Belgium – 12 hours
- Venice, Italy – 14 hours
Examples of travel times from Prague by bus
- Dresden, Germany – 2 hours 30 minutes
- Nuremberg, Germany – 3 hours 45 minutes
- Bratislava, Slovakia – 4 hours 15 minutes
- Wroclaw, Poland – 4 hours 30 minutes
- Vienna, Austria – 4 hours 30 minutes
- Berlin, Germany – 4 hours 45 minutes
- Munich, Germany – 5 hours 30 minutes
- Salzburg, Austria – 6 hours
- Budapest, Hungary – 7 hours
- Krakow, Poland – 7 hours
- Graz, Austria – 7 hours
- Ljubljana, Slovenia – 8 hours
- Zagreb, Croatia – 9 hours 30 minutes
- Warsaw, Poland – 10 hours
- Venice, Italy – 12 hours
Direct flights & travel times to Prague Vaclav Havel Airport
Flights to the main (and only) Prague airport – called Vaclav Have’s Airport (previously called Ruzyne – a name after a village that’s the closest to the airport) are regular from most larger European Cities, where the travel time is no more than 2 hrs.
- Vienna – 50 minutes
- Munich – 50 minutes
- Berlin – 1 hour
- Krakow – 1 hr 10 minutes
- Frankfurt – 1 hour 10 minutes
- Budapest – 1 hr 10 minutes
- Warsaw – 1 hr 20 min
- Zurich – 1 hour 20 minutes
- Amsterdam – 1 hr 30 min
- Copenhagen – 1 hour 30 minutes
- Brussels – 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rome – 1 hour 45 minutes
- London – 2 hrs
- Paris – 2 hrs
- Stockholm – 2 hours
- Oslo – 2 hours
- Helsinki – 2 hours 10 minutes
- Barcelona – 2 hr 20 min
- Istanbul – 2 hours 30 minutes
- Athens – 2 hours 30 minutes
- Madrid – 2 hours 45 minutes
- Moscow – 2 hours 50 minutes
- Lisbon – 3 hrs 30 min
Longer flight distances from Prague
Whilst Prague has great flight connections with European Cities, there are not that many direct flights further field.
When travelling from other destinations, you might need to find a connecting flight and change where necessary.
- Reykjavik – 4 hours
- Dubai – 6 hrs
- New York – 9 hrs 20 minutes (for travel from other USA destinations either travel to New York for a direct flight to Prague or go via any major European City such as Paris or London)
- Toronto – Approximately 9 hours
- Seoul – 10 hrs (South Korea)
Where is Prague centre?
Prague has 10 main districts, which are subdivided into further smaller areas. The Prague’s historical centre is located around Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti) in Prague 1 – Old Town.
From there you can go over the Charles Bridge all the way to the Prague’s Castle on the top of the hill or if you walk the other way, you can easily reach the more modern square the Wenceslas Square.
The Prague centre is easily accessible by public transport and even if you stay slightly off the main centre such as in Smichov, Vinohrady, Karlin or Zizkov district you will be in the centre within 10-15 minutes by tram or the metro (underground).
Prague location within Czech Republic
Prague is not quite in the middle of Czech Republic, instead, it’s positioned slightly to the west. This is because throughout history Prague was the capital of the Bohemia region only and the capital of Moravia was (and still is) Brno.
Prague’s main river is called Vltava, which flows right through the city. There are several bridges that cross Vltava, the most famous is of course Charle’s Bridge.
Prague is surrounded by several hills and it’s slightly in a dip.
This makes Prague quite protected against high winds, rains and snow, but it also means that pollution can be sometimes high and in the summer Prague can suffer many heat waves.
There are still plenty of ways of staying cool in the Prague’s heatwave, but it’s worth mentioning it, just in case you are not too keen on travelling when it’s really hot.
Prague has a great public transport system within the town, but also great connections to pretty much any place within the Czech Republic.
These connections (both trains and buses) are often directly linked to Prague, which is great for the day visitors, but slightly frustrating for the locals.
You can pick any little town and you’ll see the direct bus to Prague, but there might not be a bus that will take you to the next village.
Prague distance to other towns in the Czech Republic
I thought I’d mention the most visited towns in the Czech Republic and how far they are from Prague, to give you an idea of day trips you can make from Prague. It’s perfect, for example if you want to visit the UNESCO-listed sites in the Czech Republic in the summer or castles that are open in the winter and close enough to Prague to get there within a day.
I travel mainly by public transport, so the distance is by train or bus. If you are travelling by car, the distance might be often shorter as you can go directly to your destination without stopping or diverting your route.
Most trains depart from the Main Train Station or the other main train stations in Prague and buses leave from Florenc bus station, Na Knizeci, Cerny Most, Strizkov or Zlicin. Best way to plan your journey within Czech Republic on public transport is to look up https://idos.idnes.cz/ or download the IDOS app to your phone. I use it all the time – it’s great app that always shows the quickest way to get to my destination combining train and bus together.
The travel time listed is one way, so make sure you plan your journey well before you set off as some day trips could end up being very long ones.
Whilst I’ve done many day trips in the winter to closer destinations (such as a great day trip to Pardubice, Liberec or Zatec town), I’d keep the longer distance for summer days.
In the summer you have extra light (until about 9 pm in July/August) and can easily take the last bus or train from your destination. In winter you are more limited as the light goes by 4 pm and it gets cold pretty fast after the sunset.
- Melnik – 30 min – 1 hr (Direct buses are fastest)
- Karlstejn – 40 minutes by train, see How to get to Karlstejn >>
- Kladno – 30 to 45 mins by bus
- Terezin – 50 minutes by bus, see How to get to Terezin >>
- Liberec – 1 hr (bus is best)
- Pardubice 1 hr (trains are fastest)
- Plzen – 1,5 hrs (direct trains are best)
- Tábor – 1.5 to 2 hrs by train or bus (train is faster)
- Kutna Hora – 1, 5 hrs (train is best)
- Mladá Boleslav – 1 to 1.5 hrs by train or bus
- Příbram – 1 to 1.5 hrs by bus
- Kolín – 1 to 1.5 hrs by train
- Teplice – 1.5 to 2 hrs by train or bus
- Jablonec nad Nisou – 2 to 2.5 hrs by bus
- Děčín – 2 hrs by train
- Ústí nad Labem – 1 to 1.5 hrs by train or bus
- Hradec Králové – 1.5 to 2 hrs by train or bus
- Ceske Budejovice – 2 hrs (bus is faster)
- Karlovy Vary – 2 hrs (direct bus)
- Jihlava – 2 to 3 hrs by train or bus
- Brno – 2,30 – 3 hrs (Direct buses are fastest)
- Olomouc – 2,5 hrs (train)
- Cesky Krumlov – 3 hrs, see How to get to Cesky Krumlov >>
- Cheb – 3 hrs (train)
- Kromeriz – 3 hrs (train)
- Třebíč – 2.5 to 3 hrs by train or bus
- Zlín – 3.5 to 4 hrs by train
- Slavonice – 4 hrs by train see Slavonice Visitor’s Guide >>
- Opava – 4,5 hrs by train
- Ostrava – 3.5 to 4 hrs by train, 4.5 to 5 hrs by bus
- Znojmo – 4,5 to 5 hrs by train or bus
STAY IN TOUCH
Hope this blog post inspires you and as ever I’d love to what you think! Let me know in the comments below or catch up with me over on Instagram.
Magdalena
This blog post was originally written on 21 April 2022 and last updated on 3 June 2024
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