🇨🇿 Prague · First days

First 48 hours in Prague

The first two days in Prague, in priority order: what has to happen, what should, and what can wait. Tick things off as you go.

For Prague
How long you are staying

Must do

  • O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone sell prepaid SIMs in their shops and at the airport. A local number is what banks and delivery apps want.
  • Load the pass onto the Lítačka card, the PID Lítačka app or a registered bank card. If you are staying a year, the CZK 3,650 annual coupon costs about what seven monthly ones do.
  • Non-EU arrivals have three working days if the accommodation has not reported them; EU citizens staying over 30 days have 30 days. Ask your landlord in writing whether they have done it, and assume not.
  • If you were granted an employee card or another long-term residence permit abroad, you give biometrics at an OAMP office within three working days of arriving. Bring your passport and the accommodation confirmation.
  • The předávací protokol records meter readings and the flat's condition, signed by both sides. Photograph everything at the same time.

Should do

  • 112 for any emergency, answered in English; 155 reaches the ambulance service directly.
  • There is no rail link. Bus 59 runs to Nádraží Veleslavín on metro line A, and bus 100 to Zličín on line B, both on an ordinary 90-minute ticket; the app ticket is cheaper than paper. Older guides still say bus 119.
  • Bring your passport, residence document and proof of address. Set the rent up as a standing order (trvalý příkaz).
  • Ask your employer which public insurer they registered you with and when the card will come. Until then, keep your commercial or EHIC cover to hand.
  • If children are coming, find the catchment primary school for the flat before signing: the registered address decides the guaranteed place.

Nice to do

  • In a pub a beer arrives unasked once you sit down, and the waiter marks your tally on a slip. Put a beer mat on the glass when you have had enough.
  • Many embassies run a registration or alert service for nationals abroad. Two minutes now saves a scramble later.
  • The park above the river has the best view of the bridges, and the beer garden at the top is where the city spends summer evenings.
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Emergency112 · Police 158
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