Where is Prague ?
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic – a small country located in the central Europe. Czech Republic (or Czechia as it’s known more recently) has a 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 Czech Republic
Czech Republic shares it’s 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
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 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.
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
- Krakow – 1 hr 10 minutes
- Warsaw – 1 hr 20 min
- Amsterdam – 90 min
- Budapest – 1 hr 10 minutes
- London – 2 hrs
- Paris – 2 hrs
- Barcelona – 2 hr 20 min
- 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.
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)
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 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 heatwaves.
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.
I travel mainly by public transport, so the distance is by train or bus. If you are traveling by car, the distance might be often shorter as you can go directly to your destination without stopping or diverting your route.
The distance listed is also one way, so make sure you plan your journey well, before you set off as some day trips could end up being a very long ones.
Whilst I’ve done many day trips in the winter to a closer destinations (such as a great day trip to Pardubice or Liberec), 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.
Prague – Melnik – 30 min – 1 hr (Direct buses are fastest)
Prague – Liberec – 1 hr
Prague – Pardubice 1 hr
Prague – Plzen – 1,5 hrs
Prague – Kutna Hora – 1, 5 hrs
Prague – Ceske Budejovice – 2 hrs
Prague – Karlovy Vary – 2 hrs
Prague – Brno – 2,30 – 3 hrs (Direct buses are fastest)
Prague – Olomouc – 2,5 hrs
Prague – Cesky Krumlov – 3 hrs
Prague – Cheb – 3 hrs
Prague – Kromeriz – 3 hrs
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 18 December 2022
