Wonen in Praag

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and home to one of the largest castles in the world! When you visit Prague, you will take a step back in time. The city is almost unparalleled in architecture and beauty. When you visit Prague, you will love it!

In this blog, we will give you some insights about the city, environment, activities, public transport, housing, and healthcare. We will provide you with some links which give you even more information on the topics we are about to share with you. 

City overview 

Prague is the capital and the largest city in the Czech Republic. The river Vltava floats through Prague and separates the town into two parts, the right bank and the left bank. Prague was the biggest town in Europe in the 14th century. It became the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. The city has not been significantly damaged since the 16th century, not even during World War II.

 This is why it has been conserved so beautifully, with hundreds of stunning sights including Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Petrin Hill and Vysehrad.

Prague is a political and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gotch, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. The city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public and private school, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe.

Omgeving

The city of Prague has a temperate continental climate, with characteristics of a maritime climate. The winter is fresh without getting too cold, and the summer is warm with periods of prolonged heat. It is perfect when you do not like too much cold or heat! The highest temperature ever recorded in Prague is 37.8 degrees Celsius (in 1983). With an average of just over five hundred millimetres of precipitation on an annual basis, Prague is drier than the French capital Paris.

The winters in Prague are pretty grey and cool. The city is surrounded by mountains and hills, hereby the wind force is not that strong which makes the perceived temperature higher than the actual temperature. An exception is when there is a heavy high-pressure area above the Baltic Sea or Germany, then a powerful easterly current that brings cold air from Russia. 

The summer is quite sunny, with not too much rain and pleasantly warm. On many days the temperature is between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. The number of days that it is cooler than twenty degrees Celsius is quite limited and sometimes it is tropically warm in the city, with no less than thirty degrees or slightly above. 

Activiteiten

Did you know that Prague is the cultural capital of the Czech Republic? It is full of theatres, music, clubs, art as well as multiplex cinemas. If you love culture, then you will not get bored in Prague! Prague has so much to offer, that we selected the most beautiful things to do for you!

• See the Infant Jesus of Prague, located in the Mala Strana (heart of the city)
• Explore the Old Town Square
• Watch the Astronomical Clock Strike an Hour
• Stroll across the Charles Bridge
• Witness the old Jewish Ghetto
• Visit Prague Castle
• See the Treasures of St Vitus Cathedral
• Take a Cruise on the Vltava
• Drink their world-famous beer

It can be difficult to prioritize and determine what to see and do on each day of your trip when there is so much to see and do in Prague. If you try to see everything, you will undoubtedly feel disappointed and rushed.

Instead, concentrate on a few areas/districts of the city and spend time getting to know them properly. You’ll have an excuse to return to Prague at a later date if you don’t see everything!

Avoid eating in the city centre, like you would in many other tourist destinations around Europe such as Barcelona, Budapest, and Lanarca. Instead, walk a few streets back and you’ll get much better-quality meals at significantly lower prices.

Openbaar vervoer

Public transport in Prague is cheap and efficient. The easiest way to travel to the city from the Airport is by taxi. But once you are in the city, it is simple to travel around by metro and tram. There are no metro stations at Prague Airport. To travel into Prague by public transport requires taking a bus and then the metro. It takes one hour to travel by public transport to the city, there are two main routes:

• Route 1: Bus 119 from all terminals at Prague Airport to Nádraží Veleslavín metro station (line A) and from there you can take a metro to your destination.
• Route 2: Bus 100 from all terminals at Prague Airport to Zlicín metro station (line B) and from there you can take a metro to your destination.

Bus

The Prague bus network mainly services the suburbs of Prague, areas where the metro and trams do not go. Buses generally terminate at metro stations or tram stops, to facilitate onward travel by tram or metro to destinations in the city centre. Day buses run from 04:30-24:00: every 6-8 minutes during peak hours, every 10-20 minutes off-peak and every 15-30 minutes on weekends. Night buses run from 24:00 to 04:30: every 30-60 minutes.

Metro

In the city, there are multiple ways to travel through the city. You can choose to go by metro, tram or bus. The metro has three colour-coded lines:

• Line A (green): Depo Hostivar – Nemocnice Motol
• Line B (yellow): Cerny Most – Zlicín
• Line C (red): Letnany – Háje

You can transfer to another metro at the following locations:

• Mustek station (A & B)
• Muzeum station (A & C)
• Florence station (B & C)

Tram

Trams in Prague are reliable and convenient. Daytime trams start running at 4:30 am approximately every 10 minutes until midnight. Night trams numbers 51 to 59 run from midnight until 4:30 am every 30 to 40 minutes.

The most useful tram is tram number 22. This tram goes to Prague’s top attractions. It also provides breathtaking views of the city along its route. The tram runs through Hradčany, passing by the National Theatre and stopping at Prague Castle, Loreta and Strahov Monastery.

Trein

There are 2 train stations in Prague.

• Praha hlavní nádraží train station. The main station in Prague is near Wenceslas Square.
• Nádraží Praha-Holešovice train station is located outside the city centre.

You can check train times and book tickets hier. Information on this website is in Czech, English and German. You can also buy train tickets from any train station.

Huisvesting

If you intend to apply for a long-term visa (stay of more than 90 days) in the Czech Republic, you should begin looking for a long-term place as soon as possible. A long-term housing contract is required as part of your visa application, and you will be unable to apply for one without it.

You can either hire a real estate agent or search on your own when looking for an apartment. If you are looking for an apartment on your own, keep in mind that the owner may demand a higher price than you would pay if you used a real estate agent. The good news is that multiple friendly websites are very useful when looking for accommodation.

• Expats
• Buitenlanders
• BezRealitky(In het Tsjechisch)
• Sezanm(In het Tsjechisch)

De huisvestingskosten in Praag variëren en worden grotendeels bepaald door factoren zoals locatie (centrum vs buitenwijk), grootte en of het appartement gemeubileerd of ongemeubileerd is. De duurste appartementen bevinden zich in het centrum, met 2 kamers en een kitchenette in het centrum gemiddeld 15.000 CZK per maand. Een appartement met 2 kamers en volledige keuken in de buitenwijk kost gemiddeld ongeveer 10.000 CZK. Als je alleen een kamer huurt, verwacht je tussen de 8.000 en 12.000 CZK per maand.

Gezondheidszorg

Bij een noodgeval bel je 112 om verbinding te krijgen met de EU-noodlijn. Dit garandeert dat er een Engelssprekende operator beschikbaar is. Anders kun je de Tsjechische geneeskundige nooddiensten bereiken op 155.

In de Tsjechische Republiek is ziektekostenverzekering verplicht, ongeacht of deze wordt verstrekt door een openbare of particuliere verzekeringsmaatschappij. Tsjechische burgers, ingezetenen en iedereen die voor een Tsjechisch bedrijf werkt, zijn automatisch verzekerd en betalen maandelijkse bijdragen aan het openbare gezondheidssysteem van het land. Toeristen die lange tijd blijven, moeten een particulier verzekeringsbedrijf gebruiken, terwijl kortetermijnbezoekers een reisverzekering moeten hebben.

EU-burgers kunnen hun Europese ziektekostenverzekeringspas (EHIC) gebruiken om toegang te krijgen tot staatszorg tijdens een korte bezoek aan Praag. Britse burgers kunnen gebruik maken van hun Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), die de EHIC voor Britse burgers heeft vervangen. De EHIC is een gratis ziektekostenverzekeringspas die je recht geeft op noodmedische zorg tijdens het reizen in een van de EER-landen (Europa, Noorwegen, IJsland en Liechtenstein) of Zwitserland. De EHIC biedt dekking voor noodmedische zorg. Het dekt geen particuliere of niet-urgente medische zorg, tandheelkunde of gratis zorg als de behandeling het enige doel van je bezoek is. Het is belangrijk om te bedenken dat sommige behandelingen die gratis zijn in jouw land, niet gratis zijn in de Tsjechische Republiek.

Voor meer informatie over de EHIC verwijzen we je naar deschengenvisainfo.comwebsite.

Enkele woorden om mee te beginnen

De officiële taal van de Tsjechische Republiek is Tsjechisch, dat door 96 procent van de bevolking wordt gesproken. Tsjechisch wordt door velen beschouwd als de beste Slavische taal om te leren. Het gebruikt het Latijnse alfabet en wat ogenschijnlijk eenvoudige fonetische schrijving lijkt (elk teken vertegenwoordigt slechts één klank). Om je te helpen met de Tsjechische taal, hebben we een korte lijst met de populairste termen samengesteld.

Engels

Tsjechisch

Uitspraak

Hallo

Ahoj

a-hoy

Prima, dank je

Dobře, děkuji

dob-je-geh-kweh

Excuseert u mij

Promiňte

proh-min-ee-teh

Alstublieft

Prosim

proh-sim

Bier

Pivo

peh-voh

Wijn

Víno

vee-noh

Water

Voda

vo-dah

De rekening, alstublieft

Účet, prosim

oo-chet pro seem

Links

Vlevo

vleh-voh

Rechts

Pravo

prah-voh