The capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe with many opportunities for an interesting pastime. Every year millions of tourists from all over the world visit this city, enjoying the local cuisine and getting to know the historical sights. Transport links with the Czech Republic are well established, so you can get there without much difficulty. However, many travelers are interested in how to get from Moscow to Prague, spending a minimum of time and money.
What are the ways to get to Prague
The distance between Moscow and Prague is just under 2 thousand km. This path can be easily overcome using road, rail or air transport.
| Way | Cost, EUR | Travel time | Notes (edit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airplane | 50-100 | 2 hours 55 minutes. Include here 30-40 minutes for the trip and set aside another 2-2.5 hours for the check-in to go smoothly. | If you use Economy Class, you will save a significant amount compared to buying train tickets. |
| Train | 200-300 | 28 hours and 27 minutes + 30-40 minutes to get to the station. Leave an hour to wait for your flight. | Traveling in a group of more than 6 people will give you the opportunity to get advantageous discounts on tickets. |
| Bus | 70-80 | 38 hours (direct flight), with a transfer - 32 hours. Add 40 minutes to get to the bus station and 30 minutes to wait for your flight. | Take a limited amount of hand luggage on the road - no more than 35 kg per adult. |
| Automobile | 225 | 36 hours. The length of the journey depends on whether you make stops along the way. | Remember that it is prohibited to carry more than 10 liters of fuel per car across the Polish border. The car must be in good condition. |
We go to Prague by train
This is one of the slowest and most comfortable ways to travel to the Czech Republic. Train 021E follows the route Moscow - Prague. It departs Moscow on Mondays and arrives in Prague on Tuesday, travel time - 28.5 hours. On the route of this train there are such large cities as Smolensk, Minsk, Brest, Warsaw.
As of 2021, the cost of an adult ticket is 300 euros for class I and 203 euros for class II (more information on the Russian Railways website - www.rzd.ru). Moreover, the passenger has the right to redeem train tickets in a class I compartment and ride in it alone. In this case, the cost will be approximately 360 euros.
From Moscow, the train departs from the Belorussky railway station, which can be reached by metro - along the Zamoskvoretskaya line to the station “Belorusskaya Koltsevaya” or “Radialnaya”. The train arrives at the Central Station in Prague, which is located almost in the center of the city. You can get to it on foot, by taxi or along the C metro line (you need to get off at the Hlavní nádraží station). The schedule of the train Moscow - Prague can be found on the official website of the carrier.
- Tickets for children under 12 years old are paid with a 50% discount.
- Young people between 12 and 25 years old and citizens over 60 years old receive a 30% discount.
- For groups of 6 people, tickets will cost 60% of the total cost. And this applies to both adults and children groups.
Pets are allowed in the amount of no more than one, provided that the whole compartment is purchased, and there is no charge for transportation.
As for luggage, the total size of carry-on luggage should not exceed 200 cm. Travel in luxury single compartments allows for 100 kg of luggage per person, in doubles - 50 kg per passenger. Photos of the compartment can be viewed on the official website of Russian Railways.
Passengers traveling in second class can carry 36 kg of luggage for each adult passenger and 15 kg for each child.
The train ride will take about 27 hours.
Travel to Prague by bus
Regular bus service between Moscow and Prague is provided by such companies as Ecolines and Eurotrans. This is the most budgetary, but not the fastest and most comfortable way to travel. The main route runs through Belarus, therefore, both direct flights without a transfer and those involving a transfer in Minsk are possible.
If you are planning a connecting flight, you need to book two separate tickets: one with Eurotrans and the other with MinskTrans.
Buses to Minsk leave from Moscow daily at 21.00 from the Novoyasenevskaya bus station. The bus arrives in the capital of Belarus the next day at 07.15 am. There is also a later flight, which leaves Moscow an hour and a half later and arrives in Minsk at 08.30 am.
Approximate travel time is 10 hours, ticket prices fluctuate around 20 euros, hand luggage (1 piece up to 200 cm and 35 kg) is included in the fare.
On the carrier's website, you can view the schedule and buy tickets online eurotrans.by.
In addition, you should book tickets on the Minsk - Prague route. The carrier MinskTrans offers two flights to Prague, which depart from the Eastern and Central bus stations of the capital of Belarus at 12.00 and 12.20, respectively. They arrive in Prague the next day at 08.10 and 11.30 in the morning.
The cost of tickets is approximately 80 euros, the cost of carrying hand luggage (1 piece up to 35 kg) is included in the fare. Buses on this route leave on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. More detailed information about their timetable can be found on the carrier's website.
If you are interested in a direct flight from Moscow to Prague, you should contact the Ecolines company, which carries out passenger transportation to the capital of the Czech Republic.
A bus running to Prague without a change departs daily from the Moscow Tushinskaya bus station at 20.45 and arrives in Prague a day later at 09.55. The duration of this flight is 38 hours 10 minutes, and a ticket for an adult passenger will cost 73 euros. Such information is contained on the official website of the carrier.
All carrier companies offer discounts on tickets for privileged categories of the population.
In particular, students and young people between the ages of 12 and 25, as well as citizens over 60, are entitled to a 10% discount.
Children under 12 years old receive a ticket with a 50% discount, and children under 3 years old can travel for free, but only in the arms of adults.
In Minsk, flights to Prague depart from the Central Bus Station, which can be reached by buses No. 119, 127, 151, trolleybuses No. 4, 36, 44 or minibus No. 1212 (Vokzal stop). In the Czech capital, buses arrive at the Florenc bus station. As for the Prague bus station, it can be reached from anywhere in the city along the yellow metro line (Florenc station).
We leave for Prague by plane
The cost of air travel depends on the season for which the trip is scheduled and the age of the passenger. On average, the price of a plane ticket for an adult passenger in the high season is 104 euros, in the low season (December-February) - 55 euros. The cost of the flight includes 8 kg of carry-on baggage and 15 kg of additional baggage.
- Czech Airlines offers four daily flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo, arriving at the first terminal of Prague's Ruzyne airport. The flight time is 2 hours 45 minutes. Departure and arrival of flights can be tracked on the online scoreboard at Sheremetyevo, which is available on the next page. The flight schedule is posted on the official website of the carrier.
Air tickets for Czech Airlines are booked on the low-cost airline's website. For children under 11 years old, discounts of 60% of the ticket price are provided, children under 3 years old can fly with their parents free of charge, provided that adults hold them in their arms. Students and passengers over 60 are eligible for a 15% discount.
- Pobeda Airlines carries passengers to Karlovy Vary - this is a budget way to get to the Czech Republic (only Aeroflot has direct flights, which depart from Domodedovo, but ticket prices for them reach 120 euros).However, planes do not fly on this route every day, so the availability of flights should be checked on the carrier's website. The cheapest air ticket for passengers over 2 years old is 55 euros on average. From September 15 to April 1, flights depart from Vnukovo Airport at 13.40 and arrive in Karlovy Vary at 15.25. In the high season, morning flights are also available: departure from Moscow at 09.35, arrival in the Czech Republic at 11.15.
From Karlovy Vary to Prague can be reached either by train or by bus. If you prefer a bus, check the carrier's official website. There are a large number of flights between the two cities every day, with an interval of one hour. The bus ticket costs only 6 euros, no discounts are available. You can take one large piece of carry-on baggage with you.
Those who like to travel by train will love the offers from the Czech Railways - the official website. Trains to Prague depart daily from the railway station in Karlovy Vary: at 04.56, 07.14, 07.30, 09.16, 11.16, 13.16, 15.16, 17.16 and 19.16. They arrive at their destination at 08.24, 10.24, 11.31, 12.24, 14.24, 16.24, 18.24, 20.24 and 22.34, respectively.
The ticket price is fixed at 6 euros, one piece of hand luggage is already included in the ticket price. Children under 5 years old travel free of charge, in all other cases there are no benefits.
You can get from Moscow to the airport and from Sheremetyevo to the city by Aeroexpress for 450 rubles one way. You can also take bus no. 851 or minibus no. 949, which depart from the Rechnoy Vokzal metro station. To get to Vnukovo by public transport, you need to take the Aeroexpress at the Kievskaya metro station or take bus No. 611 at the Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station (55 rubles per trip).
To get to Ruzyne airport, you can use the shuttle that is offered by any Prague hotel (22 euros for a round trip). Another way is to take the green metro line to Nádraží Veleslavín station and take bus no. 119 or charter, which departs from the station. The airport is the final stop of these bus routes.
In Karlovy Vary, the airport is located 5 km from the city. It can be reached by bus number 8 from the Tržnice station in the city center.
Remember that in all these directions there is a convenient KiwiTaxi service, with which you will not depend on public transport and will be able to save on taxi services in the Czech Republic.
How to get to Prague by car
Car travel is the most expensive way to get from Moscow to Prague. The distance between the two capitals is about 2000 kilometers, so the journey will take about 1.5 days if you drive with stops and overnight stays.
An average passenger car will spend about 160 liters of fuel for such a trip. Gasoline prices in Russia, Belarus and European countries are very different (0.67 euros / l in Russia and Belarus, 1.35 euros / l in Poland, 1.67 euros / l in the Czech Republic), so the cost of fuel as of 2021 the year will be about 210 euros.
You can hit the road in your car or rent a car for travel. However, you need to consider the following: in order to move around in a rented car, you must pay a deposit of 650-1000 euros, depending on the model of the car and its mileage. The amount of the deposit is blocked on the bank card and becomes available after returning the car. To book a car, use the rentalcars.com website. The cost of a weekly booking is approximately 200 euros, and the recommended deductible for deposit insurance costs 110 euros.
It should be borne in mind that within the Czech Republic, after the city of Hradec Králové, you will have to move along the toll motorway sections. You can pay for travel by purchasing a vignette - a travel permit.
The vignette must be affixed under the windshield so that the highway patrol can immediately verify that it is there. You can buy a permit at any gas station. Its cost is € 12.5 for passenger cars and is valid for 10 days.
An approximate route by car should look like this:
- From Moscow follow to Vyazma, then through Smolensk and Orsha go to Minsk (M1).
- After Minsk you will be met by Lida and Grodno (E28), and then the border point with Poland.
- Mark Polish cities such as Bialystok, Warsaw, Lodz and Wroclaw on your itinerary (S4, S14), and after border checks, head to Prague via Hradec (D44).
Traveling to the Czech Republic by car can be an exciting adventure if you think about it as carefully as possible.
Conclusions
There are various ways to get from Moscow to the Czech capital Prague. You can use air transport or organize an unforgettable road trip lasting several days with a stop in other cities. Think over the route in advance, book tickets and the hotel, prepare the necessary documents for passing the border control - and then the trip will leave you only the most pleasant impressions.
