Czech Republic

The Country

The Czech Republic is a breath of fresh air, especially around Prague. The city is spread out but not too far, the sites are easily accessible and even if you just want to walk around the city and pass the time of day it’s completely harmless to do so. Even around Prague there are places in easy reach by train, like Karlstejn Castle, so it’s easy to get away from the city for a day and explore further afield.

Train Travel

Ceske Drahy (CD) operate the national rail service, throughout the Czech Republic; also offering many cross border trains into neighbouring countries. There are also other open access operators. Czech Railways timetables are available on their site to download as PDF’s for each line of route; refer to the CD map with the lines of route to assist with which route numbers you require. You can also plan your trip online.

A live map of CD trains which also shows how late they are when each is clicked is also available on the CD website.

A comprehensive list of both passenger and freight operators in the Czech Republic can be found on the helpful Railfan Europe website’s Czech Republic page.

Train times and Tickets

Booking tickets for travel within the Czech Republic can be done at most CD stations and you can also book CD tickets online. If you only require reservations for either Interrail, Eurail or railway staff passes then this can be done via phone to the DB office in London.

If choosing to use an Interrail pass, either for just within the Czech Republic, or to pass through the Czech Republic, all the relevant details on the passes, including the different types/lengths of validity available, can be found on the InterRail website.

For those travelling from outside Europe then the Eurail Pass is your ticket to Europe, details of which can be found on EU Rail’s website.

Finally travel in Europe can be made a lot simpler by using the very, very, helpful smartphone app courtesy of Eurail. This app is available both online and offline and is always up to date (well it has been for the countries I’ve used it in; including for any planned engineering works); for me it was an essential part of my travel in Europe. This app is linked to the Hafas system, which countries like Germany, Austria & Switzerland use for their train planning online tool. Eurail has done what the individual countries haven’t though and made it available offline.

For the Rail Enthusiast

A comprehensive list of Czech Locomotives by their respective railway system can be found on the Railfaneurope website’s Czech Republic page. This also explains a bit the various operators of the network and how they have amalgamated over the years.

A simple map of the CD railway system is available on their website. A detailed map/atlas of the Slovakia & Czech Republic Railway Systems is available from European Railway Atlas.