Getting There By Road
Getting There By Road
Motorways (limited in number) are marked ‘D’ and international routes by ‘E’. Minor roads are designated by a number, with two or more digits. An annual toll of Kč1,000 (Kč200 for a month and Kč100 for 10 days) must be paid to use Czech roads – toll stickers must be displayed and can be bought at border crossings, post offices and petrol stations. The legal driving age is 18 years. Traffic drives on the right. Speed limits are 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas, 90kph (56mph) on main roads and 130kph (81mph) on motorways. Seatbelts are compulsory for drivers and passengers, front and rear (if fitted). On-the-spot fines are high for all motoring offences. There is zero tolerance for drink and drugs (drivers are expected to have a 0% alcohol to blood ratio). EU licence holders must have an International Driving Permit (IDP) if their normal licence does not have a photograph. An IDP is required for drivers from all other countries. A car registration document and country sticker are also necessary as well as a first aid kit and a warning triangle. Note that headlights must be used at all times during winter. Third party liability insurance is compulsory. For drivers based in the Czech Republic for longer than six months, the car must be registered with the Czech authorities – duty and taxes will cost about half the value of the car and minimum third-party coverage with a Czech insurer is also required.
24-hour emergency phone lines are situated every 2km (1.24 miles) on motorways and international routes. Both the strdn Automotoklub – AMK, Central Automobile Club (tel: 26110 4111; website: www.uamk.cz) and the Autoklub Cesk Republiky – ABA, Czech Automobile Club (tel: 22422 1820; website: www.autoklub.cz) have reciprocal agreements with many automobile associations and provide 24-hour breakdown service. Yellow Angels (tel: 154) is a new service with English and German speaking staff
Emergency breakdown services:
strdn Automotoklub (AMK) 1230
Autoklub Cesk Republiky (ABA) 1240
Routes to the city: The main routes to Prague are the D1/D2 to Brno (the epic delays at the Slovak border have eased since EU accession and travellers need no longer avoid the D2/D1 route via Bratislava). From Belgium, the best route is the E40 to Cologne, then the E31 to Heidelberg and the E50, crossing the German/Czech border at Waidhaus/Rozvadov. From Vienna, the E59 leads to the D1 motorway, the E55 from Dresden and Berlin, the E67 from Wroclaw and Warsaw and the E50 from Paris.
Approximate driving times to Prague: From Vienna – 4 hours 15 minutes; from Warsaw – 10 hours 15 minutes; from Bruges – 12 hours 30 minutes.
Coach services: International buses depart either from the Florenc coach station, Kři~kova 8, Prague 8 (conveniently located on both metro lines B and C at Florenc station), or from the coach park at }elivskho station (on metro A), located on the corner of Vinohradsk and Jana-}elivskho, Prague 3. Kingscourt Express (tel: (2) 2423 4583; website: www.kce.cz) is the main bus service provider to Western Europe and the UK. For many destinations within the Czech Republic, coaches are far quicker than trains, which tend to stop at every station. Regional services are provided by the state-run company, CSAD (tel: 4751 00014; website: www.csadbus.cz). Buses depart from a number of stations and the most convenient place for travellers to get information and purchase bus tickets is at Cedok (see Tourist Information).
|
Getting There By Road