Prague - traffic jams, and no free parking

Trip Start Sep 03, 2008
1
24
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Trip End Nov 13, 2008


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Where I stayed
(Prague hotels)

Flag of Czech Republic  , Bohemia,
Thursday, October 2, 2008

Prague, or Praha (if you want to us the non-anglised version of the name) is a large city. Shellie and I hit the edge of the city at 17:15 (or there about) this afternoon, and reached our hostel (about 5km away) at 18:30ish! The traffic was caused it appears by a big football match on this evening. It was insane, for example, it was the first time I have driven through a roundabout which had two to three lanes, plus tram traffic running through the centre.Once we arrived, we learnt car parking (close by) was costly (about 25 euro per day, or 1,800cz). While there was free parking, it was only after hours (18:30 until 07:30) and I was not particularly interested in having to shuffle the car about.
There is however a solution to the parking problem. Praha is trying to encourage people to take public transport and has introduced several "park and ride" stations. Parking costs 10cz per day, on the understanding one would have their car removed by 01:00. If a driver does not have their car removed by 01:00, they are fined 100cz. So, if one parks the car at a "park and ride", the cost is 330cz, as compared to 1,800cz to park in the city! Oh, and the cost to get back into town from the train station you drop the car off is only 18cz to 26cz, depending on whether you need to transfer trains.
I will have more to report on Praha once Shellie and I have finished some exploring tomorrow.
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