Travelling Instructions

to Plzen (Pilsen) close to PRAGUE, Czech Republic

Health and travelling insurance

It is strongly recommended to arrange all insurance needed as the health care is not free of charge.

Visa

You might need visa to be able to visit Czech Republic. In some cases you might need also visa to return to your original country if you do not held a passport of the original country. Please, check the visa needed at least two months before your departure. In case that you will need a letter of acceptance for the conference consider 14 - 21 days for producing it and air mail delivery [make sure that your postal address in the WSCG registration database is correct; you need to proceed registration first]. Letter of paper acceptance can be issued after the reviewing process is closed.
The FORMAL LETTER of INVITATION cannot be issued as it take very long time - up to 3 months.

In case of any doubt contact immediately Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and/or selected Embassy of the Czech Republic [use SEARCH: EMBASSY]

Custom Information

PLEASE, contact http://www.cs.mfcr.cz for details. Generally it is recommended to declare your financial means if you carry more than 350 000 CZK, approx. 1 200 EUR. No problems have been reported by attendees so far.

Electricity - plugins

We use standard European 240 V 50Hz . The WA9 standard grounded plugins are compatible, you can also use ungrounded one for your notebook.
The complete list of countries that also use these plug adapters is: Algeria, Antilles (Netherlands), Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Azerbajian, Balearic Islands, Bali, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovenia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (People's Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kirghistan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madeira, Mali, Martinique, Moldavia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Island, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Tadzhikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Yugoslavia (former). Includes Saint Maarten (St.Martin); the Dutch side runs on 120 voltage (60 cycles) and the French side runs on 220 volts (50 cycles).

How to reach Plzen (Pilsen)

If you travel by air to the Prague Airport
(there is no direct coach to Plzen from the Prague Airport):
(Check new airliners to Prague)

• There is a service how to reach Plzen city FAST - BUY THE TICKET AT THE AIRPORT at the STUDENT AGENCY Stand - terminal 1 (busses are usually fully booked):
  You can use the BUS 100 (runs every 30 mins.) to Zlicin BUS & underground station (you need to buy 18 CZK ticket - you cannot change! ).
  You must buy a ticket at the bus station (you need coins) in advance and mark it inside of the bus.
  
  There are Student Agency yellow coaches running directly from the ZLICIN station to the Plzen city (check the table at the end of this page).
  The service runs (might be changed):
  • Monday - Friday on 6:30, ....every 30 mins...,8:00, 9:00,...every 60 mins.....,13:00, 13:30, ..... every 30 mins. ...., 20:00, 21:00
    if you very arrive late go to the Florence station (see below) - the last bus leaves at 23:55 Florence station
  • Saturday - Sunday on 7:00, 8:00, ...., 14:00, 16:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00
    
    Please, check StudentAgency site at http://www.studentagency.cz for details. Please, count with at least with 30 mins. to reach the Zlicin station from the Prague airport (20 mins. journey).
    It is highly recommended to buy your coach ticket in advance or directly at the Prague airport (Terminal 1 - ground floor, 5 mins. from the Terminal 2 - EU arrivals [except of U.K.] ).
    A ticket costs 90 CZK - 4 EUR approx.

• In case that you do not have a coach ticket, we recommend you to take a bus 100 to ZLICIN station and change there to METRO (underground) and go to SMICHOV nadrazi (railway station) and take a train to Plzen - leaves every hour approx. during a day.

Other possibilities

• There is a regular city bus No.119 from the Prague airport to the Dejvice station (the very last station of the bus) where you have to enter the underground station. It is the first station on the line. You must change the line at Museum station to the station Florenc (Prague Central Coach Station) or to the station Hlavni nadrazi (Prague Central Railway Station) - they are on the same line. The ticket cost 28 CZK (about 1,2 EUR - do not take the cheapest one - you could not change a line and it is very short time validity). Please, note that there is a time limit for the ticket validity 60 mins. You can change or stop several times during that period. The bus No.119 starts from the 1-nd "island" at the Airport or from the Terminal 2 as well.
  You must buy a ticket at the bus station (you need coins) in advance and mark it inside of the bus.
  
• There is a special micro-bus (CEDAS) from the Prague airport to the Prague center (it costs 600 CZK - about EUR 25). It takes you to the Florenc station (Central Coach Station) or to the station Hlavni nadrazi (Prague Central Railway Station). If you wish they will take you to Plzen (Pilsen), the expected cost should be negotiated and should be about 2400 CZK (approx. 100 EUR)
  
• You can buy one day travel ticket for Prague
  
• A coach ticket from Prague to Plzen costs about 90 CZK (4 EUR approx.), a train ticket costs about 90 - 160 CZK (approx.5-8 EUR).

Warning: please, do not take any non-official taxi as taxi drivers will try to get as much as possible from you.

How to get to your hotel from both Main railway and Central bus stations (I usually walk this):

It is 10 - 15 mins. walk from the both stations to your hotel. You can take a public transport - the cost of one ticket is 16 CZK - 0,80 EUR but you cannot change.

• Slovan and Central hotels - take a tram and get out at the main square (namesti Republiky) - 2 stops from the Central railway station (Hlavni nadrazi), 3 stops from the coach station - ask for the Slovan hotel and Central hotel (3 mins. walk)
  
• Victoria hotel - take a trolleybus (direction Bory) from the Central railway station (Hlavni nadrazi) and get out at the South railway station (Jizni predmesti) - 6 stops from the Central railway station and then 3 mins. walk. From Central bus station (autobusove nadrazi - CAN) or Central railway station (Hlavni nadrazi) you can take a tram No.2 and change at station "Sinagoga" or at General post office (Hlavni posta) to No.4 direction Bory - 3 stops - to South railway station (Jizni predmesti) - ask for the Victoria hotel (3 mins. walk). Please, note that in this case you will have to use 2 tickets.
  
• Park hotel - take a tram No.2 direction Svetovar and get out at the general Post (Solni, Hlavni posta) stop and change to No.4 direction to Bory and get out at the last station. There ask for the direction shopping center "Gera" - it is about 3 mins. walk.
  
• In case of necessity you can also take a taxi - I would estimate the cost about 6 EUR. Ask for the cost before you take it and ask for the receipt.

On the way back from Plzen - take a coach to Prague to Zlicin station and than bus No.100 - you can reach the airport within 90 mins.
BUY THE TICKET in advance on your arrival - if applicable!

 If you travel by coach from your place:

• There are international coaches running to Prague from many places all over the Europe and many of them pass Plzen (Pilsen) directly. In many cases those coaches are the most convenient mean to travel to Plzen. Please, check coaches with your local travel agency. The Plzen (Pilsen) city is located approx.70 km from Prague to the West (direction to Frankfurt, Munchen). It is probably the cheapest way how to travel to Plzen.

If you travel by train from your place:

• There are many international trains passing the Plzen Central Railway Station - all from Frankfurt or Munchen.

If you travel by car from your place:

This page is maintained by Vaclav Skala :
Last update: 15/01/09 13:15