Prague Bus Guide: City Lines, Night Routes & Airport Connections

Prague runs an integrated tariff under PID (Pražská integrovaná doprava). The same paper ticket or app pass covers bus, tram, metro, the Petřín funicular, and certain Vltava ferries within Zone P (city centre + most suburbs). The standard fares as of 2026 are 30 CZK for a 30-minute ride, 40 CZK for a 90-minute transfer ticket, 120 CZK for a 24-hour pass, and 330 CZK for a 72-hour pass — kids 6–15 and seniors 65+ ride half-price; under 6 and over 70 ride free. Buy paper tickets at metro-station vending machines, newsagents, or the yellow ticket machines bolted to many bus stops. The cleanest option is the PID Lítačka mobile app: buy and activate a ticket in two taps before boarding, no machine hunting, no exact change. On the bus, validate immediately by tapping the paper ticket against the yellow validator on the handrail near the front door (the green light + beep means you're good). If you've already activated a Lítačka pass, nothing more to do. Inspectors in plain clothes are a real, regular thing — the fine for riding without a valid ticket is 1,500 CZK on the spot, 1,000 CZK at the desk later. There's no grace period for tourists.

Václav Havel Airport (PRG) sits at the western edge of Prague 6 and has no metro connection of its own — bus is the only public-transport link. Two options, both honest: City bus 119 runs every 5–15 minutes between the airport and Nádraží Veleslavín station on metro line A (Green), which then connects to the centre in about 15 minutes. A single 90-minute ticket (40 CZK) covers the whole trip including your metro transfer, and luggage rides free up to 25×45×70 cm — anything bigger officially needs a separate 20 CZK luggage ticket but enforcement is lenient. Total airport-to-Old-Town time: 35–45 minutes. The Airport Express (AE) is the alternative: a dedicated coach running every 30 minutes between the airport and Hlavní nádraží (Prague Main Station), 100 CZK, takes about 35 minutes nonstop. The AE is more comfortable, fits oversized luggage easily, and lets you go directly to your train if you're connecting. It is NOT included in PID transfer tickets — pay the driver on board (cash or contactless card) or via Lítačka. For most travellers staying in the centre, bus 119 + line A metro is the cheaper and faster door-to-door option.

When the metro stops running around midnight, the night-bus network takes over until roughly 05:00. There are 14 night lines (901–915), most running every 30 minutes. The whole system is built around a single transfer node: I. P. Pavlova on tram and bus line 22's route, just south of Wenceslas Square. Every night bus passes through I. P. Pavlova at the top or bottom of each hour, which means you can transfer between any two lines with at most a 30-minute wait, and crucially without having to plan a complex route in advance. For visitors heading back from Vinohrady or Žižkov nightlife to a hotel in Smíchov or Holešovice, the practical move is to walk to the nearest night-bus stop, ride to I. P. Pavlova, then ride out on the night bus going your way. Trams also run a parallel night network (lines 91–99) on the same I. P. Pavlova schedule; in the centre, trams are usually faster than buses. Night service uses the same PID ticket as daytime — your 24-hour or 72-hour pass keeps working past midnight.

A handful of bus lines connect attractions that aren't on the metro or tram grid. Bus 192 runs between Anděl (line B) and the Strahov Stadium / Petřín area, useful if you're hiking up to the lookout tower without the funicular queue. Bus 134 climbs from Nádraží Holešovice (line C) up to Stromovka park and the Planetárium. Bus 207 hauls between Náměstí Republiky and the Vyšehrad south plateau, handy when the steep stairs feel less appealing. Buses 137 and 167 connect Florenc (lines B/C) to the Žižkov TV Tower neighbourhood and the Olšany Cemeteries. For most central sightseeing — Old Town, Charles Bridge, Lesser Town, Castle district, Jewish Quarter — you'll never need a bus; trams 17 and 22 cover everything you want. The PID Lítačka app's journey-planner mode (the 'spojení' / 'connection' button) lets you punch in any address and it'll tell you whether the right answer is bus, tram, metro, or a combination, with real-time arrival data.