What to do in the Prague Region?

[class387]

Hi all,

Next month I have a weekend in Prague. What are some interesting trains or scenic lines that I could ride? Also, what else is worth seeing?

All advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Belperpete]

The "Prague Semmering" line is well worth travelling.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smíchov_–_Hostivice_railway_line
https://www.likealocalguide.com/prague/prazsky-semmering

As far as Zlicin, it is covered by the Prague 24/48/72 hour travel cards, and you can catch a tram back from there. Most trains leave from the main station (Hlavni Nadrazi), pass through the wonderful abandoned Vyserhad station, across the river, through the goods yard at Smichovske Nadrazi station, and then along a wonderfully scenic single-track line that loops round and back to gain height. Some trains, especially at weekends when engineering work is taking place, only start/end at Smichovske Nadrazi.

If you join at Hlavny Nadrazi, it usually leaves from one of the two bay platforms both labelled as 1A - as opposed to the A end of the through platform 1! Look for a small single-unit railcar. If you want to catch it from Smichovske Nadrazi, beware that it doesn't call at the station itself - instead look for the long, green footbridge town-centre side of the station: about 2/3rds of the way across a set of steps leads down into the train preparation sidings, where there is a very narrow "platform" between two of the through sidings.

You can find timetables by entering line number "S65" in the PID website:
https://pid.cz/en/

At weekends, there is a vintage tram that does a circuit of the town. Now service 41, but you will still see lots of signs referring to its old designation 91 (9x services are now the night trams). The 1/2/3 day cards are NOT valid on this tram, you pay the conductor on board - like most things in Prague, prices are reasonable. It starts/ends at the Municipal Transport Museum, which is also only open weekends, and is well worth visiting.
http://www.dpp.cz/en/urban-mass-transit-museum/

And of course there are the trams themselves - well worth travelling just to experience what a proper tram network looks like. The 22/23 that climbs the hill up to the castle is a must. Full details of the Prague transport system can be found on the DPP and PID websites above.

Some other web-sites of interest:
https://www.cd.cz/vlakem-na-vylet/uvod
https://www.zelpage.cz/kalendar/?lang=en
http://www.kzc.cz/vlak/prazsky-motoracek
http://www.railroad-kingdom.com/

 

[70014IronDuke]

Non rail sites.

It depends on what floats your boat, but if you have the slightest interest in modern (and awfully brutal) history, I would have no hesitation in suggesting:
The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror beneath the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Resslova ulica
and the related museum in the rebuilt village of Lidice (about 22 km north-west of Prague, not very far from the airport).

 

[ac-03]

Staropromen brewery is nice...

 

[70014IronDuke]

Staropromen brewery is nice...

Not done that. How does it compare to Plzen? That, of course, claims to be the birthplace of the best beer in the world. It is a jolly good museum-brewery visit, IMO. (I've done it twice.)

 

[30907]

If you are into diesel locos, then Hlavni station on a Saturday or Sunday morning will have half a dozen departures in an hour from about 0815.
This recent thread
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/loco-hauled-services-within-prague.181698/#post-3978822
and this (skip the first few posts)
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/verona-munich-prague-trip-spring-2019.175862/
have relevant stuff.

 

[Struner]

If you haven’t been to Prague before, there is a lot that’s more worthwhile to see than railways...

 

[class387]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Should I try to get everything in the Prague zones or is it worth going further out?

If you are into diesel locos, then Hlavni station on a Saturday or Sunday morning will have half a dozen departures in an hour from about 0815.
This recent thread
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/loco-hauled-services-within-prague.181698/#post-3978822
and this (skip the first few posts)
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/verona-munich-prague-trip-spring-2019.175862/
have relevant stuff.

Some good thrash would be great! Which of these services are most interesting to take? Since they all leave around the same time I may not get to ride all of them.

If you haven’t been to Prague before, there is a lot that’s more worthwhile to see than railways...

I plan to have a few days for tourist stuff (the memorial should be worth visiting) and then the weekend for railways.

 

[Struner]

I see, so not just a weekend then.

 

[class387]

I see, so not just a weekend then.

I'm limiting myself to just a weekend for train stuff so I have time to explore the city as well.

 

[30907]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Should I try to get everything in the Prague zones or is it worth going further out?


Some good thrash would be great! Which of these services are most interesting to take? Since they all leave around the same time I may not get to ride all of them.

I plan to have a few days for tourist stuff (the memorial should be worth visiting) and then the weekend for railways.

I imagine you'd go for one of the 749 Grumpy/Bardotka workings - you can do a short stretch on 2 or 3 of them within city limits or do a longer run.
The ones operated by KZC rather than CD will probably be noisier, and the stock is nice.
If you wanted a longer run, Rakovnik is probably the best but it's one I've not done (it was bustituted the day I wanted it...).
As the outward journeys are the uphill runs, you could come back by service train (or express bus, to save time!) as the destinations aren'tchosen for international tourists.

More discussion towards the end of this thread:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/shred-s-europe-and-asia-trips.148383/page-7#post-4120057

 

[class387]

I imagine you'd go for one of the 749 Grumpy/Bardotka workings - you can do a short stretch on 2 or 3 of them within city limits or do a longer run.
The ones operated by KZC rather than CD will probably be noisier, and the stock is nice.
If you wanted a longer run, Rakovnik is probably the best but it's one I've not done (it was bustituted the day I wanted it...).
As the outward journeys are the uphill runs, you could come back by service train (or express bus, to save time!) as the destinations aren'tchosen for international tourists.

More discussion towards the end of this thread:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/shred-s-europe-and-asia-trips.148383/page-7#post-4120057

I'll probably do the run to Rakovnik.
​

I also seem to have found a steam railtour to Cercany, which seems quite reasonably priced:
https://www.cd.cz/vlakem-na-vylet/v...sim/parnim-vlakem-ferdinand-do-posazavi/15725

Is this worth doing? If so, does it need prior reservation or can I buy tickets on the train? Google Translate doesn't give a clear answer.

 

[blackfive460]

Based on previous experience of CD's similar trains, you need an ordinary ticket for the journey you are making plus a supplementary ticket for that specific train. Those tickets can be bought from a CD ticket office or, assuming the train isn't full, you can pay on the train but bear in mind that these trains can be very popular so you may get a refusal.

 

[class387]

Based on previous experience of CD's similar trains, you need an ordinary ticket for the journey you are making plus a supplementary ticket for that specific train. Those tickets can be bought from a CD ticket office or, assuming the train isn't full, you can pay on the train but bear in mind that these trains can be very popular so you may get a refusal.

Will it be too late to make a reservation two days before the railtour and will the staff at Praha hl.n have any idea what I'm on about - bearing in mind my non-existent Czech?

Also, can the ordinary ticket for the journey be a rover ticket?

 

[70014IronDuke]

Will it be too late to make a reservation two days before the railtour and will the staff at Praha hl.n have any idea what I'm on about - bearing in mind my non-existent Czech?
...

Bearing in mind that the average Czech booking clerk in the Prague region probably speaks better English - at least grammatically - than your average bod in Brough or Bermondsey, I'd say you'll be fine.

Just remember to speak very LOUD and SL-OW-LY.

And if you're related to Neville Chamberlein, keep it under your hat.

 

[class387]

Bearing in mind that the average Czech booking clerk in the Prague region probably speaks better English - at least grammatically - than your average bod in Brough or Bermondsey, I'd say you'll be fine.

Just remember to speak very LOUD and SL-OW-LY.

And if you're related to Neville Chamberlein, keep it under your hat.

Good to hear - thanks for the advice.

Nope, not related to Chamberlain.

 

[AlbertBeale]

For non-railway stuff I'd recommend the Kafka Museum - on the west side of the river, couple of minutes walk south of the Manesuv(?) bridge - I found it an amazingly engaging and immersive experience.

Also - I think there are some trolleybus routes where the overhead lines stop near historic sights, and they run on batteries and pick up the lines again later.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

For non-railway stuff I'd recommend the Kafka Museum - on the west side of the river, couple of minutes walk south of the Manesuv(?) bridge - I found it an amazingly engaging and immersive experience.

Also - I think there are some trolleybus routes where the overhead lines stop near historic sights, and they run on batteries and pick up the lines again later.

There is one partially-electrified route for trolleybuses with batteries (and no other trolleybus routes). The reason for discontinuous electrification is unrelated to visual intrusiveness.

After precisely 45 years, on 15 October 2017, a new trolleybus line was opened in Prague. So far, the system is equipped with overhead wires along less than 1 km of the route's length and requires trolleybuses with additional batteries, capable of operating away from the wires, along other parts of the route. The goal of this experimental project is to prove the viability of trolleybuses in Prague as well as the ability to minimize the costs needed to build the infrastructure. Overhead wires have been installed along Prosecká Street, which features a steep gradient. This will prevent a fast battery drain for vehicles running upwards as well as quick-charging of their batteries for the rest of their journey outside of the wired portion of the route. In winter, the direct power supply will also allow for a tank of water to be heated up for interior heating

 

[AlbertBeale]

There is one partially-electrified route for trolleybuses with batteries (and no other trolleybus routes). The reason for discontinuous electrification is unrelated to visual intrusiveness.

Aha - thanks for this - I'd obviously misunderstood the basis of the trolleybus running on a mix of wires and battery. But at least I wasn't dreaming - I really did see a trolleybus with wires for only part of the route! Which itself suggests a useful model for the idea of "hybrid" battery-capable trolleybuses elsewhere, such as in this country ... London for example.

 

[Mag_seven]

Aha - thanks for this - I'd obviously misunderstood the basis of the trolleybus running on a mix of wires and battery. But at least I wasn't dreaming - I really did see a trolleybus with wires for only part of the route! Which itself suggests a useful model for the idea of "hybrid" battery-capable trolleybuses elsewhere, such as in this country ... London for example.

I've seen trollybuses like that in Zurich.