Prague taxis, the apps, and the airport scam to skip

Bolt is the cheapest and most-used ride app in Prague, and the one to have. Uber works well too and is usually only a little pricier, so many travelers keep both and compare. Liftago is a Czech app that dispatches licensed taxis and uses a bidding model, which makes it a useful backup when Bolt and Uber are both surging on a busy night. All three lock the fare before the car arrives, so there is nothing to argue about.

The reassuring part is that Prague's fearsome taxi reputation was earned back in the 1990s and 2000s, when unregulated cabs ran the tourist areas and honest meters were rare. Apps changed that. For almost every ride now, opening Bolt or Uber is cheaper, transparent and paid in advance, and it sidesteps the whole problem below.

The trouble that remains comes from unlicensed drivers and touts at the big tourist spots, Wenceslas Square, Old Town Square, the main train station and the airport, who quote a flat price instead of running the meter and overcharge many times the real fare. The airport version is a friendly man, often with an official-looking vest, who offers a taxi at a fixed price like 800 koruna, walks you to an unmarked car, and lands a final bill two to four times higher with invented luggage, night or toll fees. The single rule that defeats all of it: never get into a taxi that approaches you, and always book the ride yourself.

If you do want a traditional cab, licensed Prague taxis must display a rate card on the doors, run the meter from the moment you get in, and give a printed receipt, with the regulated rate around 36 koruna per kilometer. The two names to trust for a street or phone-booked cab are AAA Radiotaxi (call 14014) and Liftago. Confirm the meter is on before you move, and keep a map open to watch the route.

At Vaclav Havel airport (PRG), Bolt and Uber are the cheapest and clearest options, and because the airport has free Wi-Fi you can order one without a local SIM. Uber is the official airport partner allowed to wait at the terminal curb, while for Bolt or Liftago you walk to the marked ride-hailing pickup zone. Reckon on roughly 550 to 700 koruna to the centre by Bolt. Ignore anyone soliciting a ride inside or just outside arrivals.

If you would rather take public transport, the Airport Express bus runs straight to the main train station for about 100 koruna, or the number 119 bus connects to metro line A for about 40 koruna and takes you into the centre. Both are cheap, quick and completely scam-proof.

Pay in Czech koruna, not euros. The koruna is the currency, and euros are poorly accepted and get a bad rate where they are taken at all. In the apps you pay by card in koruna, and for a traditional taxi carry small koruna notes. On an app ride, tipping is not expected, though rounding up to the nearest 10 or 20 koruna is a normal gesture, and the same modest rounding is standard in a metered street taxi.

For the wider money picture, including how much cash to carry and why to always pay in koruna rather than euros, see the Czechia money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

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