Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The other big nightmare is
parking
. There are three colour-coded parking zones, with pay-
and-display meters: the orange zone allows you to park for up to two hours; the green zone
allows you up to six hours; the blue zone is for locals only. Illegally parked cars will either
be clamped or towed away - if this happens, phone 158 to find out the worst. If you're
staying outside the centre, you'll have no problems; if you're at a hotel in the centre, they'll
probably have a few parking spaces reserved for guests, though whether you'll find one va-
cant is another matter.
By bike
Cycling
isseen asmore ofaleisure activity inthe Czech Republic than ameans oftransport,
and in Prague the combination of hills, cobbled streets, tram lines and sulphurous air is
enough to put most people off.
Bike rental
is still not that widespread, but if you're de-
termined to cycle, head for City Bike, Králodvorská 5, Staré Město ( 776 180 284,
citybike-prague.com
;
metro Náměstí Republiky) or Praha Bike, Dlouhá 24, Staré Město (
732 388 880,
prahabike.cz
;
metro Náměstí Republiky); both also organize group rides. A
bike (
kolo
) needs a half-price ticket to travel on the metro or the train (they're not allowed
on trams and buses); they travel in the guard's van on trains, and in the last carriage of the
metro.
THE MEDIA
The full range of foreign newspapers are sold at kiosks on Wenceslas Square and else-
where.They'regenerallyadayold,butyoucanbuytheEuropeaneditionofthe
Guard-
ian
onthedayofissue(itarrivesonthestreetsofPraguearoundmid-morning),andthe
International Herald Tribune
- which contains a distilled English version of the
Frank-
furter Allgemeine Zeitung
- is widely available the same day.
The
Prague Post
(
praguepost.com
)
is an
English-language weekly
aimed at the expat
community, but good for visitors, too; it's a quality paper with strong business coverage and
a useful pull-out listings section. Of the
magazines
, you'll find the best coverage of con-
temporaryCzechpoliticsinEnglishinthe
New Presence
/
Přítomnost
(
pritomnost.cz
)
,abi-
lingual current affairs magazine, directly inspired by the Masaryk-funded
Přítomnost
, which
wasoneoftheleadingperiodicalsoftheFirstRepublic.Variousartymagazinesrunbyexpats
havecomeandgoneovertheyears;it'sworthcallinginatanEnglish-language
bookstore
for
the latest titles.
The majority of
Czech newspapers
are German-owned. The only Czech-owned paper is
the left-wing
Právo
, formerly the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party (when it was
known as
Rudé právo
or “Red Justice”). Its chief competitor is
Mladá fronta Dnes
, former
mouthpieceoftheCommunistyouthmovement,nowaverypopularright-wingdaily.
Lidové
