Is Public Transport Free In Prague?
No, Prague public transport is paid, but a 30-minute ticket costs 36 CZK in the app and a 24-hour ticket 140 CZK. Here is every fare, the funicular rule, the fines and the free alternatives.
No, public transport in Prague is not free. Every tram, bus and metro ride requires a paid ticket under the tariff that took effect on 1 January 2026: a 30-minute ticket costs 36 CZK in the Lítačka app or 39 CZK on paper, and a 24-hour ticket costs 140 CZK in the app or 150 CZK on paper. Children under 15 and seniors over 65 ride the Petřín funicular free, and day tickets include it.
That is the short answer, and it surprises visitors who have read that Prague hands out free rides. It does not. What Prague does have is one of the cheaper integrated networks in central Europe, run under the Prague Integrated Transport system known as PID. One ticket is valid on the metro, on trams and on buses within the paid zones.
Everything inside the city runs on the ordinary tariff, and the ordinary tariff is what this article breaks down: the exact fares, who pays less, what the funicular inclusion really means, what an inspector can fine you, and how to pay without queuing at a machine.
There is also a genuinely free layer to Prague that no tram ticket can replace. The historic centre is compact enough that the most visited ground, from Old Town Square across Charles Bridge to the castle steps, costs nothing to walk, and the 39 free walking tours listed on this site, across GuruWalk and freetour.com, cover that ground with a local guide for a price you decide yourself.
What Does A Prague Transport Ticket Cost?
A single 30-minute ticket costs 36 CZK in the Lítačka app or 39 CZK on paper, and a 90-minute ticket costs 46 CZK in the app or 50 CZK on paper. A 24-hour ticket is 140 CZK in the app against 150 CZK on paper, and a 72-hour ticket is 340 CZK in the app against 350 CZK on paper. App tickets are always the cheaper option at every duration.
These figures come from the PID tariff that came into force on 1 January 2026, which raised single-journey prices across Prague and the outer zones. The structure is simple: buy a time-based ticket, validate it on first use, and transfer freely between the metro, trams and buses until it expires. A 30-minute ticket covers most single cross-centre journeys; the 90-minute version allows a slower route with changes.
The full fare applies to riders aged 15 to 60. Seniors aged 60 to 65 with proof pay half price where a discounted ticket exists, for example 18 CZK in the app or 19 CZK on paper for 30 minutes, though no discounted 72-hour ticket is sold. The tariff details, including the long-term monthly and annual passes, are published by PID on its new tariff page.
| Ticket | Lítačka app | Paper ticket | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 36 CZK | 39 CZK | Single journey with transfers, zones P, 0 and B |
| 90 minutes | 46 CZK | 50 CZK | Longer journeys with changes |
| 24 hours | 140 CZK | 150 CZK | Unlimited rides, funicular included |
| 72 hours | 340 CZK | 350 CZK | Unlimited rides, funicular included |
For a visitor staying two or three days and moving between Old Town, Malá Strana and Vyšehrad, the 24-hour and 72-hour tickets are the practical choice, and not only for the flat price. Both include the Petřín funicular, which otherwise charges its own fare, a detail worth more than the ticket itself if a hill visit is on your list.
If the point of the trip is the historic centre rather than the suburbs, the honest budget question is whether you need the transport at all. The centre rewards walking, and Free Things To Do In Prague exists because so much of the city's best ground, its squares, bridges, ramparts and castle courtyards, charges nothing to enter. A day ticket and a free walking tour solve two different problems, and only one of them is ever free.
Is The Petřín Funicular Included In A Normal Ticket?
Yes, if you hold a 24-hour or 72-hour PID ticket, a long-term Prague pass or a free-travel entitlement, the Petřín funicular is covered and rides nothing extra. Without one of those, a single non-transfer funicular ticket costs 100 CZK, or 90 CZK bought in the app. Children under 15 and seniors over 65 ride the funicular free.
This is the one place where Prague transport comes closest to free, and the rule is worth knowing before you stand at the lower station. The funicular reopened on 22 September 2026 after a long reconstruction and runs daily, so a 24-hour ticket bought for the metro also lifts you up Petřín Hill at no extra cost, as many times as the ticket lasts.
The hill itself, of course, is free to walk at any time, with no gate and no closing hour, and the paths are part of why the funicular is a convenience rather than a necessity. The distinction that matters for a budget is the one this site draws everywhere: the free hill is not the free tower. The Lookout Tower at the top charges 250 CZK basic admission and the Mirror Maze 150 CZK, so the funicular is only the first of three possible costs on Petřín, and the only one a day ticket can wipe out.
The reopening was announced by Prague's transit company, which published the return of the fourth-generation funicular cars on its own news page.
Do Children Or Seniors Pay Less?
Seniors aged 60 to 65 with proof pay half price where a discounted ticket exists, for example 18 CZK instead of 36 CZK for a 30-minute app ticket, and no discounted 72-hour ticket is sold. On the Petřín funicular specifically, children under 15 and seniors over 65 ride free as a free-travel entitlement. The full tariff otherwise applies from age 15 to 60.
The age bands matter more in Prague than in cities that sell a blanket tourist concession. A 16-year-old pays the full fare; a 64-year-old with ID pays half on the tickets that have a discounted variant. The funicular entitlement sits outside the age bands entirely: it is a free-travel category, not a discount, and it is the same entitlement that makes a 24-hour or 72-hour ticket valid on the hill railway.
For families, the practical reading is that the paid part of a Prague trip is the transport and the towers, not the streets and squares. The castle grounds and courtyards are free to enter daily from 6:00 to 22:00 after a police security check, the noon changing of the guard in the first courtyard is free to watch, and Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock's hourly show cost nothing from the square itself. A day ticket plus a free walking tour plus the free ground is a complete Prague day at a transport-only price.
What Happens If You Ride Without A Ticket?
Riding without a valid ticket earns a fine, and the PID tariff page says the surcharges increase the longer you leave it. Plain-clothes inspectors operate across the metro, trams and buses, and the fine is charged per rider per occasion. A validated ticket, stamped or activated on first use, is the only defence.
The fine levels are set in the 2026 tariff, and they turn a saved 36 CZK into a four-figure mistake. Validation is the detail that catches visitors: a paper ticket does nothing in your pocket, it must be stamped in the yellow machine at the platform or on the tram, and an app ticket must be activated before boarding. Transfers are allowed within the ticket's validity, so a 90-minute ticket survives a change of lines without a second stamp.
There is no appeal-friendly grey zone for a lost ticket or a dead phone battery. Inspectors check, they fine, and the cheapest outcome is always the on-the-spot payment. Given that the app sells the same tickets for less than the machines, the entire risk is avoidable for the price of one coffee.
How Do You Pay: The Lítačka App, Paper And Contactless?
The Lítačka app is the cheapest and simplest way to pay, selling every ticket below its paper price, and contactless bank cards are accepted on trams and at metro gates, charged per journey at the validator. Paper tickets from machines remain the fallback and cost a few crowns more at every duration.
Three payment routes cover everything. The app, which is PID's official one, sells and activates tickets from a phone and applies the discounted app pricing throughout the table above. Contactless payment, by card or phone at the orange validators, charges the 90-minute fare per journey without any ticket at all, which suits a rider who boards twice a day but not someone riding six times. Paper machines sell the full range at the higher prices and take the uncertainty out of a dead battery.
The app also carries the half-price senior tickets, which are issued on proof of age. What the app does not do is make anything free: the only zero-cost rides in the entire system are the funicular entitlements and the ticket-included funicular described above, and any claim of free trams or a free metro in Prague is simply false.
What Can You Do In Prague Without A Transport Ticket?
You can walk the entire historic core without a ticket: Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock's hourly show, Charles Bridge, the John Lennon Wall, the castle grounds and courtyards after a security check, the Vyšehrad grounds and ramparts, and the Dancing House exterior are all free from the street. The 39 free walking tours listed on this site, across GuruWalk and freetour.com, need no ticket either.
This is the free side of the question, and it is larger than most visitors expect. The centre's sights cluster within walking distance of one another, and the free walking tours listed on this site, 39 in total across GuruWalk and freetour.com, put a local guide on that ground for a price each guest decides. Every walk is free, pay what you want, reserved on GuruWalk or freetour.com, and no walk's listing declares a separate required cost for entries or extras.
The Original Bilingual Old Town, run by SANDEMANs Tours - Prague on freetour.com, is rated 9.2 out of 10 across 28,122 freetour.com reviews, runs 2 hours 30 minutes in English and Spanish, and meets on Old Town Square, which puts its starting point on ground a visitor can reach from most central hotels without a single tram.
For a longer arc, Complete Tour, Seven Languages, run by I Love Praag on freetour.com, is rated 9.1 out of 10 across 1,216 freetour.com reviews, runs 3 hours in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish, and meets at Malostranska Metro Station, a stop that a 30-minute ticket covers if the walk's starting side of the river is not where you are staying.
Choosing between a day ticket and shoe leather is a real planning decision, and the honest answer is that most first visits use both: a 24-hour ticket for Vyšehrad, Petřín or the New Town, and walking legs for everything inside the old core. The walks above solve the orientation problem on day one, and the ticket solves the distances after that. For a wider comparison of what the city costs beyond transport, see is Prague cheap or expensive, and for the full roster of pay-what-you-want walks, the guide to free walking tours in Prague lists them all by district and language.
Common Questions About Public Transport In Prague
Is Public Transport Free In Prague?
No. Prague public transport is paid under the tariff in force since 1 January 2026: a 30-minute ticket costs 36 CZK in the app or 39 CZK on paper, a 24-hour ticket 140 CZK in the app or 150 CZK on paper, and a 72-hour ticket 340 CZK in the app or 350 CZK on paper. Only the Petřín funicular rides free for holders of 24-hour or 72-hour tickets, long-term passes, and for children under 15 and seniors over 65.
Does One Ticket Cover The Metro, Trams And Buses?
Yes. A single PID ticket is valid on all three modes within its time and zones, with transfers allowed until it expires.
Is The Petřín Funicular Free With A Day Ticket?
Yes. Any 24-hour or 72-hour Prague ticket, any long-term Prague pass and any free-travel entitlement covers the funicular at no extra cost. Without one of those, a single non-transfer funicular ticket costs 100 CZK, or 90 CZK in the app. Children under 15 and seniors over 65 ride it free.
What Is The Fine For Riding Without A Ticket?
A surcharge that grows the longer it goes unpaid, according to the PID tariff page. Paper tickets must be stamped on first use and app tickets activated before boarding; an unvalidated ticket is treated the same as no ticket.
Can You Pay By Card On Prague Trams?
Yes. Contactless card and phone payments are accepted at validators on trams and at metro gates, charged per journey at the 90-minute fare. For several rides a day, a 24-hour ticket in the Lítačka app at 140 CZK is cheaper than repeated contactless charges.
Do You Need Public Transport For Prague's Old Sights?
No. Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock's hourly show, Charles Bridge, the John Lennon Wall, the Vyšehrad grounds and the castle grounds and courtyards are all free to reach and enter on foot, and the 39 free walking tours listed on this site, across GuruWalk and freetour.com, cover that ground with a local guide.
