Travel guide
As a Delegate
As a Delegate, please make sure to arrive in Plzeň from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM CET on Friday 10th of November 2023.
As an Official
As an Official, please make sure to arrive in Plzeň 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM CET on Thursday 9th of November 2023.
Sustainable travelling 🌍
We understand that travelling from all over Europe is a very complicated process and we acknowledge how important convenience, cost, and safety are in your consideration.
That being said, we also want to acknowledge the environmental costs of all that travelling. While travel is essential and should not be the priority in reducing global carbon emissions, we often tend to ignore the scale of the problem. For example, aviation contributes around 2.4% of the worldwide carbon emissions. For scale, if it was a country it would be the 5th worst emitter, right after Japan. Trains on average emit 80% less carbon than planes, and even less on high-speed, high-capacity railway corridors like the French TGV or Japanese Shinkansen. Buses are usually 30% more efficient than planes.
With that in mind, we encourage you to travel greener by choosing to follow the subsequent recommendations:
- Take a train for distances shorter than 10 hours.
- Choose direct flights to Prague from your destination.
- Limit other emission-producing activities. Do not pack too much stuff, fill a reusable bottle with tea instead of getting a bottled one, share a taxi to the airport, and combine multiple travels.
From Prague...
...where you got by plane.
The quickest and cheapest way to get to Plzeň for you is with Flixbus, from Praha – Zličín Bus Station. You can get to Plzeň by train as well, but it takes more time, may be more expensive and requires more transfers so we would advise against this.
The bus connection can be bought online on the Flixbus website. The ride takes about an hour and the ticket can be bought for as less as 4 EUR with enough notice.
To get to Praha – Zličín Bus Station, you will need to take either the bus number 100, which arrives every 15 minutes or so, to both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, or an Uber/Taxi. However, we generally advise against this option as it is not only about ten times more expensive than the 30-minute public transport, but also being considered non-sustainable, which partially goes against the goals of this session. If you decide on the first option, you should buy the 30-minute ticket for 30 CZK. For more on Prague’s public transport, check out the “Getting around Praha” section.
...where you got by train.
You got lucky with being on a train so much! We envy you. You must have probably arrived at Prague main train station, (Praha hlavní nádraží, Praha hl. n.) or Praha – Smíchov, if so, take one of these trains to get to Plzeň:
R 77_ Berounka Praha hl.n. – Klatovy
EC 36_ Západní expres Praha hl.n. – München Hbf
IC 56_ Západní expres Praha hl.n. – Cheb
IC 51_ Pendolino Bohumín – Františkovy Lázně
(Notice the blank spaces. They are stand-ins for numbers which change depending on the time of departure.)
If you did not arrive at Prague main station or Praha – Smíchov, take any train that will get you to one of these stations. You can find which train to take on this website.
For trains within the city boundary, standard public transport fees apply. For more about fares, consult the “Getting around Praha” chapter.
To buy a ticket for any train outside the city boundary, you can either visit the České Dráhy website, or find the kiosk located on every train station. (In Praha main station for example, it is under the main waiting area with the red ceiling.)
...where you got by bus.
If you ended up in Prague by bus, there is most probably only a single place where you could have gotten off, that being Praha Florenc. In the unlikely case that you are getting off your bus at any other bus stop, please consult Google Maps, IDOS, or reach out to our Travel Support Organiser Isabella. Consult the “Getting around Praha” chapter for fares.
From Münich...
Getting from Münich to Plzeň is a bit more complicated than from Prague, but it is still easier than from most other cities with international connections. When coming to Plzeň from Münich, you want to arrive by train, since the bus connections are practically non-existent. Specifically, with the “EC 36_ Západní expres (München Hbf – Praha hl.n.)” It takes around 4 hours to get to Plzeň but does not involve you having to transfer to 3 different connections unlike some other options. Tickets for the ride can once more be bought on the České Dráhy website. If you consider yourself to be a rich man, you can spring for the Deutsche Bahn ticket through their website, which will cost you more than double the price. (So do NOT use that one!)
...where you got by plane.
If you got to München-Flughafen by plane, you need to get to the München-Hauptbahnhof in order to catch the connection mentioned above. You can get there either by S-bahn line number 1 or number 8. The journey will take approximately 45 minutes.
As for tickets, you should buy the “Single Adult Ticket” for 13 EUR. Tickets can be purchased at ticket machines at U-Bahn and S-Bahn stops, as well as online and via the MVV or MVG app. In addition to the ticket vending machines, tickets are sold at service points, customer service centres, info points and a large number of private points of sale (e.g., kiosks and stationery stores, same as in Prague).
Please remember to validate your ticket before starting your journey.
Same as with Prague, we advise against using an Uber or a Taxi to get to the train station, as one trip can cost you around 70 EUR. Yikes!
...where you got by train.
If you got to Münich by train you would have probably ended up on München Hbf (Hauptbahnhof) and you need to be there in order to catch the connection mentioned above, therefore no transportation across the city is needed. You got lucky!
...where you got by bus.
If you got to Münich by bus, you most probably ended up in München Hackerbrucke. You should not worry about getting a public transport ticket, since the Bus station is just around the corner from the train station. Simply take the 5-minute walk and you will be there in no time!
Getting around Praha
As Praha’s public transport is second best in the world only losing to Berlin, getting around the city is a breeze. Tickets for the Praha public transport can be bought from the yellow PID (Praha Integrated Transport) vending machine with cash or card, most newsdealers’ stands, or contactlesslly by card inside the bus or tram in the orange validation machines, usually located behind the doors on your right side. You can buy the 30 or 40 Czech Koruna options, with them being 30 and 90 minutes long respectively.
Please note that if you bought the ticket separately and not in the bus and it therefore looks like the one below, you need to validate it in the yellow validation machines inside the bus or tram, or before entering the metro or train.
Tickets are mode-transferable, meaning that a 90-minute ticket will stay valid for 90 minutes no matter the mode of transport you choose as long as you stay within the boundaries of the city.
Getting around Plzeň
Plzeň’s public transit is also quite developed and will get you almost everywhere around the city. There are only three modes of transport in Plzeň: trolleys, trolleybuses and busses. To buy a ticket, you can do so in the vehicle just like in Praha. There should be a yellow machine in the middle of the vehicle (usually by the second door). There, tickets can be bought contactlessly by card. The tickets bought in the vehicles are valid from the point of purchase.
If you want to buy a ticket with cash, you need to do so in the various kiosks and tobacco stores around the city. This kind of ticket will set you back 22 CZK and needs to be validated upon entry to the vehicle of transport. Please note that the cash-variant ticket is the single-journey kind, meaning you will need to validate a new one every time you enter a new, or change vehicles, but is technically not limited by time.
