Parking and Driving in Prague
A little story from my life...
Once I witnessed a conversation between an Austrian tourist and a Czech policeman. The tourist's car, parked in the centre of Prague in the blue zone, was hit by a car claw. The tourist was angry with the policeman and shouted at him that he couldn't know if the traffic sign was in Czech and not in German.... I'm sure he had to pay the fine. Yes, our parking signs are in Czech, Czech is just our national language...so I would like to help you a little.
What should you pay attention to?
We have three parking zones in Prague: blue, purple and orange. The blue one is for residents, we pay for the parking permit and we also have to live in the Prague district. If you simply see a blue parking strip, please, do not park! Looking for a parking ticket behind the car windscreen does not help as a means of orientation. In Prague, cars drive with cameras that scan licence plates... so you know straight away whether you are allowed to park there or not... You won't find the parking meter for the blue zone.
In the purple zone you can park for up to 24 hours. Parking fees can be paid either via the web app or via a parking meter. Simply enter the licence plate number of your vehicle and the desired parking time and pay in cash (note - in Czech coins - crowns) or with a debit card
You can park in the orange zone for a maximum of 2 hours. Payment for the parking ticket is again possible via the web app or via the parking meter.
Where can you find parking by zone? As a Prague resident, I use this map - www.mapy.cz - if you zoom in on the city, you can see which zone the street belongs to.
If you have accommodation in Prague, ask about parking right away. There are of course also car parks in Prague - e.g. near Wenceslas Square - https://parking-centrum.cz/en/index.html - here you pay about 40 crowns per hour (less than 2 euros) or at the main railway station, then there are often parking facilities in the shopping centres such as the Palladium on Republic Square - www.palladiumpraha.cz/en/for-motorists/ here parking costs 750 crowns (about 31 euros) for 24 hours. There are also good train connections to Prague (e.g. from Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden) and our Prague infrastructure is good - we Praguers like to grumble when we wait 2 minutes for the underground on a working day...it's an eternity for us :-)
P+R = Park and Ride - this type of car park allows you to park your car in Prague at a reasonable price and then continue your journey by public transport. You can find more information at https://www.dpp.cz/en/travelling
The zebra crossing - in Prague I really recommend that you look right and left and see if the driver brakes before you cross. I used to have the feeling that we Praguers often don't stop in front of the zebra crossing, but after what I experienced in České Budějovice, for example, where almost nobody stops in front of the zebra crossing (except for cars with Prague licence plates), I'm of the opinion that we Praguers aren't such bad drivers :D
Blaue, lila und orange Parkzone. PO-PÁ bedeutet MO-FR