This article is written by our guest contributor Clara Sophia Roberts.

You’ve just arrived in the Czech Republic, an incoming fresh-faced aspiring PPE student, and you feel totally lost in Prague. How does the public transport system work? How do you get student discounts for, well… anything? How do you find your footing and anchor yourself in your PPE community?

In September 2023, these questions were tracking in my thoughts on loop. I’d arrived about a month before the semester started in order to enroll in a summer Czech language course, and I spent most of that month bumbling around, getting on the wrong buses, and trying to figure out how anything and everything worked here.

Here is what I wish I had known about practical things about daily life in Prague.

Public transport:

The public transport system in Prague has three metro lines, which intersect around the city center. Buses and trams cover the areas between. It’s very safe, reliable and well-maintained; Prague was ranked the second-best city in the world for its public transportation network by
TimeOut.

On weekdays, trains run at five-minute intervals and the buses and trams usually take 5-10 minutes. The metro closes at midnight and opens at 5:30 A.M., but night buses and trams run during this time. (They’re usually relatively safe, but be cautious and alert on night transport; alternatively, you can call a Bolt or an Uber).

You can buy a public transport ticket, which is valid for all zones in Prague, on the app PID Litačka, for a duration of time between three days and one year. You’re also eligible for a discount on long-term passes if you have an ISIC student card — more on that later.

You can use the Litačka app (or Google Maps!) to input your destination and current location and to get the best public transport route to follow. When you are at a bus or tram stop, the schedules are written on the signposts. It is also good to know that sometimes a part of one metro line will be briefly closed for maintenance, but the city provides a replacement bus service following an identical route.

When you are coming from the Prague airport, you can take the special airport buses to reach your desired metro line: you can take Bus 119 to the station Nádraží Veleslavín, which takes about 15 minutes, to the green line. Bus 100 from the Prague airport goes to the yellow line station Zličín, and it takes a little longer — about 40 minutes. The AE bus will take you to Hlavní Nádraží on the red line; this is the central train station in Prague.

ISIC cards:

ISIC cards — international student identity cards — are the main form of student identification throughout the EU, and they are imperative to have in the university setting and beyond.

Here at PPE, on our main Jinonice campus, you need to let yourself through the turnstiles with your ISIC card to move around the building for security purposes. If you’re staying in a Charles University dormitory, you’ll need to activate your ISIC card at the dorm office so you can key yourself into the dorm. You’ll need it to access the UK libraries and canteens, and you can preload money onto it to pay for services, like printing things in the library, or meals at the canteens (in different ways though).

They’re also extremely useful: Having an ISIC card makes you eligible for a wide variety of discounts, from museums, cinemas, galleries, events, public transport passes, numerous stores and brands, even a lot of fast food places! If you want to experience all of the rich culture that Prague has to offer without becoming a rapidly-broke tourist, having an ISIC is really important.

You can download the ALIVE app and input your ISIC details into it; it’ll show you the discounts you are eligible for and also serve as a digital card.

You’ll get your ISIC card at CU point: at Celetná 13, Prague 1. Their hours can be found online. You can make an appointment to ensure your spot, but you also can just take your chances with walking in. I did a walk-in, there was a very brief wait, and I got my card within 30 minutes. You’ll
need to bring your passport with you, and they take your photo for the ISIC on the spot, and your card is made right there.

Language:

Actually, you can get by with English in most cases, especially at university. Many young people are likely to know English in the Czech Republic. Obviously, though, learning some Czech is very useful and will be essential at many points (your visa paperwork will be partly in Czech, for instance.)

At Charles University, you can sign up for the Czech language elective course during the school year, which is free for PPE students. Alternatively, you can do a two-week intensive Czech language summer school, which will teach you enough basics to get by when you have to ask for help in a store or ask for directions. Or to impress people from back home with how quickly you are picking up Czech, even though you have only just learned how to say “Dobrý den, jmenuji se Clara.”

Shopping:

Billa, Tesco, and Albert are the most popular grocery stores here. (I’m biased on behalf of Tesco, but you should get the membership card; it is also the only place that offers a 10% ISIC discount.) We really advise you to take part in whatever loyalty programme grocery stores offer (using their respective apps) since it helps to cut the costs.

In order to get any kind of medication, you’ll need to go to a pharmacy. These are called “lekarna” and they’re easily identifiable by the symbol they display outside: a green cross with a snake on a stick, and/or scales. (Weight scales, as in justice, not as in the aforementioned snake).

For leisure shopping, Palladium is a large mall in the city center, or, if you share the same fate as me and end up in the Jižní Město dormitories, Westfield Chodov will be a short 5-minute bus ride away. It’s the biggest mall in the entire country, so Prague 4 does have a claim to fame, after all.

Medical care:

You have a medical issue and you are confused about how to go about seeking medical care, especially with doctors that speak English? I’ve gone through this struggle so you don’t have to!

Firstly, you can call your insurance network and ask about any available doctors based on language; they will send you a list.

If you plan on self-paying for your medical visit or if you need to be seen urgently without waiting to go through the insurance network, here are my personal recommendations of places I have had good luck with. At these places, there was little to no language barrier, and the prices were reasonable and they accepted my PVZP insurance as a foreigner. (I don’t claim to be qualified to give you any advice pertaining to medical decisions and your experiences may vary.)

I can recommend Trindadent in Vinohrady for dental work. Unicare Medical Center is a good general practitioner; I went there when I had a sinus infection and they were able to see me on the same day. They are in Prague 6-Vokovice, so a bit far out there, but the staff and doctors were very friendly and spoke good English. For psychiatric care, I’ve had good experiences with Poliklinika na Národní’s neurologist in Staré Město.

Mental Health:

Speaking of psychiatric care, it’s really stressful and difficult to move to another country. Whether you are feeling homesick, lonely, or struggling to adjust, you are not alone.

Before you come to the Czech Republic, I recommend signing up for Charles University’s buddy programme. A local Czech student will be your “buddy” and can answer any questions you might have specifically. Your mileage may vary, but you can request a new buddy if yours is
unresponsive or unhelpful.

Once you are here, one of the best things you can do is utilizing the resources at the Carolina Centre. They have support groups and counseling for international students.

If you have a disability or mental health disorder which qualifies you for academic accommodations, or perhaps you need a little more support, you should also go through the Carolina Centre; make an appointment with one of their specialists on Zoom or in-person, and they’ll tell you about the rest of the process from there.

Student life:

I’m only a first year, but even in my time at PPE Prague, I have seen so many new initiatives start for PPE students, and a real sense of community has significantly grown. I believe incoming students in future years will have an even better social support network, and many more interesting opportunities to get involved in.

Follow the FSV UK Circle on Instagram: they post weekly event itineraries specifically curated for international students to meet each other and make friends.

Some activities associated with and open to PPE students are the PPE Society, the student organisation of the programme that makes our life so much more fun by doing lots of events; Parley of the Greats, an upcoming debate club where you can participate or spectate; the One World student forum, where students of different backgrounds are invited to discuss and share their experiences about contentious world events, in the hope of finding some common ground. (It is not as chaotic as it sounds, I promise!)

And, if you want to hone your skills as a journalist and content creator, and build your résumé, of course, you can join the lovely Karlovian.