Getting Around Prague: Taxi

Full Prague Travel Guide »    Prague Interactive Map »    Print This Article »

Try to avoid getting taxi on the street (public transportation is always the better option in Prague) and if you have to, try to negotiate the price in advance. It’s advisable to call one of the major Prague Taxi services:

• Taxi Praha, +420 222 111 000 taxi-praha.cz.
• Profi Taxi, +420 844 700 800 www.profitaxi.cz.
• PAT Taxi, +420 800 870 888 www.prague-airport-transfers.co.uk.
• City Taxi, +420 257 257 257 www.citytaxi.cz.
• Halo Taxi, +420 244 114 411 www.halotaxi.cz.
• AAA Taxi, +420 222 333 222 www.aaa-taxi.cz.
• Speedcars, +420 224 234 234 www.speedcars.cz. This is not a taxi service, but well controlled 'individual transport service' by provider.

Deceptive taxi drivers are another trap that can badly surprise a tourist. Mostly they charge more than they should. The municipal council has been trying to solve this problem since the Prague mayor dressed up as an Italian tourist and was repeatedly overcharged. The most frequent cases of cheating happen between the railway station or airport and hotel. If you must take a taxi, and cannot call one directly or call your hotel for a referral, the best way to find a reputable one may be to look for a hotel and ask them to call a taxi.

Always insist on having the taxi-meter turned on and ask for a receipt once you leave the taxi. The receipt should have driver's name, address and tax identification number included. Even though you ask for receipt the taxi-meter could be tampered with so called "turbo", which will cause the taxi-meter price go sky high.

If you go for waving the taxi on the street make sure you stop car with logo of one of the major companies. It's not a bullet proof solution, but at least you have some chance to get some satisfaction from the taxi dispatching company.

About two years ago, an information desk was set up on most taxi stands in the city, with orientation prices to most popular destinations from that stand. But there is a mistake in the local law, which actually allows some of the taxi companies renting the taxi stands (specifically around Old Town square) to charge VERY high prices (about 99Kč/Km). There is an ongoing law suit regarding this, however the practice still hasn't stopped. The most infamous company in this regard is a recently created AAA Taxi s.r.o. deliberately creating its name to resemble regulated and popular AAA Radiotaxi Praha, however AAA Taxi cabs charge up to four times more for a ride, they even do not provide services to Czech customers www.praguepost.com/news/1903-taxi-ruling-could-take-years.html. Visitors are advised to to use the services of proved phone-order taxis, as they are even reports of robberies with street cruising taxis www.sedazona.cz/2009/09/neznamy-svet-taxikarske-mafie.

If you're not speaking Czech, then be prepared there is about 50% chance to get cheated by a taxi driver, when stopping taxi in the city center. So be always on watch as that is a standard warning in any guide book about Prague.

If you are convinced you got overcharged by the taxi driver, mark the car ID numbers (license plate, taxi license number on the car door, driver name etc.) and contact the company, which the driver is working for (if any) or police. The problem is that you have to testify against the driver, which is kind of hard when you're on the other side of the world. Try to avoid suspicious taxis and if you find even a grain of suspicion, then walk away catching another taxi.

Other alternative is to use some of the chauffeured services companies like Prague Airport Transfers s.r.o. www.prague-airport-transfers.co.uk or FEBA Trade Limousine Car Service www.febatrade.cz or even cheaper but as reliable HFS s.r.o. - 123-Prague-Airport-Transfer.com www.123-Prague-Airport-Transfer.com.