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Car rental in Prague earns its keep the moment you leave the city. Inside, the metro's three lines, the trams and Bolt or Liftago handle everything faster than a car ever could. Outside, the 30–200 km arc — Karlštejn, Kutná Hora, Karlovy Vary, Pilsen, Český Krumlov — is hard to thread together without one.
A couple from Manchester picked up at PRG on a Friday morning, walked the Old Town until Sunday, then collected the car at the hotel and spent three days on the castles. The car only worked while they needed it.
The main pickup is Václav Havel Airport (PRG), 10–17 km from the centre. Every desk sits in Parking C and serves all four terminals. Book 4–6 weeks ahead in the low season; 1–3 months ahead for July–August and the Christmas-market window.
PRG airport pickup
Václav Havel Airport sits 10–17 km west of central Prague, around 15–20 minutes on the D7. Four terminals, but for hire cars it doesn't matter: every desk is in the same building — Parking C at Aviaticka 1, a few minutes from arrivals.
Terminals
T1 handles non-Schengen flights — UK, US, Turkey, Middle East, Asia. T2 is Schengen only: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Czech domestic. T3 and T4 are private and government aviation. Parking C is walkable from either main terminal.
The quiet window is 10:00–16:00. Mornings 7–10 and evenings 16–19 are the queue hour: crowded arrivals and tired counter staff. Most desks lock up at 22:00, so late flights need a heads-up the day before.
Meet-and-greet
Local suppliers meet you with a name board in T1 or T2 arrivals and bring the car over from Parking C. The international names keep their desks inside Parking C — five minutes on foot. Paperwork runs 10–20 minutes either way.
Renault Clio 5 in Czechia
Everything went well, thank you
Skoda Kamiq in Czechia
Everything went perfectly, all the staff was very friendly, everything was done quickly, the car was in excellent condition, I would say new, so a special thanks to the service and maintenance staff. From the online booking to the return of the car - top class. Great service - I will use it again with great pleasure.
Citroen C4 Grand Picasso in Czechia
Rent a car is not easy to me. In many cases the conditions is some complex and I am not sure faithfulness of provider. In this deal almost process was simple, clear and easy. I communicated by WhatsApp in the Airport. No waiting line was so good. I was happy to get this deal.
Skoda Fabia in Czechia
Rented 3 times already. Everything suits me, so I continue to rent a car through https://localcarhires.com/
Skoda Fabia in Czechia
I liked everything, very comfortable, thank you
Kia Ceed SW in Czechia
All was good. Only sometimes the Rear View Camera did not turn on, incorrectly informed the fuel sensor about the amount of diesel.
Skoda Scala in Czechia
Everything is fine with the rental 👌 As always, everything is on the level! We use not the first and not the last time.
Suzuki Swift in Czechia
Great, thank you will use again soon.
Kia Ceed SW in Czechia
Everything was perfect! I didn't think about taking pictures. But the car was fully functional There were no problems I will use your site again next month, I will remember to take photos next time
Peugeot 301 in Czechia
Everything went fine Great manager and car
Skoda Octavia Combi in Czechia
Great car.. Very economy... Good service👍 thanks for everything.
Skoda Octavia Combi in Czechia
Was very satisfied with car rental. Vadim from the company sent the contract by mail in advance, clarified all the conditions by phone, speaks good Russian. The car was received right at the airport, there were no technical problems during the holidays. Future travellers should pay attention to the mileage limit (150 km per day), this was barely enough for us. A deposit is also taken (in our case, 400 euros). Insurance with a deductible, therefore, in the event of an accident due to your fault, the money will be deducted from the deposit; however, as well as fines for violation of traffic rules. Be careful! We had a lovely holiday. I fell in love with the Czech and Austrian roads, we can only dream about them)))
Kia Rio in Czechia
Everything went fine. Very nice guys, completely satisfied with the rental experience!
Day trips from Prague
Four motorways radiate from the city: D1 east, D5 west, D6 to Karlovy Vary, D8 to Dresden. That puts most of the country's headliners within 1–3 hours.
Half-day runs
Karlštejn (30 km, 45 min via R7 + R4) — Charles IV's Gothic castle. Kutná Hora (85 km, ~1 h via D1) — Sedlec Ossuary and St Barbara's Cathedral, both UNESCO. Mělník (40 km) — castle above the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava. Terezín (60 km) — a sobering WWII memorial.
Full-day trips
Karlovy Vary (130 km, 2 h via D6) — UNESCO spa town, the colonnades, Grandhotel Pupp. Pilsen (90 km, 1 h via D5) — birthplace of Pilsner Urquell.
Pilsen is the classic alcohol trap. You want the beer at the source, but Czechia runs 0.0‰ at the wheel. Pick a non-drinking driver or book the coach tour and let someone else watch the road.
Better with an overnight
Český Krumlov (175 km, 2.5–3 h via D3 + R3) — fairytale UNESCO town, much better with a night booked locally. Bohemian Switzerland (130 km via D8) — national park with the Pravčická brána sandstone arch. Brno (210 km via D1) — Czechia's second city and gateway to the Moravian wine country.
Driving in central Prague
The Old Town (Praha 1) is mostly pedestrian. You can only drive in legally with a resident permit or as a taxi, and parking shrinks to a handful of expensive private garages. If your hotel sits inside the historic centre, the sensible play is one drop-off and an immediate shift to a P+R or the hotel's own garage.
The Prague LEZ covers Praha 1: older diesels and commercial vehicles are restricted. Most modern hire cars (Euro 4+ petrol, Euro 6 diesel) clear it without trouble — confirm the emission class at pickup if your hotel is inside the zone.
Park-and-ride at the metro termini does the heavy lifting: Skalka and Chodov on line A, Letňany and Černý Most on B, Nové Butovice and Zličín on B. CZK 50 (about $2) per day and a direct ride into town. Drop the car at nine, and Old Town Square is fifteen to twenty minutes away.
A couple from Edinburgh paid CZK 850 for one night at a Praha 1 garage before figuring out the Chodov P+R. The next four nights cost CZK 50 each. Same metro stop. Sixteen times cheaper.
The colour zones in the centre work as follows: orange takes visitors up to two hours, purple covers visitors up to 24 hours, blue is residents only (tourists cannot stop there), white markings mean free — and they're almost extinct in the centre. Pay at the meter or through the ParkSimply app.
Rates in Prague vary throughout the year depending on the season and the rental length.
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How expensive is renting a car in Prague: average daily rates for a one-week car rental, across all car classes.
Three Prague tips
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Plan for P+R from day one
Metro-terminus P+R is CZK 50 a day; a Praha 1 hotel garage runs $20–40.
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Buy the vignette only on edalnice.cz
Third-party portals add a $5–15 service fee, and many rentals already include the annual sticker.
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Withdraw cash at Czech bank ATMs
ČSOB, Komerční banka, Raiffeisenbank and Česká spořitelna run honest rates; směnárna kiosks and Euronet machines run 10–20% worse.
Crowns, exchange and payment
Czechia runs on the koruna (CZK, Kč). It's in the EU but not the Eurozone, and euros only turn up sporadically — in tourist restaurants and the larger hotels, almost always at an in-house rate that costs you. Parking meters, petrol stations, small shops and public transport take only CZK.
Roughly $1 ≈ 22–23 CZK and €1 ≈ 24–25 CZK. Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay clear everywhere in Prague — the new tram validators included. Cash is mostly for parking, markets and the smaller towns.
Where to change
Use ATMs at the major Czech banks: ČSOB, Komerční banka, Raiffeisenbank, Česká spořitelna. Fair card rate, no surprise. Avoid the směnárna kiosks in the tourist zones (Charles Bridge, Old Town Square): "0% commission" usually masks a rate 10–20% worse than the bank's. Same warning on Euronet ATMs — hidden fees.
The deposit always wants a credit card in the lead driver's name, even if you settle the bill another way. Cash deposits are rarer in Czech rentals than in Greece or Cyprus.
Frequent Questions
All rentals are gathered in one building — Parking C at Aviaticka 1 — a few minutes' walk from Terminals 1 and 2. The major international suppliers operate here alongside Czech locals like Dvořák, Firefly and Rent Plus. Local suppliers booked through aggregators usually meet you with a name board in the arrivals hall.
PRG sits 10–17 km west of the centre. The drive on the D7 motorway takes 15–20 minutes outside peak hours and up to 30–40 minutes during the morning and evening peak (7:00–10:00 and 16:00–19:00). A Bolt to the centre runs CZK 400–600; bus 119 + metro line A is just CZK 40 and around 35 minutes.
Terminal 1 — non-Schengen flights: UK, US, Turkey, the Middle East. Terminal 2 — Schengen only: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Czech domestic. Terminals 3 and 4 are private and government aviation. Rental desks in Parking C are reachable from either main terminal on foot.
Sporadically: some tourist restaurants and large hotels accept euros, but almost always at a poor in-house rate. Parking, meters, petrol stations, small shops and public transport take only Czech crowns. Visa and Mastercard are accepted almost everywhere — in Prague you can comfortably get by with a single card.
Best option: ATMs at the major Czech banks (ČSOB, Komerční banka, Raiffeisenbank, Česká spořitelna) — fair rate via your card with no hidden fees. Avoid směnárna kiosks in tourist zones (Charles Bridge, Old Town Square) and Euronet ATMs — they apply rates 10–20% worse than bank rates.
P+R sits at the metro terminus stations: Chodov and Skalka (line A), Letňany and Černý Most (B), Nové Butovice and Zličín (B). Cost is around CZK 50 ($2) per day. Pay by card or in CZK at the entry. The metro takes 15–25 minutes to the centre, with a CZK 40 ticket valid for 90 minutes.
Praha 1 — the historic centre — restricts older diesels and commercial vehicles. Most modern rental cars (Euro 4+ petrol, Euro 6 diesel) are fine. Confirm the emission class with your supplier at pickup if you plan to drive into the Old Town or Malá Strana — the rules don't apply to most newer hire cars.
Most of the Old Town and Malá Strana are closed to private vehicles. Entry is only allowed with a resident permit, for taxis or for hotel drop-off by arrangement. The smart move for visitors is to leave the car at a P+R or your hotel and walk in — the centre is compact, with most sights within 20 minutes on foot.
30 km southwest, about 45–60 minutes via R7 + R4. Parking sits in the village a kilometre below the castle ($3–5 per day), with a 15-minute walk uphill from the car park to the castle gate. Entry is $10–18 depending on the tour route. A neat half-day with a return for lunch in Prague.
90 km via the D5, about an hour each way. The Pilsner Urquell brewery tour with tasting is around $20. Important: Czechia is 0.0‰ behind the wheel, so either appoint a non-drinking driver or take a group coach tour with return transport. The most common pattern is to do Pilsen without a car.
175 km via D3 + R3, about 2.5–3 hours each way. A same-day return is possible but tiring: you see the town for 3–4 hours and spend 5–6 hours on the road. The better option is one night in Krumlov, or pair it with České Budějovice as a two-day trip.
Yes — most international suppliers allow it, and so do some of the larger Czech locals. The standard one-way fee to Vienna is $40–80. Local Czech suppliers offer fewer cross-border one-way options. When booking, choose "return at a different location" and confirm the cross-border permission for your specific tariff.
Two peaks: July–August (summer tourism) and late November to early January (Christmas markets and New Year). Prices in those windows climb 50–80%, and the better cars are gone 1–3 months ahead. The low season is January–February (after the holidays) and November before the markets begin.
Usually no. The metro (three lines), trams and Bolt/Liftago cover the city well, and the historic centre is pedestrian. A car in Prague is mostly a parking and LEZ headache. Rental pays off from two day trips out of the city onwards (Karlštejn, Kutná Hora, Karlovy Vary, Pilsen, Krumlov) — that's the typical use case.
By Czech law, US drivers should carry an IDP when renting. In practice many international chains accept a US licence on its own, but Czech local suppliers may ask for the IDP. Get one through AAA in the US before the trip — it takes 15 minutes and costs around $20.