RIPE 40 Meeting General Info

Praha Ruzyne International Airport (PRG) Tel: (02) 2011 3314 (arrivals and departures in English); (02) 2011 3321

Ruzyne Airport is situated approximately 20km (12.5miles) northwest of Prague. There is only one terminal.Modernisation and expansion of the existing facilities was completed in 1997 but work continues on upgrading the capacity. The airport provides reasonably good links with Western and Eastern Europe.

Major airlines: The Czech Republic's national carrier,CSA (tel: (02) 2480 6111; website: www.csa.cz), operates international and domestic flights from Ruzy airport. CSA flies to major cities in Europe, Middle East and to New York, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Bangkok and Singapore. Domestic flights are to Ostrava.

International airlines serving Prague include Air Canada, Alitalia, Air France, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, British Midland Airways, Delta, KLM, Go, Lufthansa, Sabena, SAS and Swissair.

Approximate flight times to Prague: From London: 1 hour 50 minutes; from New York: 11 hours; from Los Angeles varies from 17 hours 30 minutes to 19 hours; from Toronto: ten hours and 20 minutes and from Sydney is (plus stopover and transfer) is between 21 hours and 28 hours (including transfers).

Prague is divided into ten main districts, each of which within a number of different municipalities. The districts are numbered in an outwardspiral from the centre, but they are not equal in size, eg. parts of Praha 8 are only two minutes walkfrom the main train station.

Praha 1

Most visitors never venture further than Praha 1 where you will find five famous areas. Wenceslas Square is situated in Novi Mesto (New Town). If you head east towards the river you will find yourself in Stare Mesto (Old Town). Directly north of Stare Mesto is Josefov (the Jewish quarter). Cross the river and you are on the west bank and Mala Strana (the lesser quarter). Up the hill is Hradcany with it's famous castle.

Praha 2

Prague's second castle Vysehrad and Vinohrady: an area with lots of shops, bars and restaurants.

Praha 3

Working class drinking area, fun small clubs

Praha 4

This district has many panelaks, the rigid 60's prefabricated tower blocks. However, Praha 4 covers a massive area and has some pleasant little surprises. Jmznm Mesto (South Town) is home to 100,000 high rise Praguers.

Praha 5

Busy part of town in the south-west that's under heavy construction towards its transformation into a shopping centre. Also home to Czech Hollywood at Barrandov studios

Praha 6

Exclusive district, home to many embassies and the private residence of the Czech president.

Praha 7

Two of the city's biggest parks, Letna and Stromovka.

Praha 8

Northern suburbs now being transformed into Prague's biggest business park at Karlin.

Praha 9

The north-eastern outskirts, cheaper apartments and the country's first hypermarket

Praha 10

Close to the old town, this district is full of now ramshackle villas which housed party members in their era. Further out you'll find much dense, depressing brown stone and concrete buildings.

Nationals of all Western European countries can visit the Czech Republic for up to 90 days, and US and Canadian passport holders can stay for 30 days without a visa. Nationals of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and many other countries must obtain a visa, which is good for a stay of between 90 and 30 days depending on your nationality. Contact the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a Czech Embassy in your country for details.

The Czech crown (ceska koruna) is divided into 100 hellers (haler), you will see signs for Kc (czechcrown) and h (heller). Coins have values of 10, 20 and 50 h; 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Kc; Banknotes have values of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 Kc.

US $  = 36 CZK

DM  = 18 CZK

BP  = 59 CZK

NLG  = 16 CZK

FFR  = 6 CZK

Euro  = 35 CZK

The electrical current is 220 volts and standard continental European plugs are used.

There is a nice weather from May through October. The most recommended month for the visit is May or October. There is nice weather and are not so much tourists as in July, August and September. The weather in October is around the 10 degree Celsius.