Public Transporation question

Can some one help me with the following transporation questions please:

I want to use public transport to get from the Old Town Sq to Petrin Hill. From the public transport maps I have decided to use the trams. My planned route is to go from Staromestska to Malostranska on Tram number 18. Then from Malostranska I will change and get either of tram number 20, 12, 22, 23 to Ujezd. At Ujezd I will get off an dwalk to the funicular train station.

My questions are:

1) Is my route the correct one to take and have I chosen the correct tram numbers?

2) Where do I buy the tickets for the tram? I know there are ticket machines in metro stations. But are there also ticket machines at trams stations? if I catch the tram at Staromestska can I buy a ticket at that station or do I have to find a newsagent or other ticket vendor?

3) Am I right in assuming that the ticket I need from Staromestska to Petrin via the funicular is going to be the 20KR ticket which allows transfers?

4) At metro stations you can validate/stamp your ticket soon after you buy them from the machines. Is this the same at tram stations? If not, where do you validate your tickets?

Thanks

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good research on the route. not sure about # 20 but the rest is ok. beside the metro is a tobacconist which will sell 20 crown tickets if you don%26#39;t have change for the machine. as you get on the tram there%26#39;s a yellow box where you have to validate it.

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if you are going to be in Prague for a few days then buy a 3 or 7 day transport pass from the stand at the Airport or from the main tourist offices.You can use this ticket on the trams, metro,buses and the Fennicular.

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as heinokules says, 20 tram does not go from malostranska to ujezd. if you are in the old town square, by the time you have walked to the tram station at starometska, you could have walked to the tram station at narodni tride by tescos. then you can take the 22 or 23 tram to helichova direct without changing.

as even better way is to walk across the charles bridge and then through kampa island to the petrin funicular.

tram tickets cannot be bought on trams. you can buy them in all metro stations and from the prague transport authority offices at the airport. you validate the tram ticket on the tram when you first use it, not when you buy it. you need a 20 crown ticket for the funicular

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Don%26#39;t get caught on the funicular without a valid ticket either, if I remember correctly there isn%26#39;t a station at the top to buy a return ticket, so watch out on times. I normally just grab a 3 day pass at the airport though which covers the funicular too. I%26#39;d probably walk it from Old Town Square, but there is some fun on doing the tram thing. (Thought I%26#39;d lost the tram spotter!)

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the best thing to do at the top of petrin hill is to walk round the hill to the strahov monastery brewery and have a nice cold beer. don%26#39;t think I have ever taken the funicular down

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Well I mean with me not drinking... that obviously isn%26#39;t going to happen!

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actually, the best thng to do is to go straight passed the klasterny pivovar, up the steps, past the cernin palace and have that beer with a strudle in the gardens of the u raku hotel on novy svet.

or, thinking about it, it is probably better to avoid the funicular after all. a much better walk than simply going up petrin is to take the path at the end of helichova street, walk past the wall of the US embassy and then follow it down until you get to the german embassy. you can then see the historic wall and the trabant where the berlin wall started to fall with all those east germans climbing into the west german embassy gardens. very off the beaten track and very few people venture to this quite historic monument

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Last time I went up Petrin i came in from the lower end and walked up to see the church of St Michael (??), was very very quiet and a lovely walk in the cold winter sunshine.

But have been that way... reason to come back to Prague me thinks.

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Thanks eveyone for the info:

I only need to use the tram on the one day so I don%26#39;t need a 24hour or 3 days pass.

I%26#39;m also only going one way up to Petrin Hill. I will then walk along to Strahov Monastery and then back down to the castle, charles bridge and back to Old town square. So no need for a return fare.

I do have the option of walking via Charles bridge and Kampa island. I will think about this one. Might be a bit too much walking though (my friends are very lazy).

Thanks Peb for mentioning the Narodni Tride option. I assume you mentioned going direct to Helichova instead of Ujezd because Helichova is nearer to the funicular instead of Uzejd?. This is certainly an option but the stop for Staromestska is just around the corner from out hotel (Hotel Rott). So i would probably start from the Staromestska station.

Finally I am very confused with the Prague Public transport website www.dpp.cz I have looked at the map that shows the tram and metro lines. From the map i can see that to get to Malostranska, i need to get tram number 18 (light green line). However if I do a journey checker on the same web site, it comes up with different options. One option being tram number 18, another option is to use the metro; but the other option mentions using tram number 17. But looking at the map, tram 17 does not go to Malostranska. Or is this a case of tram 17 taking different routes depending on the time of day? If it does, how would I know which tram 17 goes to malostranska (assuuming I don%26#39;t have a time table on me)?

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there are no return fares in prague. a 14 crown single ticket takes you 5 metro stations or 20 minutes in a tram without change. a 20 crown ticket peak period takes you 75 minutes on tram, metro, bus and funicular with change. for some strange reason you need a 20 crown ticket for petrin funicular, even if this is the only journey you do. therefore if you board 18 tram and stamp your ticket at starometska, you don%26#39;t need to stamp it again on 22 or 23 tram or on the funicular, provided you complete your journey within 75 minutes.

do not worry about tramlines, most hotels have free maps of the city centre at reception which have the tramlines on and where the tram stops are. 17 tram takes you nowhere near the castle. it runs on the old town bank of the river only.

helichova is the next or earliest stop to ujezd (depending on which way you are coming). if you come from malostranska on trams 12, 22 or 23, the ujezd stop is nearer the funicular. if you come from narodni trida (five minutes walk further from the rott than starometska), the helichova stop is nearer the funicular. in that part of mala strana, the tramstops for each way are not opposite eachother, but are staggered down the street because the street is narrow