Travel directions
The preferable airport to use to get to Ceske Budejovice is Prague Vaclav Havel International (PRG) with easy and convinient public transport links to the centre, as Prague offers the easiest train and bus connections to České Budějovice. However, České Budějovice is also within the reach of the Vienna (VIE) and Linz (LNZ) airports.
For hassle-free transportation to České Budějovice from Prague we recommend using our airport pick-up service included in the Super Saver CELTA package. However, if you opt for individual travelling, here are the directions.
Please note we can arrange for a free railway station/bus terminal pick-up in České Budějovice if you provide your travel details 48 hrs before departure.
České Budějovice from Prague
By train
Presumably the most comfortable way to get to the city is nowadays hindered a bit by massive modernization of the tracks and consequent delays and service interruptions. The journey thus takes about 2.5 hrs.
The route from Prague to Ceske Budejovice to choose is the one going via Tabor with trains operating approximately every two hours each direction serving Praha Hlavní nádraží (Prague Main Railway Station) and České Budějovice railway station.
Departure times and fares on the carrier's (Czech Railways - České dráhy) website www.cd.cz.
TIP When booking tickets make sure you check the "interregional trains (R)" option and uncheck the "regional train (Os, Sp)" option as these are the stop-to-stop trains taking many hours to cover the distance.
By coach
Currently buses surpass trains, offering a faster and more comfortable connection with onboard entertainment systems, wi-fi connectivity and complimentary tea or coffee dispensed by board personnel. The recommended carrier is Student Agency operating a regular bus service between Prague Na Knížecí bus station and the Ceske Budejovice main bus terminal.
Student Agency on-line ticket booking: www.studentagency.eu
By car
Should you travel by car, there are two main routes to choose from: if your place of departure lies in the western part of Prague (left bank), including the airport, take the R4 via Pisek. If you depart from the eastern part of Prague (right bank), you'll be better off with the E55 via Tabor. The total travel time may range from about 1.5 hrs to 2.5 hrs depending on the hour and the day of week. Expect increased traffic and prolonged travel times on Fridays and the days before national holidays as South Bohemia is a very popular holiday and leisure destination.
see the Google travel directions here.
České Budějovice from Vienna/Linz
While the Vienna airport (VIE, about 250 kms from C. Budejovice) is a major hub serving lots of international long-haul flights, the Linz Blue Danube airport (LNZ, about 100 kms from C. Budejovice) rather serves as an extended regional airport with a few airlines linking Linz with other European cities. What makes Linz interesting, however, is a regular Ryanair connection with London Stansted.
The easiest way to get to České Budějovice from Vienna or Linz is by train. There are several connections a day departing either from Vienna Franz-Josef Bahnhof (Franz-Josef's Railway Station) or Westbahnhof (West Railway Station), the former with a quick transfer at České Velenice, the latter (preferable) with a transfer at Linz Hauptbahnhof (Linz Main Railway Station) which is also the train boarding point for those arriving at LNZ. The total travel time is slightly over 3 hrs from Vienna and about 2 hrs from Linz.
The connections are operated by Czech Railways (České dráhy) and Austrian Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen).
Czech Railways ticket booking
Austrian Railways ticket booking
Once in the city
OK, now you've arrived at either the České Budějovice railway station or the bus terminal and have just realized you forgot to book the pick-up with us. You can still call us to find out if a car is available.
The two stations are just opposite each other and luckily the walk won't take much longer than 20 mins to get to our centre. You can also take a bus, e.g. no. 3 line direction A. Barcala. You need to get off at U Zelené ratolesti. A quick look in the map is worth a thousand words:
Google directions (Č. Budějovice railway station - Evropské centrum jazykových zkoušek: CELTA training) here.