Every route in from the airport, what a transport ticket costs and how to buy one, what to do with your money, where to eat, and what is worth seeing in the gap between a workshop and a party.
The venue sits directly on metro line B at Invalidovna, ten minutes from the center of Prague. Below is every route in, what it costs, and exactly how to pay for it.
20 MIN
From Prague Airport by car17 km on the city ring road. Around 55 minutes by public transport.
15 MIN
From the main train stationPraha hlavní nádraží, three metro stops with one change at Florenc, then the walk.
9 MIN
From metro Invalidovna on foot700 m along Sokolovská and K Olympiku. Trams 3, 8, 12 and 24 stop there too.
Show me the way
B Metro line B
Airport
bus 100 · 16 min
A from Nádraží Veleslavín
airport bus 119 · 17 min
C from Hlavní nádraží · 1 stop
Florenc coach station
Zličín
airport bus 100
Můstek
change to line A
Náměstí Republiky
Florenc
change to line C
Křižíkova
Invalidovna
Černý Most
P+R parking lot
Hotel Olympik Artemis9 minutes on foot · U Sluncové 14
← swipe the map →
From the airport
Václav Havel Airport · PRG · 17 km
≈ 55 min46 Kč
Simplest with luggage
BUS 100 Airport → Zličín
16 min · every 5 to 10 min · stop is right outside Terminal 1 and 2
B Zličín → Invalidovna
28 min · no changes, straight through the city
WALK Invalidovna → the hotel
9 min · 700 m
Faster alternativeBus 119 to Nádraží Veleslavín, metro A to Můstek, change to B, out at Invalidovna. Around 45 minutes, one more change.
Taxi, Bolt or UberAround 20 to 25 minutes door to door. Expect roughly 600 to 900 Kč depending on the time of day.
From the train
Praha hlavní nádraží · main station
≈ 15 min36 Kč
Three stops, one change
C Hlavní nádraží → Florenc
1 stop · 2 min · the metro entrance is inside the station hall
B Florenc → Invalidovna
2 stops · 3 min · follow the yellow signs at Florenc
WALK Invalidovna → the hotel
9 min · 700 m
Arriving at Praha-HolešoviceMany international trains stop here. Metro C to Florenc, three stops, then line B as above. Around 12 minutes in total.
A 30-minute ticket is enough36 Kč in the app. The whole ride is well inside the half hour.
From the coach
ÚAN Florenc · central bus station
≈ 14 min36 Kč
Closest of them all
WALK Coach station → metro Florenc
2 min · the metro entrance is part of the terminal building
B Florenc → Invalidovna
2 stops · 3 min · direction Černý Most
WALK Invalidovna → the hotel
9 min · 700 m
Or simply walkStraight down Sokolovská, about 20 minutes and completely flat. Pleasant if you land in Karlín on a bright morning.
By tramTrams 3, 8, 12 and 24 run along Sokolovská and stop at Invalidovna, the same stop as the metro.
Metro hoursThe metro runs from about 5:00 in the morning until midnight, every 2 to 10 minutes.
After midnightNight trams 92 and 94 stop at Invalidovna every 30 minutes, all night. Your normal ticket is valid.
The address for your mapHotel Olympik Artemis, U Sluncové 14, 186 76 Praha 8, Invalidovna. Tap to copyScan to open it in maps.
Public transport tickets
One ticket, the whole city
Prague has a single ticket for metro, trams, buses and city trains. You buy it by the amount of time it lasts, not by the distance you travel, and you can change lines as often as you like while it runs.
TicketIn the appMachine or cardBy SMS
30 minutes
36 Kč
39 Kč
42 Kč
90 minutes airport to hotel
46 Kč
50 Kč
55 Kč
24 hours
140 Kč
150 Kč
150 Kč
72 hours the whole festival
340 Kč
350 Kč
350 Kč
30 days
550 Kč
550 Kč
–
Prices are the 2026 PID tariff in Czech crowns, around 25 Kč to 1 EUR. Buying in the PID Lítačka app is always the cheapest. Children and seniors travel at a reduced fare. Valid on metro, trams, buses, the Petřín funicular and city trains inside Prague.
Our recommendation
The 72-hour ticket
340 Kčabout 14 EUR
Buy it in the app when you land on Friday and it carries you through every workshop, every party and the ride back to the airport on Monday morning. No counting stops, no standing in line at machines at four in the morning.
01
The app
Cheapest, works in English
Install PID Lítačka from the App Store or Google Play. Switch the language to English on first launch.
Register with an e-mail address and add a payment card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Open Tickets, choose the length you want and confirm. Payment takes a few seconds.
The ticket starts the moment you buy it. Show the moving QR code to the inspector, no validating needed.
Point your phone camera at the code, or tap it on mobile.
Buy it while you still have airport wi-fi. A ticket bought once works offline afterwards.
02
Contactless card
Nothing to install
Look for the yellow terminal with the contactless symbol in every tram, in metro vestibules and at the marked door of city buses.
Choose the ticket on the screen and tap your bank card, phone or watch.
Take the printed ticket. It is valid immediately, there is nothing to validate.
30 minutes39 Kč
90 minutes50 Kč
24 hours150 Kč
The 72-hour ticket is not sold this way. For that, use the app or a ticket machine.
03
By SMS
Czech SIM card only
Send the code below by SMS to the number 90206. Click any code to copy it.
Wait for the ticket to arrive, usually within two minutes.
You must have the ticket in your phone before you enter the metro or board. Never delete it.
30 minutesDPT42
90 minutesDPT55
24 hoursDPT150
72 hoursDPT350
Only works from a Czech cell phone number, so this is the option for local dancers rather than for guests flying in.
Paper tickets must be validatedIf you buy a paper ticket from a machine, stamp it in the small yellow box before the escalator or just inside the tram. App, card and SMS tickets are valid the moment you buy them.
The Airport Express is separateThe AE coach runs from the airport to the main train station in about 40 minutes, but it has its own ticket at 200 Kč and normal city tickets are not valid on it.
Inspectors are in plain clothesThey show a badge and they do check. Traveling without a valid ticket means an on-the-spot fine, so keep yours until you leave the station.
Arriving by car
Where to leave the car
The hotel is a few minutes off the city ring road, so driving in is easy. Parking in Prague is the part worth reading before you set off, because the whole neighbourhood around the venue is a paid zone.
Install EasyPark before you drive
Prague street parking has no ticket on the windscreen. You pay for your registration plate, by app, and the wardens check the plate as they drive past. EasyPark is the app most visitors use because it works with a foreign card and a foreign plate, and it is in English.
EasyPark charges a small service fee on top of the city rate. The city's own PID Lítačka app can also pay for parking, without the fee, if you already have it for your transport tickets.
Install EasyPark and register with your card and your number plate, including the country.
Park, then find the zone code printed on the blue sign at the curb.
Enter the code in the app, set how long you are staying and start the session.
Extend or stop it from your phone at any time. You pay only for the minutes you used.
At the hotel
The Olympik complex has its own parking lot right by the building, for a fee. It is the easiest option, and it is a few steps from the dance floor. Ask for a place when you make your room booking, as the number of spaces is limited on festival weekends.
Distance to the ballroomUnder a minute
BookingWith your room, by e-mail or phone
On the street
Karlín and Invalidovna are inside the paid zone system. Read the color of the line painted on the curb before you walk away.
Blue — residents only, do not park here
Violet — mixed, visitors may pay for a limited stay
Orange — visitors, short stays, the most expensive
Typical visitor rateAround 40 to 60 Kč per hour
Maximum stayPrinted on the sign, often 24 hours
The cheap way: park and ride
If you would rather not pay for three days of city parking, leave the car at a P+R garage on the edge of town and take the metro in. P+R Černý Most sits on the same metro line B as the hotel, so it is one straight ride with no changes, and it is the natural choice if you arrive on the D10 or D11 highway.
Price50 Kč for the first 24 hours, then 10 Kč an hour
To the hotelMetro B, direct to Invalidovna, about 15 min
OpenNon-stop, 886 spaces, under camera
Money
Crowns, cards and the exchange trap
The Czech Republic does not use the euro. The currency is the Czech crown, written Kč or CZK, and one euro is worth roughly 25 of them. The rate moves a little, so treat it as mental arithmetic rather than a promise: halve the crowns, knock off a zero, and you are within a crown of the euro price.
36 Kč
A 30-minute transport ticketAbout 1.50 EUR, and enough for anywhere in this guide that is one ride away.
60 Kč
A coffee in KarlínUp to 80 for the serious kind. A beer in a pub is 50 to 70 for half a liter.
250 Kč
A main course200 to 350 in the neighbourhood. The old town charges tourist prices for the same plate.
Your card works
Almost everywhere: restaurants, bars, the supermarket, the ticket machines in the metro, and the contactless readers on trams and buses. Apple Pay and Google Pay are ordinary here, not a novelty.
Carry two or three hundred crowns in cash anyway, for a cloakroom, a market stall, or the one pub that still only takes notes.
Where not to change money
Not at the airport, and never at a street booth advertising 0% commission. The commission is hidden in the rate, and a bad one costs you a third of what you hand over.
Use a cash machine belonging to an actual bank, ČSOB, Česká spořitelna, Komerční banka or Raiffeisenbank, rather than the bright standalone ones in the tourist streets.
Say no to the conversion
When a cash machine or a card terminal offers to charge you in euros instead of crowns, decline and pay in crowns. That offer is the worst rate in the whole transaction, and it is the trap that catches careful people.
Tipping: round up, or about ten percent if the service was good. Say the total you want to pay as you hand the card over, because the terminal arrives with the exact amount already typed in.
The neighbourhood
Coffee, beer and a cash machine
Karlín is the part of Prague people move to for the food. You are at its eastern edge: the everyday things are three to nine minutes away on foot, and the famous places are a walk down Sokolovská or one stop on the metro.
On foot
Sokolovská is the only street you need. It runs west from the venue straight into Karlín, and almost everything on this list sits on it or one turn off it.
Flat the whole way and lit at night. The far end, Karlínské náměstí, is about twenty-five minutes.
By tram or metro
From Invalidovna it is three tram stops down Sokolovská into the heart of Karlín. Trams 3, 8, 12 and 24 by day, night trams 92 and 94 after midnight.
InvalidovnaUrxovaKřižíkovaKarlínské náměstí
On the metro, line B is one stop to Křižíkova and two to Florenc. A 30-minute ticket at 36 Kč covers any of it.
The district's large concert and events hall, worth checking what is on that weekend.
Pernerova 676/51
25 min
Karlínské náměstí
The main square
The heart of the district, with the neo-Romanesque church of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
Karlín
Nothing in that category yet.
Walking times are measured on the real pedestrian route from U Sluncové 14, not in a straight line. Ratings are quoted with their source and the number of reviews behind them, and are shown only where we could actually verify them — a place with no star here is not a worse place, just one we did not find a trustworthy score for. Opening hours change; check before you set off.
Eating
How a meal works here
The list above is where to go. This is what happens once you sit down, and what to do at four in the morning when the social ends and you are hungry.
Sitting down
You seat yourself in a pub and wait to be seated in a restaurant. Tap water is not automatic, so ask for it. Bread on the table is usually charged for, by the slice.
Say zaplatím, "I will pay", to ask for the bill, and say whether you are paying together or separately before the terminal comes out. Splitting it afterwards is a faff for everyone.
What to actually order
Czech food is pork, duck, beef in cream sauce, and dumplings closer to bread than to anything Italian. Svíčková is the one to try. Guláš is the safe one. Smažený sýr, fried cheese, is what every Czech eats after a night out.
Order beer by size: velké is half a liter, malé is three tenths. A fresh one appears when you are nearly finished, unless you say otherwise.
After the social
Kitchens in Karlín close around ten, eleven at the latest. After that it is the Vietnamese bistros, which run late, the non-stop windows around Florenc, and the hotel itself.
The sensible move is the supermarket on the way back from the workshops. There is a fridge in most rooms, and breakfast at eleven after a four o'clock finish beats whatever is open at dawn.
The city
What you can see in the gap
You came to dance and the weekend is short, so this is not a list of sights. It is three answers to the only question that matters: how long have I got? Times are from the hotel door, on a transport ticket you already have.
An hour, between blocks
Vítkov hill. Fifteen minutes on foot from Karlín, straight up, and the whole city opens out below you with an enormous bronze horseman at your back. Almost no tourists. The best thing within walking distance, by a distance.
Karlín itself. Coffee on Karlínské náměstí, the church, and back. Twenty-five minutes each way on foot, or three stops on the tram.
The Negrelli viaduct. Ten minutes west. Built in the 1840s, the oldest railway bridge in Prague, and the arches underneath are cafés now.
Half a day, before the workshops
Old Town Square and the astronomical clock. Metro B to Náměstí Republiky, about eight minutes, then seven on foot. Go at nine in the morning and you nearly have it to yourself.
Charles Bridge at sunrise. In February that is around seven, the one hour it is not shoulder to shoulder. Metro B to Můstek, then fifteen minutes down through the old town.
Vyšehrad. Metro B to Florenc, change to C, out at Vyšehrad. Twenty minutes. A fortress, a cemetery of famous Czechs, and the best view of the river there is.
A whole day, if you stay on
Prague Castle and Malá Strana. The largest castle complex in the world, and the quarter below it. Allow four hours, and wear the shoes you are not dancing in.
The Jewish Quarter. Six synagogues and the old cemetery on one ticket. Closed on Saturdays, which is the day of the competition anyway.
Petřín. A funicular up a hill, a small Eiffel tower at the top, and a mirror maze. Your transport ticket covers the funicular.
One warning about the CastleHradčanská on metro line A is planned to close for most of 2027 while it is rebuilt. Go to Malostranská and walk up through the gardens instead, or take tram 22 from Můstek to Pražský hrad, which drops you at the top and saves the climb. Worth a look at pid.cz the week before you travel.
February is the quiet seasonIt is cold and the light goes at five, but the bridge is empty, the castle has no line and everything costs less than it does in July. Dress for it and it is the best month to see this city.
Before you pack
The small things nobody tells you
The weather, honestly
Late February in Prague sits around freezing: a few degrees above in the day, a few below at night, and it can snow. Bring a proper coat and shoes that survive a wet pavement.
Keep it handy at the festival too. Artemis and Congress stand right next to each other, but you step outside to go from one to the other.
Phone and data
EU roaming works here at no extra cost, so an EU SIM needs nothing done to it. From outside the EU, an eSIM bought before you fly is cheaper than anything sold at the airport.
Install the PID Lítačka app for transport tickets, and download your maps offline, before you land rather than on hotel wifi at midnight.
If something goes wrong
112is the emergency number, free from any phone and answered in English. 155 for an ambulance, 158 for the police, 150 for the fire brigade.
Prague is a safe city and the walk back from Karlín at three in the morning is an ordinary one. Pickpockets work the old town and the crowded trams, not this neighbourhood.
