Travel Tips

Here are a few paragraphs of practical information for all attendees of SOSP 2026. If you miss a piece of information that is important for you, please do not hesitate to approach the Local Organization Chairs for help.

Conference Venue

SOSP 2026 takes place in the Clarion Congress Hotel Prague which is located at the address Freyova 33, Prague 9 – Vysočany, 190 00, Czech Republic. The hotel is connected to the Prague metro station Vysočanská (yellow Line B) and it is also easily reachable by public transport buses and trams via the Vysočanská stop. There is also a shopping mall under the same roof.

Traveling from the Václav Havel Airport Prague

  • Using public transport: Take the bus number 100 to its final stop Zličín (the journey should take about 20 minutes). Then switch to the metro (yellow Line B) and take it to the Vysočanská station in the direction of Černý most (the journey should take about 25 minutes). The single transfer ticket that lasts 90 minutes (usable both for the bus and the metro) costs 50 CZK (approx. €2).
  • Using taxi: The Prague airport has a special agreement with Uber to provide the official taxi service. Use your Uber mobile app or the local Uber vending machines to book your ride. We strongly discourage you from using any other taxi services than Uber to avoid excessive prices. A reasonable price for a single taxi trip from the airport to the venue should be well within the range from 500 CZK (basic) to 1000 CZK (premium), i.e. from €20 to €40.

For more information, please visit the web site of the Prague airport (IATA code PRG) and the web site of the Prague Public Transport.

Traveling from the Prague Main Station

Note: Besides the Prague Main Station (Praha hlavní nádraží), be aware that there are several other major train stations in Prague where even international trains call. However, the Main Station is typically the final stop and it is also the most convenient stop for reaching the venue. When in doubt, please consult your travel itinerary and ask the train crew staff.

We strongly recommend using the public transport as the most convenient option in this case. Take the metro from the Hlavní nádraží station (red Line C, located in the lowest level of the railway station) to the adjanced Florenc station in the direction of Letňany (the journey should take only about 2 minutes). Then switch to the yellow Line B and take it to the Vysočanská station in the direction of Černý most (the journey should take about 10 minutes). The single transfer ticket that lasts 90 minutes costs 50 CZK (approx. €2).

Banquet Venue

The SOSP 2026 Banquet takes place in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House which is located at the address Náměstí Republiky 1090/5, Prague 1 – Staré Město, 111 21, Czech Republic. The Municipal House is next to the Prague metro station Náměstí Republiky (yellow Line B) and thus it is easily reachable by public transport from the main conference venue in 15 minutes.

Safety

Prague is generally a very safe city, closely comparable to Tokyo, Vienna and Copenhagen in various safety and crime indexes. Prague is also more than twice safer than London or Paris on average. Violent crime is extremely rare. The primary concerns for visitors are limited to petty theft and localized tourist scams.

There are generally no bad neighborhoods, but avoiding abandoned unlit streets and parks during the night is always a reasonable precaution. Overcrowded tourist hotspots and areas around major transit hubs (e.g. around the Main Station) attract vagrancy and pickpockets that warrant the usual big-city awareness.

Similarly, you might occasionally encounter random people on the streets in the tourist zones trying to sell you worthless items, exchange money for worthless foreign banknotes or solicit your contribution to fake "charities". Simply avoid the interaction. Brick-and-mortar shops are, on the other hand, perfectly safe.

In case of any emergency, please dial the 112 universal emergency telephone number free of charge from any available landline or mobile phone.

Do not forget to arrange for a travel insurance before your trip. The Czech Republic provides universal healthcare on standard European quality level and emergency health treatment is always available, but foreigners without insurance are still required to pay the costs out of their pocket afterwards.

Money

The official currency of the Czech Republic is the Czech Crown (CZK, the local abbreviation is Kč). €1 (EUR) is approximately 24 to 25 CZK, $1 (USD) is approximately 21 to 22 CZK. You can always check the exact exchange rate on the web site of the Czech National Bank. Perhaps it is not overly prudent to familiarize yourself with the looks of the CZK banknotes and coins in advance.

Never exchange money on the streets. Use brick-and-mortar exchange offices only. It is generally prudent to avoid the exchange offices in major transit hubs (e.g. the Prague Airport) since those typically provide very unfavorable exchange rates.

Always check carefully the precise exchange rate and conversion commission for your actual exchange transaction and hand over any money only after you have done your own calculations. A trustworthy exchange office will always give you all the necessary information beforehand and it will never put you under any kind of pressure. Always insist on a receipt which enables you to withdraw from the contract on the exchange transaction free of charge and without giving any reasons (the right to cancel the transaction) within 3 hours after its execution.

When in doubt, your hotel front desk should give you reliable advice regarding the local currency and payments. Carrying around 1,000 CZK in cash with you (i.e. the equivalent of about €40 or $50) is a reasonable "pocket money" for any contingency.

Some shops allow you to pay in cash directly in Euros or US Dollars, but their exchange rate is usually unfavorable and you will only receive the change in CZK.

On the other hand, VISA and MasterCard payment cards (both debit and credit, with a magnetic strip, chip-and-PIN and contactless) are generally accepted almost everywhere for direct payments and the network of ATMs is pretty dense in Prague. Nevertheless, always check the conversion ratios from your payment card's native currency to CZK and also check any bank charges that might apply.

It is usually preferable to let the payment card's issuing bank do the currency conversion than letting the ATM's or the payment terminal's provider do the currency conversion. If you have a choice, always prefer an ATM of an established bank instituion instead of a EuroNet ATM. EuroNet ATMs are notorious for attempting various tricks on the customers to charge the maximum commission.

Transportation

The public transport in Prague is, similarly to other major European cities, convenient, reliable, frequent and relatively cheap. A 90-minute transfer ticket costs about €2, a 24-hour ticket costs about €6, a 3-day ticket costs about €14. You can buy the tickets in the yellow vending machines at stops and in metro stations (most of them accept payment cards, but a few still only accept coins), in many tobacco shops and in many metro stations at a counter. Alternatively, many buses and trams allow you to pay directly by a payment card or you can buy a ticket via a premium SMS.

Note that the metro runs until midnight while most trams and buses run until 1 a.m. Then there are the night trams and buses which run usually every 30 minutes from midnight to early morning.

Detailed information about the public transport and the tariff can be found at the Public Transport Company web site. You can also easily lookup the connections on the same web site or perhaps even more conveniently using Google Maps.

The somewhat poor reputation of the Prague taxis (occasionally overcharging tourists) is well-known. Thus it is advisable to not wave for a random taxi directly on the street. Instead of that, using an established mobile app such as Uber is definitively a recommended option for a safe taxi ride with a fair price quote in advance.

Shopping

Prague is a great city for shopping, offering European-quality goods (with EU safety regulations applied) for reasonable prices (but try to avoid the few overprised tourist traps in tourist hotspots). Conveniently, there is a shopping mall just under the same roof of the main conference venue. There are other shopping malls in the city center and even larger outlets at the outskirts.

Most brick-and-mortat shops in Prague are open at least from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Many larger convenience stores and outlets are open from 6 or 7 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. There are even a few shops that run non-stop. The prices among the larger chains (Billa, Albert, Tesco) are quite comparable, some of the smaller chains (Žabka) are slightly more expensive. The smaller locally-owned non-stop convenience stores mostly still offer acceptable prices, but the selection of goods is usually somewhat limited.

Souvenirs

Here are some of the most genuine Czech souvenirs: beer (Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Budvar, etc.), bitters (Becherovka, Fernet, etc.), distillates (Slivovice, Absinthe, etc.), glass and crystal and this little fella.

Some tourist traps sell items that have absolutely nothing to do with the Czech culture and traditions, like Russian hats and matroska dolls, symbols of communism, a cheap "absinth" immitation, cheap-looking T-shirts with questionable quotes, etc. We urge you not to buy these and similar worthless items and look for real local products. A T-shirt with Franz Kafka is probably fine, although overrated :)

The pastry called Trdelník (or Trdlo) has also nothing to do with genuine Czech cuisine. It comes originally from Romania.

Dining

Generally speaking, there is a restaurant or a pub in essentially every street in the city center of Prague. But some of those restaurants are tourist traps serving mediocre food for unreasonable prices. It is hard to tell just by examining the menu. Follow the reviews or ask for recommendations at your hotel's front desk.

During the day, reservation in a restaurant is usually not necessary, but it is good to have a prior reservation for the evenings (especially on Fridays and on the weekends).

Here is our informal recommendation for places serving genuine Czech cuisine:

  • U Fleků, Křemencova 1651/11, with a local brewery founded some 500 years ago.
  • U Pinkasů, Jungmannovo náměstí 15/16, another place with centuries-old tradition.
  • Kantýna, Politických vězňů 1511/5, evoking the feeling of a simple canteen (ordering food at a counter, meat-heavy dishes, etc.). They serve the best beef carpaccio in the world.
  • Vinohradský Parlament, Korunní 820/1.
  • Červený Jelen, Hybernská 1034/5, suitable for accommodating a larger group of people.

If you are looking for something more fancy (Michelin stars, etc.), we suggest:

  • Café Imperial, Na Poříčí 1072/15, modern cuisine.
  • Municipal House Restaurant, Náměstí Republiky 1090/5, traditional cuisine.
  • La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise, Haštalská 753/18, highest-quality modern and traditional cuisine.
  • V Zátiší, Liliova 216/1, modern cuisine.
  • Bruxx, Náměstí Míru 820/9, Brussels-inspired modern cuisine and a large selection of Belgian beer.
  • Sia, V Celnici 1034/6, modern Asian-fusion cuisine.
  • Fly Vista, Národní 63/26, modern cuisine with the most amazing view on the Prague city center.

There are also two restaurant chains that run a variety of very good restaurants and/or pubs all around Prague: Ambiente and Kolkovna. We especially recommend Brasileiro Slovansky dum with the Brazilian Rodízio style (all-you-can-eat) of serving food.

Finally, some café recommendations:

Sightseeing

Just a few lesser-known gems:

A few places suitable especially (but not just) for kids:

Please note that these tips are purely informal and none of the mentioned establishments is affiliated and/or endorsed by either ACM or the SOSP 2026 organizers in any way. Please use your own discretion.