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You can buy 24-hour, 3-day and 7-day passes valid for unlimited use on Prague’s metro, trams and buses. Validate the ticket once and enjoy the ride, but don’t forget to sign the back: an unsigned ticket is not valid and ticket inspectors that appear unexpectedly can levy a fine up to Kč950.

Prague opera continues to defy the laws of supply and demand. Even the best seats are cheap by western standards, but it’s possible to buy standing-room only tickets and then slip into a seat in the largely empty hall when the overture begins.

Corporate and state sponsorship keeps ticket prices – and musicians’ salaries – low for the city’s major orchestras. The Czech Radio Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles regularly give masterful performances, the tickets to which are seldom more than a few hundred crowns.

There’s seldom any need to pay more than Kč30 for a half-litre of draft beer. Even within the centre, Kč20 beer is not uncommon. Or journey out to Žižkov (see Žižkov TV Tower) or other working-class neigh-bourhoods for glasses as cheap as Kč12.

Even less expensive than pub fare is the food served cafeteria-style at the city’s many lunch counters and buffets. Grab a tray, your Czech dictionary and join the queue. Food is usually sold by weight. Lunch, with beer, should be less than Kč150.

Hostels usually have small double and even single rooms that offer greater privacy (see Hostels). Travellers can also find rooms or even entire flats for rent by the week (see Apartments). Check the bulletin boards at The Globe Bookstore (see The Globe Bookstore and Coffeehouse) and Radost nightclub (see Radost).

Students and teachers qualify for discounts on bus and train tickets, as well as airfares offered by GTS International. Czech trains have first-and second-class cabins, the latter being the cheaper. You can travel to most destinations within the Czech Republic and back for less than Kč400.

If you don’t care for leading yourself around the city, try asking a student hanging around Café Konvikt or elsewhere to show you around; you get an insider’s view of the sights, while the student gets a welcome free English lesson. An additional plus is that you will see much of Prague Castle without paying admission.

While admission to Karlovy Lázně, Radost and Roxy will cost you Kč200 or more at weekends, even these big clubs have free nights during the week. Smaller clubs further afield, such as Akropolis, Guru and Industry 55, are cheaper and more intimate but a little less polished (see Clubs).

Admission to National Gallery art exhibits at various venues around town is typically low, but not as low as the entrance to the National Museum. Natural history buffs will be delighted here as well as at the Municipal Museum. The many exhibitions at the National Technical Museum (see Holešovice) outside the centre are far more interesting than the functional name might initially suggest.