This is my guide to travelling from Prague to Nuremberg, a journey between two of the great cities of Central Europe, by train and bus.
If you’re exploring Central Europe, there’s a good chance that you may need to travel from Prague to Nuremberg at some point. The Czech capital is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, while Nuremberg is one of the best cities to visit in Germany. And they are only around 4 ½ hours apart.
In this quick, straightforward guide to travelling from Prague to Nuremberg, I include environmentally friendly train and bus options and the option of driving if you’re on a European road trip.
Prague to Nuremberg – What You Need To Know
Regular train and bus services make travelling from Prague to Nuremberg easy and generally inexpensive.
Travel between Prague and Nuremberg is simple, even if you don’t speak a word of Czech or German, as you can book tickets online using the English version of the booking websites, and the staff at Prague main railway station and Florenc bus station Prague speak English.
The departure boards in Prague central train station are in Czech, English and German, while the departure screens in Florenc bus station alternate between Czech and English.
All bar one Prague to Nuremberg buses leave from Florenc bus station (often called Prague UAN Florenc on timetables), and some also pick up at Prague Anděl (Na Knížeci) and Zličin. Some also start at Černý Most or Roztyly (in the eastern suburbs of Prague) before calling at Florenc.
Nuremberg is called Nürnberg in German, and the main Nuremberg train station is called Nürnberg Hbf on timetables and departure boards.
Nuremberg is called Norimberk in Czech, and you’ll sometimes see it used at the two main departure points in Prague.
Prague to Nuremberg Distance
The distance between Prague and Nuremberg is 252 km (157 miles) by train, and by road it’s slightly longer, around 300 km.
Prague to Nuremberg By Train
The Prague to Nuremberg train leaves from Prague main train station (Praha hl n on timetables) 11 times a day in total. All services require one change of train, which I’ll outline below.
The Prague Nuremberg train runs via two different routes, and if the services are running on time, the one route is 8 minutes faster than the other. There’s not a lot in it.
The slightly quicker Prague Nuremberg train runs to Munich (München Hbf) seven times a day. If you’re travelling on this route you need to change at Schwandorf, the stop before Regensburg. The scheduled journey takes 4 hours 36 minutes.
You can also take the train from Prague to Nuremberg via Cheb (in the far west of the Czech Republic) where you change for the train via Marktredwitz to Nuremberg 4 times a day. This journey takes 4 hours 44 minutes.
Prague to Nuremberg Train Tickets
You can buy your tickets online at the Czech Railways website, or at several other rail travel websites including thetrainline and omio.
Tickets are also available from the ticket office at level -2, below the main concourse of Prague main station. You’ll need to queue for one of the international ticket counters – look out for the sign ‘mezinarodni jizdenky’ in the ticket office.
At the time of writing, the cheapest one-way ticket from Prague to Nuremberg is 21 euros if booked in advance. We’ve checked tickets for travel the following day which cost as much as 60 euros.
Journey Time
The usual scheduled journey time from Prague to Nuremberg is between 4 hours 36 minutes and 4 hours 44 minutes.
If you happen to buy the discounted monthly ‘Deutschland Ticket’ before entering Germany you can either (1) buy the normal inter-city Prague Nuremberg ticket and only use the ticket from Nuremberg onwards or (2) buy a ticket from Prague to the Czech-German border, then change for a regional German train once across the border.
We travelled via Cheb, where we changed train for Marktredwitz. We changed there and boarded our train to Nuremberg, which took 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Arrival In Nuremberg
Nuremberg main station – Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof – is large, with over 20 platforms.
The local S-Bahn trains leave from some of these platforms. If you’re not planning to use any of these, follow signs to the main hall, from where you will see escalators downstairs to the U-Bahn (underground).
For onward travel around Nuremberg, check out the excellent VGN website which also covers the surrounding Franconia region.
- See Also: Churches in Nuremberg – Discover the Treasures of the Imperial City
- Nuremberg Nazi Sites – 7 Fascinating Sites To Explore
- One Day In Nuremberg – The Imperial City In One Day
Prague to Nuremberg Bus
The Prague to Nuremberg Flixbus service runs eight times daily.
Seven of these call at Prague UAN Florenc bus station – the only exception is the 0355 service, which only calls at Zličin.
Most of the services which depart from Florenc also stop elsewhere in Prague, particularly across the river at Prague Anděl bus station, also known as Na Knížeci to locals. You can reach this station either by tram (5, 12, 15 or 20) or Metro (Anděl, on line B, then follow the exit signs to the bus station).
Regiojet also operate a once-daily Prague Nuremberg bus service, departing Florenc bus station at 2300 (11 pm) and arriving at 0245 (2.45 am).
Journey Time
The bus takes between 3 hours 45 minutes and 4 hours 30 minutes from Prague Florenc.
Arrival in Nuremberg
All services call at the main Nuremberg bus station (Zentraler Bahnhof) on Kate-Strobel-Strasse. This is a 200-250 metre walk from Nuremberg main train station (Hauptbahnhof).
The train station is where you need to head for onward connections around Nuremberg, as it has S-Bahn stops and the U-Bahn lines U1, U2 and U3 all call there.
David Angel is a British photographer, writer and historian. He is a European travel expert with over 30 years’ experience exploring Europe. He has a degree in History from Manchester University, and his work is regularly featured in global media including the BBC, Condé Nast Traveler, The Guardian, The Times, and The Sunday Times. David is fluent in French and Welsh, and can also converse in Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech and Polish.