It is painful for me to admit it, but Prague’s reputation as a safe and friendly city suffers due to the rampant overcharging by its cab drivers. Granted, the situation has somewhat improved since the city’s mayor, Pavel Bém, went undercover a few years ago and took a cab disguised as an Italian tourist (with a fake goatee, lots of gel in his hair and expensive sunglasses on his nose). He expected to be overcharged, but was utterly shocked when the cabbie with a disarmingly straight face asked for what was about ten times more than the real fare. Since then, the police have been closely watching and the culprits are fined or have their license suspended. Even still, it is quite common that tourists who do not understand the Czech crown and cannot gage the distances traveled in cab, end up paying outrageously more than they should.
The solution is either taking the city’s efficient public transportation or calling a reliable taxi service. The one that I always use is the AAA. You can call the number 14014, you can even send an SMS or order the service online: http://www.aaataxi.cz/Taxi-order/. The website also allows you to calculate the price of the route you are about to take.
If you cannot wait and need to hail a cab on the spot, which I strongly discourage, you need to be firm, ask for the price in advance and insist that the driver turn on the meter. The maximum price to travel from the city center to the outskirts should not be more than 730CZK/about $40 (does not include waiting- 5CZK per minute).
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