Commuter alert: Major traffic restrictions in place due to Prague Half Marathon

The annual Prague Half Marathon 2024, which takes place on Saturday, April 6, will bring partial traffic restrictions to the central part of the capital as 15,000 runners take to the streets. The race will also affect public transport operations, diverting key tram lines and bus routes.

The race, now in its 10th year, will start and finish on Bubenské nábřeží next to the Holešovice Market in Prague 7. The 21-kilometer course will cross through Prague 1, 2, 5, 7, and 8, following the banks of the Vltava River.

Runners will pass through major roads such as Celetná Street (next to Old Town Square), Na Příkopě Street, Národní třída, Pařížská Street, and Smetanovo nábřeží, which will all be partially closed for traffic on Saturday morning, the City of Prague wrote in a press release.

To ensure safety, Prague will ban parking in the affected areas from Saturday morning, and roads along the race route will be closed to all traffic from the early morning to 1:30 p.m. Police say that streets will be reopened “as soon as possible” on Saturday afternoon.

Major throughways such as Čechův, Legion, and Jiráskův bridges will also be closed Saturday due to the marathon.

Bubenské nábřeží and Komunardů Street (between Bubenský nábřeží and Jateční Street) are closed from this morning to Saturday evening.

In addition to road closures, public transportation routes will also change. Tram lines 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 14, 22, and several more, as well as bus lines 207, 314, and 360, will run diverted routes until 6 p.m. Saturday. A full list of tram- and bus-related disruptions and diversions is available on the Prague Public Transport Company (DPP) website. DPP says it will increase the frequency of metro services Saturday to help handle the transport disruption. 

Residents of and visitors to the Czech capital should also take heed of the Prague International Marathon, which takes place Sunday, May 5. The full marathon has a similar route to its more condensed version but spans further south and west. Similar traffic and public transport disruption will occur next month, though on a wider scale and last several hours longer.