The Nixer's Guide to the Brno

Events NixCon
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There is a saying in Czech :czech_republic: that Prague is our biggest city and Brno is our biggest village. This is a quick resident’s guide to the Brno for Nixon attendees. This is not an official guide

Check before reading:

Travel

Brno is fairly accessible but by that, I mean accessible by eastern europian standards. This means a lot of you traveling here from other countries might run into a few inconveniences.

Airplane

There is a small airport in Brno. Most flights are to and from London. If you’re fine with taking a budget airlines the prices are fair and flight takes about 2 hours (but don’t forget there is -1 hour time difference).

There is a fairly new flight from and to Berlin as well. Unfortunately, this one departures only on Saturday and Tuesday. Some of you might be interested in getting this one on a way back on Saturday. Brno to Berlin flight on Saturaday. This flight is dirt cheap, like really cheap, and I recommend at least paying extra environment fee if you decide to take it.

important notes:

  • It takes about 20 minutes by bus to get from the airport to the ciry center.
  • The bus is regular city line and cost as such - you need a 25Czk ticket which is less than a 1 Euro.
  • You can just jump on the first bus you see in front of the airport.
  • Most likely you will want to go to the final station called Hlavni Nadrazi (Main Train Station)
  • Sometimes those busses can be pretty full.
  • You can easily pick a taxi for 10 - 100x more than a bus.

Train

There are plenty of Trains from Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Bratislava and Budapest. Most of these international trains are Czech (Ceske Drahy). You can find your connection here: google transtate of czech idos.cz. Trains are usually reasonably priced.

Unfortunetely the main trainstation is under reconstruction now so chances are that your train arrives to Dolni Nadrazi which is old station which was abandoned for a most part of last decade. Don’t worry even though you might feel like you’ve just traveled through time to 1970 Russia when you get off the train the center is close. You can walk to the center if you feel like you want to stretch your legs (just don’t forget to open your map app as the way can be a bit confusing despite being short). Otherwise, there are busses and hungry taxi drivers waiting for you.

Always prefer EC trains over R - they’re faster, more confortable, costs the same and staff should speak english.

Bus

Especially popular for traveling between Prague and Brno despite being less confortable compare to train. Traveling by bus is cheaper (can be), shorter and there are busses each 30 mins for most of the day. Chances are that you will be traveling by Student Agency (yellow busses) or FlixBus. google transpate of czech idos.cz. Staff on a bus should speak english. Bus station is close to train station.

Car

If you decide to go via car be aware:

  • There are places where only residets can park. Blue lines means you can’t park your car on a spot unless you’re resident.
  • Highway between Prague and Brno can be really bussy and is partially under reconstruction. Chances are you won’t be able to avoid it so be prepared. It’s ok to complain about this, every czech does that, sorry.

Regarding parking check this site: Parkování v Brně - Parkování v Brně
Let me know if I should research parking tips more

Traveling around the town

Brno center is really small and close together so if you’re that sort of person chances are that you might get away with just walking everywhere. Otherwise you can buy universal paper tickets. There are different options based on how many zones and time you need to travel but tickets are generally cheap. Don’t forget to put it to yellow machine in tram when you get on - that will print a time on a ticket. Once again you can find your connection using idos.cz app. google transpate of czech idos.cz

Uber was banned in Brno. You can download Liftago appif you prefer to move around by taxis. This should also ensure you get a fair price.

English speaking

Staff in some restaurants and grocery stores might not know english. Don’t be afraid to ask people around to translate anything for you. Brno is student ~city~ village and everyone is used to this. If you feel lucky you can also try some other language like German or Russian.

Impact Hub

Impact hub is fairly close to the center. Anyway it’s not really within the center so expect few minutes walk or travel to get there.

Me

I’m not in any relation with conference organizers and this is NOT an official guide. Anyway, I was born near Brno and spent most of my adult life living here so I figured I can as well share some tips with you folks just in case someone finds it helpful. I’m pretty sure everyone is able to find all this information as well but perhaps it won’t hurt to share it just in case.

Feel free to ask anything.

See you all there :wave:

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Awesome thanks!

I have a question: Do all shops accept credit/debit card payment or is cash needed?

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Yes generally speaking every place accepts Visa and Master Card.

There are some small hidden pubs which don’t accept card but you’re most likely not going to find them unless someone who knows it there will bring you there.

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Actually I have one more note about credit cards. Czech people often don’t know the term ATMs because we call it bankomat in czech which sounds like it’s either international or some sort of direct translation from other languages. I know this because I also had this problem myself years back:D So far I’ve heared people often call it cache machine. It sounds funny but if someone will tell you that ATM is not around chances are that they don’t understand the question or even send you straigt to the AT&T offices:D

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Shameless promotion: JBM Brew Lab Pub, a tiny craft beer pub at Grohova 17 is offering 10% discount if you mention you are attending NixCon (20% if you pay with Cardano).

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Do you accept card payments? :smiley:

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Yes, of course! And good old cash too :slight_smile:

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Just arrived, very long trek from Bristol.
The city is quite pretty. Everyone sounds like they’re speaking cat tongue, and still don’t know what the bus ticket machines are telling me when I try to buy a ticket on the bus. Just a red buzz and loads of gibberish

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I’m just arrived as well… I’m too tired to walk around the city or to have a beer, unfortunately… se you tomorrow.