Vaclav Havel Airport Prague, the country's principal international gateway, sits roughly ten to seventeen kilometers west of the historic city center, and a rental car picked up here typically gets you into Prague in about twenty to thirty minutes, traffic depending. The airport is well organized for arrivals, with international and local rental desks operating from the terminal areas, and the surrounding road network connects quickly to the city ring road, making onward travel in any direction straightforward from the moment you leave the lot.
The Czech Republic drives on the right, and the motorway system radiating from Prague is the backbone of long-distance travel: the D1 runs southeast toward Brno and onward to Ostrava, the D5 heads west toward Plzen and the German border, and the D8 connects north toward Usti nad Labem and on to Dresden and Berlin. All of these motorways require an electronic vignette, purchased digitally and linked to your license plate, and it is worth arranging this before setting out, since enforcement is automated and fines for driving without one can be steep. Ordinary roads and the Prague Ring do not require a vignette, only the marked motorways.
Winter driving deserves particular attention: Czech law requires winter tires under certain conditions between roughly November and March, especially when snow or ice is present or expected, and rental agencies typically fit appropriate tires for the season automatically. Away from the motorways, the countryside around Prague offers pleasant secondary roads through Bohemian towns and vineyard country to the south. For visitors planning day trips to Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary, or the Bohemian countryside, a rental car from the airport is by far the most flexible way to see beyond the capital at your own pace, without waiting on train or bus schedules to fit a full day trip in.