This is the main train station in Prague, located conveniently in the eastern section of the city…read morecenter, walkable to many well-known local sites, including the Opera House directly to the south a block away, the Natural History Museum two blocks away, and the famous Zegar astronomiczny Praga (Prague astronomy clock tower) 15 minutes away by foot, in the main old town square.
The station itself is a combination of old and new, originally built in the 1860s in a Renaissance Revival style, named the Emperor Franz Joseph Station the royalty by whose decree the station was built. Its current facade on the upper level east side was built between 1901 and 1909, in an Art Nouveau style. It's the largest station in addition to the largest Art Nouveau landmark in the Czech Republic. The dome is a work of art and I'm a little sad I missed it, though the pictures look elegantly restrained in its details.
Major work on the station occurred in 1928 when the station and train lines began conversion to electricity. Post WWI additional tracks were added, then post WWII--after competitions to select designs for a new station, underground railway and check-in halls--a new terminal building was built between 1972-79 including an underground metro station, the first of its kind in Prague. Additional construction happened to replace tracks 1983-94, and continued modernization and maintenance 2006-2017.
Given the two different structures and about two dozen above ground and additional underground tracks, this station is pretty large and has multiple levels. Recommend taking that into account when arriving to catch your next form of transportation. Both entrances have loops in front of the entrances for vehicles to circle and pick up passengers. The Art Nouveau building is located at the upper level, and has a large adjacent car park in front of it (or really on the roof of the lower level), that doubles as a bus stop* for multiple local and regional lines, and pickups for ride shares and bus tours. Most major railway routes within the Czech Republic and connecting to adjacent countries stop here, and you can also transfer to metro line C Hlavní nádraží station (separate ticket needed--easy to purchase at machines in the metro station).
There are plenty of shops, restaurants and amenities inside, though since the immediate surrounding area is a park, you'll need to walk a few blocks away to reach other stores, hotels, and restaurants, though all in all still very convenient. Overall I found the station clean, with clear signage in Czech and English, pretty easy to navigate. I read some reddit threads on the potential sketchiness of the park in the nighttime around the station; did see some homeless folks though also saw people that looked like they were sitting on benches and hanging out. Of course best to be wary of your surroundings in an unfamiliar city, though coming from NYC it was pretty mild and I didn't feel unsafe.
*this is not the main bus station though, that's about 15 minutes walking north of the train station.
