Prague’s Christmas trams are back: How to see the glowing fleet in 2026

Prague’s Christmas lights don’t all stay in one place. Each winter, decorated trams, buses and other public transport vehicles carry the festive atmosphere through the city, turning an ordinary encounter at a tram stop into something worth photographing.

This year’s fleet makes its ceremonial debut Saturday, Nov. 28, at the Public Transport Museum in Střešovice. Visitors can watch the lights switch on in the depot courtyard for free, or buy a ticket to join the procession through Prague.

The lineup brings together historic and contemporary vehicles, including the familiar T3 tram, modern ForCity cars and the city’s unusually celebrated maintenance tram. Decorations will also return to Křižíkova metro station and the Petřín funicular, according to DPP’s event announcement.

The gathering takes place at Muzeum MHD, beside the Vozovna Střešovice tram stop. The museum will be open 9 a.m.–5 p.m., giving transport enthusiasts the option of exploring its collection before the outdoor celebrations.

The courtyard lighting ceremony is free. Admission to the museum’s exhibition is separate, so don’t assume the free event includes a museum visit.

For the launch itself, DPP’s published schedule gives the following times:

Tickets to ride in the procession cost CZK 50, with children under 10 traveling free. They are sold at the venue from 2:30 p.m.; DPP has not advertised advance online booking on its Christmas page. Departure times are approximate.

The route travels from Střešovice through Prašný most, Hradčanská and Letná, then descends through Strossmayerovo náměstí and Vltavská toward Štvanice and Těšnov. It continues past Bílá labuť and Náměstí Republiky, through Dlouhá třída and Malostranská, finishing at Právnická fakulta, where passengers disembark.

Those locations offer alternatives for watching if you would rather see the vehicles pass than join the depot gathering. There are no published passing times for individual stops, so allow some flexibility rather than planning around a precise arrival.

The fleet spans several generations of Prague transport: a historic tram, individual and paired T3 cars, an articulated K2, Škoda 14T and 15T ForCity trams, two SOR buses and a Škoda-Solaris 24M trolleybus.

Among them is the mazací tramvaj, usually shortened to mazačka: the lubricating tram whose practical job is considerably less glamorous than its Christmas appearance.

Its story reaches back to 1965, when the original T3CS vehicle arrived from ČKD Tatra. After subsequent conversions, it became a working vehicle associated with maintaining Prague’s tram infrastructure. Lubrication helps reduce noise and wear where wheels meet rails.

The tram later gained another role: carrying water to irrigate grassed tram tracks during hot, dry weather. DPP notes that newer 15T trams have their own lubrication equipment, reducing the need for the specialist vehicle’s original task.

Its connection with Christmas is well established. In December 2016, DPP presented the reconstructed maintenance tram at Těšnov with festive decorations. The vehicle had already developed an online following through an onboard camera and social media—an unlikely celebrity emerging from the everyday work of keeping the network running.

For this year’s launch, DPP specifically includes the mazačka in its published lineup.

The decorations also carry a charitable purpose. DPP is again partnering with Milý Ježíšku, displaying real wishes from children in residential care and families facing financial hardship.

Through the project’s Czech website, donors can select a wish and follow the instructions to send a gift directly to the participating home or family. The campaign is already running, so taking part does not depend on attending the procession.

There are further transport-themed dates to save. DPP’s annual calendar lists St. Nicholas at the Public Transport Museum on Dec. 5, although detailed arrangements are still to come.

The DPP choir also has an advent performance scheduled in the Náměstí Republiky metro vestibule, at the Palladium exit, on Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. Its announced repertoire mixes seasonal music with transport-themed songs.