Working and living in Brno...

Discussion in 'Expat Life' started by Fafou, Nov 3, 2004.

  1. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    Hi!!
    I'm french and i'm going to work in Brno for 2 years, I'm really happy to go there but i'd like to have some informations about the life there.

    *Is the life cheaper in Brno compare to Praha (in fact I guess the answer is yes but the question is how much do i need for the flat (1 or 2 rooms), the food and the common expenses)?
    *I would like to live in the center but the factory i'm working in is about 4 km from the center, are the public transports well developed or is it essential to have a car?
    *If it's easier with a car do you think i should come from France with my own car or do you think i should sell it and buy a new one there?

    If u have other informations about Brno or the Czech republic in general i'd be happy to hear about it...
    Thanks for your help!!
    Fabien
     
  2. Halef

    Halef Well-Known Member

    Yes, the answer is yes :) Wild guess - 10 000 a month should be enough.

    Do you know the name of the town / village / city part? I could then tell you more precisely.
    Generally, the public transport is very good, you can get to most places in and around Brno quite easily.

    If you decide to use a car, take your current one and use it. It is not that far, and the cars sold here are quite the same as in France :)

    Look through the My Czech Republic website, it has plenty of info on CZ. And I have been living in Brno for several years, if you have questions, I should be able to give you answers.
     
  3. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    Thanks you for your answers :D

    The factory is located in Brno and the name of the street is Ksirova...

    I have a stupid question :? but I want to ask it... my car is a japanese car (Honda), is it easy to find spare parts for this type of car?

    Last question : is it affordable to have your own internet connection at home or is it more interesting to go in an internet cafe?

    I have been spending quiet a lot of time reading the posts on the My Czech Republic website and it's very helpful...
    Thanks a lot for your help :D
     
  4. Halef

    Halef Well-Known Member

    You can get to Kšírova in about 20 - 30 minutes by public transport from the centre.

    There are at least two Honda dealers in Brno, and this mark is quite comon.

    It definitely is affordable, you can get a nice home connection for some 500 - 1000 Kc per month (cable TV, wifi, adsl).
     
  5. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    A very big THANK YOU :D , your answers are very important for me...
    Thank you for your rapidity and your precision!!
     
  6. rahul9355

    rahul9355 Member

    Dear Friend very nice and to the point discussion. Its very much usefull for me.

    What you have stated 10000 Kc per month in which how much you are considering on rent and utilities and please let me know food you are considering out side or cooking by self.
     
  7. magan

    magan Well-Known Member

    I was just checking getting internet connection by Czech Telecom, which is public telephone company in CR.

    Besides having your own equipment of course, you HAVE to buy modem from them for around 1200 Kc, then pay for connection which is close to 1000 Kc and then pay on top of your regular regular telephone line around another 1000 Kc-month which is every month. That is cable connection which I would strongly recommend. There is also telephone line connection which is usually very bad service,you paying by minute and it has interruptions so often that you will go nuts to do something on internet.

    One more note. For internet connection you need regular telephone connection. If your apartment doesnt have it, setting it up costs around 3000 Kc plus monthly charged just for having it for home mini service which is the cheapest around 300 Kc monthly PLUS paying for every single call by pulses, with highest charges during working hours, lower charges from 7 to 6 in the morning.

    Usual charge in inernet cafee is 60 Kc-min, keys are often extremely dirty, many have smoking people using them so air is bad.

    Another option with internet is public library. You can get membership for around 60-100 Kc-year and use their internet room free. however...There you have to make appointment, sometimes week ahead depending on how busy they are, and you only get one hour per week. You can use your library card for internet in any public library... not all have internet.

    Good luck, Magan
     
  8. Halef

    Halef Well-Known Member


    I just have to correct some inaccurances:
    - that connection method you mention is not "cable" connection, it is ADSL (or at least I guess so).
    - dial-up is not that bad, in the times I was using it, I rarely experienced much trouble. It is quite slow, however.
    - you do not need phone connection for internet, if you use some of the other methods I mentioned (wifi, cable TV,..). Of course, everything has some initial cost. If you want to set up a wifi (antenna, router, cables,...), it will cost about 5 000. Internet via cable TV can be cheaper to get, if your apartment already has the cable TV.


    rahul9355: Being a student living on a college, I have little experience with financing a flat, so maybe I have underestimated the cost a little. But from what I know, you can rent a small flat in Brno for some 6 000 - 8 000 including the water, electricity, etc (if you are a bit lucky). If you cook yourself, you should be able to keep the food-money around 3 000 a month or even less. Of course, visiting restaurants will be more expensive.

    So shortly - 10 000 should be enough, 15 000 will most certainly be.
     
  9. Sam

    Sam Active Member

    I live in a small village near Brno with no broadband connection, so I use the Eurotel mobile service.
    You buy the mobile phone from them for 1,000, then pay 650 per month for 'on all day' access. I have the connection live 18 hours a day and pay just 650CZk per month.
    The speed is 115.2Kbps, so it's not fast but it's quite livable. The bonus is that the connection is completely mobile so I can also be connected on the train or when travelling to meetings etc.
    It's a highly recommended solution. Plus they give you 100 free minutes of calls to Eurotel numbers from the same SIM card each month.
    I think T-mobile also offer a similar service.
     
  10. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    It seems that there are a lot of different solutions to be connected on the net and this is a good news. I think i ll check it and do my choice when i ll be there but thanks to all of you I already know that it will not be a problem.
    I have a new question, again about cars: are the cars cheaper in Czech Republic compare to France?
    Last question: I don't know yet where I will live exactly, do you have any recommendation about a specific quarter (is there a really good quarter or are all the places quiet similar)?
    Bye
    Fabien
     
  11. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    I've made my own search for the price of the car and it seems that there's no difference between the two countries so please forget my previous question...
    However i d like to know if it's easy for a foreigner to get a Czech insurance for his car and do I need to change the registration number of the car or can I keep my car registrated in France?
    Thanks
    Fabien
     
  12. Sam

    Sam Active Member

    My advice would be to bring your car from France as buying a used car in the Czech Republic is a bit of a lottery; the chance of buying a bad one is quite high. If you buy a new car, then it doesn't matter.
    Check your French insurance policy to make sure that it covers you for European use, if it doesn't ask your insurance company to upgrade it, then you'll be fine driving it here on French number plates.
    I drive a car here that is still registered in UK, it is insured with UK insurance for use all over Europe.
    Plus the police don't stop you (so much) in a foreign registered car as they know that you won't understand them!!!
     
  13. Halef

    Halef Well-Known Member

    I would avoid the southeastern part of the city (Zábrdovice, Juliánov,...) at night. The blocks-of-flats areas also are not very comfortable (Líšeň, Lískovec). Otherwise, I would say it does not matter that much. Královo pole and Žabovřesky are fine and quite close to the centre. When looking to the map, Bohunice seem to be quite handy to get to work by car (not by public transport, though, no tram crosses the highway).
     
  14. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    I cannot afford a new car so i think i ll probably bring my car from France.

    I fact i checked theme and they told me that if i'm staying more than one year abroad i have to take a local insurance... I will check again with them or maybe with another insurance.

    Thank you for your advise... :D
     
  15. Fafou

    Fafou Member

    Thanks again :D
     

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