Prague has one of the most accurate timetables in Europe

Yes, you read that title correctly – even the time is better in Prague than in most other cities in Europe.

Unlike the different time zones in use around the world, solar time is the old-fashioned measurement of time based on the sun’s position in the sky, used for sundials and other sun-based measurements.

For example: Poland and Spain, as well as most other European countries, use Central European Time. This means that at 6 a.m. the sun can shine in eastern Poland while it is still pitch black in western Spain.

Central European Time covers such a wide area that the noticeable difference in solar time between two areas in CET can be up to three hours.

But the accuracy of solar time – where CET most closely matches actual, measurable solar time – crosses the middle of Europe.

This covers most of the Czech Republic, western Poland, eastern Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, southern Italy and parts of Sweden.

Eastern parts of the UK, including London, also follow solar time as the country is in a different time zone to Spain and France despite being on the same longitude.

See solar time accuracy map below courtesy by Italian blogger Massimo Pietrobon.