Czech Republic

For the best balance of weather and crowds, come in the May–June or September–October shoulders — warm or crisp, long daylight or autumn colour, and far thinner than the July–August peak, when Prague is hottest and the Old Town is shoulder-to-shoulder by midday. Winter is cold and quiet, with one bright exception.

That exception is the Christmas-market season, late November to late December: Old Town Square in Prague, plus Brno and other cities, fill with wooden stalls, mulled wine (svařák) and roast sausages. It’s the most atmospheric time to visit — and still busy, so book accommodation ahead and expect the central squares to be crowded despite the winter chill.

• you want Prague without the crushSkipthe July–August peak at middayGoMay–June or September–October — or an early start before the crowds
• you’re paying by card or drawing cashSkipaccepting “charge in your home currency”Goalways choosing koruna (DCC costs ~8–15%), and bank ATMs over Euronet
• you’re riding Prague transitSkipboarding without validating your ticketGostamping it in the yellow machine — or risk a CZK 1,200 fine

Czechia is in the EU and Schengen but has not adopted the euro — it uses the Czech koruna (CZK, Kč), with no switch on the horizon. Euros aren’t legal tender, and the few tourist spots that take them give a poor rate, so pay in koruna. The classic rip-offs are the street exchange booths — above all the "0% commission" ones around Old Town Square and at the airport, which bury dreadful rates — so change money at a bank ATM instead.

The subtler drain is dynamic currency conversion: when an ATM or card machine asks whether to charge you in your home currency or in koruna, always choose koruna — being billed in your own currency typically costs 8–15%. And skip the non-bank Euronet ATMs in favour of the Czech banks (Česká spořitelna, ČSOB, KB). Overall costs are moderate — cheaper than Western Europe, though central Prague has crept up — and tipping is around 10%, usually by rounding up.

Taken together, the money traps cost the unwary 10–20%: a “0% commission” booth with an awful rate, a DCC prompt that bills you in pounds or dollars, and a Euronet ATM with high fees. The fix is simple and worth repeating — use a Czech bank’s ATM, decline conversion to your home currency every time, and pay by card in koruna.

Prague’s integrated metro, tram and bus network is excellent value, but it runs on one firm rule: validate your ticket in the yellow machine as you board or enter the metro. Plainclothes inspectors do check, and an unvalidated ticket draws an on-the-spot fine — raised in January 2026 to CZK 1,200 (2,000 if you pay late) — so buy a time-based or day ticket and stamp it. For street rides, use Bolt or Uber rather than hailing a taxi near the tourist spots, where overcharging is common.

Between cities, the train is the easy choice: the state railway (České dráhy) alongside the private RegioJet and Leo Express run frequent, comfortable, reserved-seat services on the Prague–Brno–Ostrava spine, cheaply booked online. For towns off the rail line — Český Krumlov above all — RegioJet and FlixBus coaches are cheap and direct, and most major sights work as day trips from Prague.

The one Prague transport rule that fines tourists: stamp your single ticket in the yellow validation machine the moment you board or enter the metro. Plainclothes inspectors check, and an unvalidated ticket now costs CZK 1,200 on the spot (2,000 if you pay late), with just a one-minute activation window after you tap. The simplest defence is a time or day pass, validated once at the start — then you ride all day without the gamble.

Prague’s Historic Centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1992), and it earns the fairy-tale cliché. Prague Castle (see the figure) and the Gothic St Vitus Cathedral crown one bank; across the Charles Bridge — statue-lined, best walked at dawn before the crowds — lies the Old Town, where the medieval Astronomical Clock performs on the hour in the square. The old Jewish Quarter (Josefov), with its synagogues and cemetery, is among the most important in Europe.

The one discipline Prague asks is timing: the central sights — Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square clock, the castle — are mobbed from mid-morning through the afternoon in season, so do them early or late. And keep your wits about the money and taxi traps covered above; they’re the main way visitors lose out here, not crime.

Czechia crams 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites into a small country, and most are easy from Prague. Český Krumlov, a Renaissance town curled inside a Vltava bend, is the stunner — day-tripped to death, so stay overnight for the lamplit, empty version. At Kutná Hora, the Gothic St Barbara’s church pairs with the macabre Sedlec Ossuary, the “bone church” decorated with the remains of tens of thousands (now timed-ticket entry, and photography is banned inside). Karlovy Vary is the colonnaded thermal-spa town (a UNESCO Great Spa Town); Plzeň and České Budějovice are the beer pilgrimages; and out in Moravia, Brno brings a modernist icon (Villa Tugendhat) and the country’s wine region.

Czech food is hearty and meat-and-dumpling-heavy: the national svíčková (beef sirloin in a cream-and-root-vegetable sauce with bread dumplings), the everyday vepřo-knedlo-zelo (roast pork, dumplings, sauerkraut), rich guláš, and fried bramboráky in the pubs. The Christmas markets add mulled svařák and roast sausages. But the heart of it is the beer (see the figure) — the world’s best lager, drunk more here than anywhere, in a pub culture with its own etiquette. One tourist-trap caveat: the trdelník “chimney cake” everywhere in Prague isn’t actually a traditional Czech sweet.

Czech-speaking and made of two historic lands — Bohemia in the west (Prague) and Moravia in the east (Brno, the wine country) — Czechia punches far above its size culturally. Prague gave the world Franz Kafka; the country produced the composers Dvořák and Smetana and the Art Nouveau of Alfons Mucha. Its modern history is defined by two peaceful turns: the 1989 Velvet Revolution that ended communism and made the playwright Václav Havel president, and the amicable 1993 “Velvet Divorce” that split Czechoslovakia into Czechia and Slovakia without a shot. That civilised, understated character runs through the place — and through the pub, where the evening really happens.

Czechia is very safe (the US rates it Level 1); the risks in Prague are the usual city ones — pickpocketing in the crowds, and the exchange and taxi traps covered above rather than any danger. On borders, Czechia is Schengen: the EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) is now fully deployed, so expect fingerprint-and-photo registration on arrival, while the separate ETIAS authorisation is not yet required and is expected to phase in from late 2026 into 2027 (€20). The accommodation tax remains a modest CZK 50 a night.

A 2026 note for night owls: Prague has enacted a city-centre ban on organised, guided nighttime pub crawls between 22:00 and 06:00 (with fines up to CZK 100,000 for operators), aimed at rowdy stag-party tourism. It doesn’t affect going to pubs and bars yourself — just the commercial bar-crawl tours. And the pub ritual you’ll meet the first evening: beers are tallied on a paper slip, a fresh one comes automatically as your glass runs low, and a coaster on top of the glass means you’re done. Toast "Na zdraví" with eye contact, and keep the slip safe.