Czech Your Checkbook

Over the past two decades, Prague has earned itself an international reputation as tourist-friendly and tourist-desirable. With awe inspiring skyline views and ease of navigation, the curious come from far and wide to “czech out” the Czech Republic for themselves. But travelers beware: there are countless ways to lose and use your money unnecessarily.

Pickpockets thrive in the Czech Republic. Scouting tourist areas, crowds, and crowded trams, all guidebooks give extensive warnings about the tricks of the pickpocket trade. But it’s not just pickpockets that need to be heeded. Count carefully your change (I saw even locals doing this) as many an entrepreneur will seek out opportunity to “miscount” what is owed back.

If the pickpockets and vendors don’t get you, the tourist traps will. Being the home to Dvorak (and home-away-from-home of Mozart), seeing a musical performance is a must. Unfortunately, every building with any sort of ambiance (and there are a lot of them in this well-preserved medieval city) advertise no-name performances at $25 per person or more. Sold on practically every street corner, they seem hardly worth the time or money.

Even Prague’s most celebrated attraction can be a rip-off if you’re not careful. Ticket vendors at Prague's castle push the audioguide as a necessity. As one vendor explained it to us, there are no signs or labeling inside making it impossible to navigate without a guide. Seeing that it doubled the price of an already steep admission, we took our chances. And to our surprise and relief, English descriptions were available in each room.

Yes, Prague has enthusiastically embraced the tourist industry on which it thrives. But along with it are the tourist traps. So heed my advice: czech your checkbook and hone your tourist savvy before embarking on your Prague adventure.