Best Shopping Tips for Prague

Shopping in Prague is probably not at the top of your what-to-do list. First and foremost, Prague means Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture, museums, beer gardens and lots of beer. Prague does not really have a central shopping area, but interesting shops and large shopping malls are dotted all over the city. The Old Town district (Stare Mesto) is full of souvenir shops (all selling the same things). The shopping streets Na Prikope and Wenceslas Square are better in terms of more varied shopping, but the best are the shops, boutiques and shopping malls in the neighbourhoods away from the centre. A pleasant side effect is the generous opening hours.

Shopping in Prague: opening hours

City centre: 9am/10am to 5pm / 7pm, also open on Saturdays and Sundays. Many tourist shops stay open longer usually until 9pm
Away from the city centre: 9am / 10am to 5pm / 7pm and often closed on Saturdays and Sundays
Shopping malls: 7 days a week 09.00-21.00 / 22.00

If you want to buy something typically Czech, here are a few suggestions:
* Glassware and crystal
* Liqueurs like Becherovka, Fernet, Slivovice
* Jewelry inlaid with garnet
* Czech Spa Waffles
* Traditional ceramic or wooden toys.

Best Shopping in Prague : 15 tips

1. Bric a Brac, Tynska 7, Stare Mesto
Tiny shop brimming with vintage, from mantel clocks to typewriters and lots of small stuff such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

2. Manufaktura, Melantrichova 17, Stare Mesto
100% Czech products and not only for tourists, Manufaktura specializes in cosmetics and wooden toys. Beautiful hand-knitted sweaters, mittens and scarves, embroidered tablecloths, hand-decorated wooden spoons, boxes and storage chests, but also beer-based cosmetics.

3. Kubista, Ovocný trh 19, Stare Mesto
Design shop Kubista is located on the ground floor in the House of the Black Madonna, the most beautiful of the Cubist houses in Prague. The collection consists of Czech Cubist and Art Deco new and restored originals and replicas of furniture, ceramics and jewelry. Kubista also has an extensive collection of art books and books on architecture in Prague.

4. Dana Bohemia, Narodni 43, Nove Mesto
Extensive collection of Bohemian crystal, from graceful wine glasses to beautiful chandeliers, and also small crystal animal figures like cats, dogs and birds.

5. Etikbutik, Rasinovo nabrezi 54, Nove Mesto
EtikButik stands for slow fashion: from maker to wearer, everyone pays a fair price. The entire range is made from residual materials. This is the only shop in Prague that sells piñatex (pineapple leather) items. This is vegan textile made from residual waste after the pineapple harvest. The collection consists of clothing, shoes, bags and cosmetics.

6. Palladium Shopping Centre, Namesti Republiky, Nove Mesto
With 200 shops and 20 restaurants, the largest shopping mall in the centre of Prague; many national and international chain stores and a large Albert supermarket.

7. Bata, Wenceslas Square 6, Nove Mesto
The Bata shoe empire, founded by Tomáš Baťa in 1894, is still family owned. The flagship store on Wenceslas Square was built in the 1920s and a prime example of modern architecture. The store has six floors full of shoes, their own as well as international brands, handbags and leather goods.

8. Bohemian Retro, Chvalova 8, Zizkov
Racks full of vintage clothing, jewelry, suitcases, handbags, briefcases, retro sunglasses, vintage buttons, glass bead necklaces and much more. Very special are the dresses made of retro bedspreads and curtains. You will also find collector’s items such as clocks, ceramics, glassware, decorative boxes, ashtrays, plus smoking accessories.

9. Antik Petit, Anny Letenskestraat 12, Vinohrady
Antik Petit is one of the many antique shops in Prague, but special because it is just outside the centre and not overrun by tourists. Antik Petit specializes in retro and antique textiles such as hand-embroidered tablecloths, pillowscases and bedspreads as well as women’s clothing. Also a large selection of branded porcelain and glassware, paintings by well-known Czech and foreign painters from the 19th and 20th centuries, antique toys, especially dolls and doll prams.

10. Hračky Houpací Kůň (rocking horse) toy store, Loretanska nam 3, Hradcany
Small shop with a large collection of wooden toys, not from China, but made in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and other European countries. Beautiful rocking horses, toy boxes, trains, wind-up tin toys and Little Mole, invented during Communism as a counterpart to Mickey Mouse and still popular.

11. Fasion Arena Outlet, Zamenhofova 440, Sterbohony
Outlet with fashion brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Adidas and also duty free shopping for non EU residents. More than 200 famous international labels, fashion, shoes, sports equipment, leather goods, accessories, cosmetics, jewelry, watches and toys. Everything at outlet prices with a discount of 30-70% off the regular retail price. Located on the outskirts of Prague and accessible via metro station Depo Hostivar and then a free shuttle bus.

12. U Elektry Flea Market, U Elektry 2c,
The ultimate bargain hunters paradise; from car tires to shampoo, but also wooden toys, first and second-hand clothing, electronics and maybe that one genuine poster made by the Art Nouveau artist Mucha. Open Saturday and Sunday from 06.00-14.00

13. Shopping malls
Shopping malls can be found at almost every terminal station of the metro. They are all similar in architecture and retail. Some profile themselves, such as Arkady Pankrac, with a jellyfish aquarium on the top floor and Galerie Harfa with the DinoPark on the roof terrace and an ice rink in winter. But there are also shopping malls in the centre of Prague. The most modern is Quadrio, in the square behindyou will find an installation by the Czech artist David Cerny: a mechanically moving head that represents Franz Kafka. Another work by this artist is the upside down horse dangling from the ceiling in the Lucerna shopping arcade.

14. Bookstores
Two bookstores that stand out: Globe Bookstore (Pštrossova 6, Nove Mesto) , where you can go for an English breakfast in addition to browsing books, and Electric Sheep Book Bar (Nitranská 7, Vinohrady) for books and cocktails. Both stores have an extensive collection of English translations of Czech classics such as Milan Kundera and Franz Kafka. At Wenceslas Square 41 is Palac Knih Luxor, the largest bookstore in the city with a department full of photo and travel books about Prague.

15. Thrift Shops
Prague Thrift Store (Dukelských Hrdinů 21,) sells donated goods such as clothes, shoes, bags, baby articles, computers, everything for the household as well as books, DVDs and CDs and donate the proceeds to charities.
The Textile House chain sells second-hand clothing and has a number of shops away from the centre. One is right next to the Prague Thrift Store.
Other names for the second-hand shops are: bazar, a kind of junk shop with furniture, trinkets and household appliances. Starozitnosti is an antique shop. Here you can buy crystal, silver and paintings. An antikvariat has old books, maps and prints. You won’t find junk in the last two which is reflected in the prices.

You may also like
open-air markets – Prague shopping galore – shopping malls – fashion boutiques – shopping streets

photos: Marianne Crone