Pragueculture & etiquette

Non-EU nationals must report their address to the Foreign Police within three working days of arrival — a genuinely short window that catches people who arrive on a Friday. If you hold a long-term visa or employee card, your accommodation provider sometimes does it, but verify rather than assume.

Entering a shop, a doctor's waiting room, a lift or a small restaurant without greeting is read as rude in a way it isn't in most of Europe. Two words, and it changes how you're treated for the rest of the interaction.

The živnostenský list is a genuinely accessible way to work here, but unlike employment it leaves you personally liable for monthly health and social insurance payments. Miss them and debts accrue quietly with penalties. This is the single biggest trap in the Czech system.

The currency is the koruna, and shops that quote prices in euros are almost always giving you a bad rate. Pay in CZK, decline dynamic currency conversion at card terminals, and avoid the exchange booths in the old town entirely.

In a traditional hospoda the waiter brings beer and marks a tally on your slip. You pay at the end. Waving cash at the start or trying to pay per round confuses the system and marks you out immediately.

Old Town Square and Charles Bridge are close to unusable in summer. Locals drink in Žižkov, eat in Vinohrady and swim at Podolí. Move one tram stop out of the centre and Prague becomes a different, better place.