Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Sorry! We don't have any recommendations for Prague right now.
Shopping in Prague still feels like an adventure. Around one corner, you’ll find a crumbling shop front and a glimpse of a stooped jeweler hard at work restoring an ancient pocket watch. Around the next, a cutting-edge design boutique selling witty Czech-made home accessories.
In recent years Czech fashion and design has come of age. While it’s no Paris, there’s a funky, even punky, edge to many of the clothes and objects on offer that will stand out anywhere in the world.
But traditional pleasures still abound. Endearing traditional crafts are available on every cobblestoned street. Each region of the Czech Republic has its own specialty, and many are represented in Prague. Intricate, world-renowned hand-blown glassware, wooden toys and carvings, ceramic dishes, and delicate lace all make perfect "I got it in Prague" gifts. The Czechs are also masterful herbalists, and put plants to good use in fragrant soaps and bath products made on local farms.
That said, every city has its kitsch, and Prague is no different. Marionettes have been a favorite Czech handicraft and storytelling vehicle since the late 18th century, and they are ubiquitous here. The trick is avoiding mass-produced versions at tourist kiosks and getting your hands on the real puppet deal.
There are plenty of real deals in the city’s antique shops, art galleries and antikvariats—secondhand book and print stores. Some are vast, dusty caverns, some look like an elderly aunty has tipped out her entire attic willy-nilly, while still others are pristine, prissy, and pricey. Either way the unpredictable jumbles of merchandise offer a fun day of flea market–like spelunking—you may pick through communist-era buttons in one shop and find cubist office chairs or ancient Czech manuscripts in the next.
If you like your souvenirs to sparkle, garnet peddlers abound. But take heed: all that glitters isn’t garnet—many are not the real deal. True Czech garnets are intensely dark red. Also known as pyrope or Bohemian garnet, these precious stones have been mined here for centuries. Tight clusters of garnets are found on antique pieces, while modern baubles are often sleeker and set in gold or silver. Stick to our recommended shops for quality gems, and inquire about the setting—if a low-priced bauble seems too good to be true, it could be set in low-quality pot metal.
The international jet set isn’t forgotten either. If you crave big luxury labels, the aptly named Paris Street (aka Pa?ížská ulice) will give you your dose of runway glam. Do not expect any steals here, although they are available elsewhere in the city’s impressive selection of European chain stores.
Most of Prague’s shops are open from 10 am until 6 or 7 pm, and malls tend to stay open until 9 or 10 pm.
If shopkeepers in Prague seem aloof, don’t be dissuaded—try greeting them with a friendly "dobrý den" when entering a store, and you may be surprised by their warmth.
This American company, led by designer and long-time Praguer Karen Feldman, merges modern style with traditional Czech techniques. Artists use mouth-blown molten crystal and showcase hand-painted glassware, for instance. Items are so painstakingly crafted that they're bound to become family heirlooms, but all are far from prim. The company also makes handbags to order.
Right by the John Lennon Wall, and in some ways effectively the graffitied attraction's gift shop, Artisème is also so much more than that. It boasts a beautiful selection of vases and other gorgeous design products, including jewelry and dinnerware, and the peaceful garden location is a nice spot.
A slightly kitschy but still lovely woodwork shop, where you can start small, with hand-carved Christmas decorations, and work your way up to beautifully crafted tables and chairs.
A small, vaguely hippieish store with loose-fitting linen clothes, mugs and other pottery, dried flowers, and some more traditionally touristy postcards and Kafka-themed gifts. The friendly owner is happy to chat with patrons, and the calm vibe of the space makes for a nice place to recoup after the mania of the Charles Bridge and its environs, even if nothing catches your eye (but it probably will).
Regular markets, including a mix of fresh vegetables, souvenirs, and craft beer, are a pleasingly Czech take on open-air shopping. Check the website to see what is on, and when, during your stay.
A fresh wooded scent greets visitors to this pleasant puppet shop on steep Nerudova ulice, which is next door to Prague's Center of Contemporary Puppetry. Discover an array of linden-wood marionettes, including classic characters like Tinkerbell and Charlie Chaplin, eerily reptilian wizards, and princesses in pink—plus some modern politicians. Artist biographies are found alongside a few displays, and plaster puppets—cheaper but not quite as charming—are also on offer, as well as custom-made ones for those who have really signed on to this Czech tradition.
The cozy Malá Strana store boasts two floors of books, mostly in English, and displays work by local and international artists. Bookworms will be intoxicated by the sheer choice and reverent attitude to the tomes; this is a real old-school bookshop. Everyone else can soak up the expat atmosphere and pretend that they, too, never have to leave the Golden City.
These cute enamelware products are a proper homegrown success story, from a sister-and-brother team who started off selling them on Charles Bridge. The look has now taken off, but these are the original and best, with their bright mugs, decorated with animals, now gracing a million homes worldwide, the team estimate.
Among Prague's many marionette peddlers, this shop below the Charles Bridge stands out for its selection of unadorned linden-wood marionettes handmade by local and regional artisans. There's also a quirky stock of decorative wooden toys, such as rocking horses and giant mermaids, fit for a lucky child's bedroom.
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
Thank you for your interest!
