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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.
A unique, 100% natural, zero-waste, eco-friendly cosmetics shop that not only sells products, from lotions to lip balms, but also runs classes teaching customers how to make their own. From the moss growing in the cupboard (for decoration) to the friendly owners, Petra and Tereza, who are happy to help with any queries, it's a delight. The name is cute, too: cunning fox.
Established in 1991 in a bid to preserve traditional Czech and Moravian crafts, Manufaktura is now a thriving business with branches across the country. At this centrally located outpost, home-spa products like bath salts and creams are arranged in a pleasant, folksy manner, as are cosmetics made with Czech beer—yes, beer.
Organic body and bath products here, like "lettuce and olive oil" soap, are crafted from fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs on a rural Czech farm. Inside the spacious and fragrant store there are myriad other all-natural products that make charming gifts for those back home, including tempting chutneys and condiments.
The beautiful smell of the organic Czech cosmetics sold by this little store will lure you in, and the cheerful staff, who speak English, will find out exactly what you need in true "apothecary" style. Their "3-minute morning mask" is their most popular; there are moisturizers for kids too.
An extremely swanky beauty boutique run by two Czechs, with Sisley Boudoir, the on-site aromatherapy and treatment center. Rare perfumes, skin-care products, and candles are displayed amid contemporary Czech art in such a crisp display that it borders on clinical.
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