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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.
This bright and airy mall is one of Prague's largest, but it's still manageable. It has a convenient mix of shops, including brands like Zara, H&M, Humanic, Levi's, and Clinique. There's also a large Tesco, a multiscreen movie theater, and a varied food court.
Located in the beautiful U Nováku building, a former department store, with its art nouveau entrance and decorated façade, this Czech tea and coffee company offers tastings, gift sets, teapots, and lots of different teas and blends in a high-ceilinged, airy store.
This wonderful modern bookshop specializes in art books, magazines, and prints, from gorgeous coffee-table photography books to Czech poetry. Page Five is also a publishing house, with a few of its own books available, as well as a meeting place and exhibition space. Plus, there's a friendly shop dog welcoming customers.
A cool, graffiti-chic space that champions Czech and Slovak fashion students and young designers making limited-edition clothes, accessories, and gifts. The owners take their fashion seriously, adopting their motto from Nicholas Cage's character in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart: "This snakeskin jacket represents a symbol of my individuality and a belief in personal freedom."
It looks like a magician's workshop, accessed through a curved door into a rustic tunnel-style interior, full of potions and bottles, and the truth is not that far off: a perfume studio where customers can conjure up (with the expert help of staff) their own personalized fragrances, in the first outfit of its kind in Prague. There are also off-the-shelf perfumes and candles, and all products are eco-friendly.
Can't bear the thought of leaving Prague without something completely unique? Stop by this little shop filled with eclectic creations—from underwear to funny diaries—by young, up-and-coming Czech designers. With a rotating collection, the shop is all about originality and unexpected fashions, reminding you that getting dressed can be an adventure.
This large, industrial-style market by the river offers some great deals and scope for bargaining, as well as a pleasant art nouveau market hall selling fruits, vegetables, and fresh flowers (Hall 22). Known locally as Holešovická tržnice, there are also some restaurants, bars, and bakeries, including a Slovakian deli, plus the experimental theater Jatka78.
There's an Asian market section here, too, but if you are looking for Prague's famous Vietnamese market, head to Sapa, or "Little Hanoi," on the edge of town (Metro Line C to Chodov, then Bus 197).
A genuine Czech glass success story, Preciosa has its headquarters just outside Prague and is now a global manufacturer, melting 40 tons of glass every day. In this sparkling shop in Staré Mĕsto, you can buy the chandeliers, glass sculptures, and jewelry the company is famous for.
Global brands here are paired with Czech-designed accessories at this flagship store for one of the country's largest sneaker and streetwear shops. Just off Wenceslas Square, the bright, light space is a trendy place to pick up a new pair of sneakers or an own-brand sweater.
Take a trip back in time to when toys were made from wood and model cars were cherished. Everything about this store will make you smile, from the friendly owner's greeting to the stock of cheerful wind-up music boxes and animal figurines. Look closely at those wood-carved rocking horses and three-headed dragons; many items are handmade by Czech craftsmen. The shop even sells kits with colored pencils and pastels for budding young artists. It's only open in the afternoons, but easily combined with a visit to the Loreta.
The Room stocks creative European brands for fashion-conscious men, from cool Chinese-French Three Animals to Alex Monhart's swanky Czech-made black backpacks.
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.
This light-filled boutique in a historic building, with a gorgeous tiled floor, showcases clothes that are easily as lovely as the surroundings. Chic, light, and individual, for men and women, this is modern, sustainable Czech fashion at its most understated and elegant.
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.
One of the coolest shops in Prague, Space is usually teeming with funky young Czechs on the lookout for something new and different. The garments, from a mixture of local and global, and new and established, fashion houses, are beautiful, from the distressed jackets to the bright shirts; browsing the racks makes you feel like you're looking through somebody's wonderful closet. This is the menswear branch; the women's shop, which collaborates with leading Czech leather and fur specialist Ivana Mentlova, is a few streets over at Rámová 1.
This is Prague's preeminent toy store chain, with goodies for babies, toddlers, and older children. Let the little ones run wild among the Legos, puzzles, and games. Sparkys also stocks an adorable array of stuffed animals, including Krtek, the cute Czech cartoon character whose popularity spread across the communist world in the second half of the 20th century.
Tucked away beneath an archway behind Týn Church, this elegant shop features a selection of art nouveau and art deco items. Beautiful and unusual glass vases from Czech designers sit alongside furniture, glittering brooches, and delicate porcelain butterflies.
Boasting various urbane brands and occupying several residences on a posh street, Studio Cielo is great fun to browse in for both men and women. From Luisa Cerano's soft knits and chic coats to Richard J Brown's luxury denim, always with that extra decorative detail, there are plenty of options to tempt you to part with your koruny.
There's no avoiding the allure of the crystal on offer from this brand, founded by a Bohemian jeweler living in Austria in 1895. This store, right by Old Town Square, is an attractive outpost, complete with some spectacular crystal pillars. Pick up a playful key-ring charm or glittering bauble at relatively affordable prices. It's worth spending some time reveling in the window-filled space, as shoppers outside point excitedly at the displays.
A must-see for movie buffs, this cool little shop has everything from the films themselves on DVD, to clothes, to a carefully curated section of vintage Czechoslovak movie posters. The cinema housing the shop has a rotating exhibition of some of its best stock.
Led by two Czech designers, this label churns out sleek, minimalist career and casual wear like wrap dresses and trenches. The flagship Prague store is relaxed and welcoming, with elegant T-shirts neatly displayed.
Part bar, part wine shop, this is a great addition to this neighborhood, offering wines from across Europe. It includes Czech producers as well as all-natural wines. There are tastings too.
If you are really looking to make a statement, the red garnets here are authentic, the designs delicate and attractive (set in rose gold), and the shopping experience very approachable, despite the suitably high price tags.
The real treat at this old-school jewelry store is getting a glimpse of the jeweler at work—he may even give you a wave if you're lucky. The store has a variety of items including rings and other jewels, some of which are displayed in the window, but you can also create your own unique piece with a designer. It can be expensive, but you're getting handcrafted items with real gems, after all.
There's been a bit of a wine boom in the Czech Republic in recent years, as international customers are finally waking up to the country's superb local producers. This discreet Spanish-themed wine bar and shop is a great place to enjoy a glass of wine and plate of tapas before shopping for a bottle or two of the wines you've sampled to take home. There's also a vast selection of international vintages.
This gigantic mall draws hordes of shoppers to its four floors, one of which is all bars and restaurants serving everything from sushi to Indian food. Amid the gangs of teenagers and 200 shops, including U.K. favorite Top Shop and a two-floor H&M, keep in mind that this historic building served as the city's army barracks in the 19th century.
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