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Recently, Big Western brands, luxury boutiques, fast food brands like KFC and McDonalds are appearing all around the city. Most shopping malls and arcades are located close to Wenceslas Square, Na prikope & Narodni trida. You can find pretty much everything from clothes, electronics and music stores to glass shops and antiques. Close to tourist attractions there are many shops selling souvenirs, t-shirts with Franz Kafka, Mucha merchandise, Russian dolls, flaunting puppets, Czech porcelain and glass. If you’re looking for odd shopping you should head down hidden passages and to arcades, backstreet shops of Mala Strana and Old Town. In those little shops you can find many bargains and curious and interesting things. Prague shops open earliest 8am to 10am and usually close at 5pm, or some at 8pm. There is VAT (value added tax)which is 19% on most services and products and 5% on nearly all food, hotel charges, restaurants meals, telecommunication etc. You can claim VAT back if you purchase more then 1000 CZK in value. Tax free shops are displaying ‘Tax Free Shopping’ label. When you leave you have to present tax free form to customs for validation, it must be done within 30 days of purchase.
Antiques and Artwork: Be careful when you buy antique or museum quality art. You might have a trouble with the customs on the way out. Mostly, everything made before 1920 may be non-exportable. Czech Classic Music : Good buys are classical CDs of the works of Czech composers (like Dvorak, Smetana, Martinu, Janacek) as well as folk music and brass bands. You can get CDs at any bookstore and many other stores in the city centre.
Gifts
to buy - shopping tips
At Art Decoratif (U Obecniho domu 1, Prague 1), the
granddaughter of Alfons Mucha creates jewellery, lamps and other
gifts with the art nouveau statements that made her grandfather
famous. Although her work tends to be expensive, the quality,
craftsmanship and name are all worth it.
You don’t have to be absolutely insane to like absinthe, the
potent, chemistry-lab green spirit, which is 70 percent alcohol.
Buy it everywhere, give it to everyone, but drink it in
moderation.
In a country where you can see operas that feature traditional
Czech marionettes, these puppets make a good gift. You may know
someone who would fancy one of these eerie, but unarguably
artistic, creations. Obchod pod Lampou (U Luzickeho Seminare 5,
Prague 1) has the best around, in all shapes, sizes and
splendour.
Prague, supposedly, boasts the only Cubist lamppost in the
world. In addition, it has some great shops specialising in the
art form from the early 1900s. At Kubista (Ovocny trh 19, Prague
1), you can find vases and tea sets that are geometrically
stunning—and expensive. Pick a gift here for that boss who
should give you a raise, or that secretary who has saved your
career on more than one occasion.
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