Shopping in Prague
An introduction to the Prague shopping centre availability accessible by metro in and around Prague. If you are especially looking to buy Czech glass or crystal then take a look at my Glass and Crystal page where you'll get advice on what to look for and how to spot the real item.
In general you may find unique items here and get good deals on local goods and craftwork including glass and crystal. Branded electrical/electronic and media appliances are usually more expensive than in western Europe.
Prague shopping centre - Central location
NOTE: Na Prikope is the part-pedestrianised road that runs from the bottom of Wenceslas Square along to the Powder Tower.
Myslbek Prague shopping centre (www.myslbek.com) on Na Prikope has two floors, upstairs self-service restaurant (Jarmark), downstairs pizzeria, shops like H&M, Marlboro Classics, CAT, Next, Giga Sport, Body Shop and others.
Cerna Ruze Prague shopping centre (www.cernaruze.cz) on Na Prikope. "The Black Rose" has two coffee shops but, no restaurant. It has shops spread over 3 floors many of which are fashion shops including Pierre Cardin. The biggest shop is Donate (interior decoration and furnishing). Many independent shops.
Slovansky Dum Prague shopping centre (www.slovanskydum.cz) on Na Prikope. "Slovak House" incorporates the Jasmin perfume/bodycare shop which is next to one of the front entries. Opened in 2001 Slovansky has a single shopping floor (plus outside area) and draws most people for the cinema, the Ambiente restaurant/bar, Sushi restaurant, Sabai Thai massage parlour and the KOGO restaurant with outside dining.
Kotva Prague shopping centre (Namesti Republiky www.od-kotva.cz). "Anchor" has four floors plus a small restaurant on the 5th. I think there are over 40 different shops in here now which makes it more likely to have what you want. It also incorporates and underground car park and basement "Albert" supermarket.
Palladium Prague Shopping centre (www.palladiumpraha.cz) is also located at Namesti Republiky. Underground parking for 900 cars. The centre itself has two floors below ground and two above. The top floor (No.2) is the food floor. Very good selection here with Mediterranean, Lebanese, Czech, Italian and Asian (my favourite is the "running sushi" bar where you pay one price for "all you can eat" with a choice of hot and cold dishes from a running "track" Good selection of international brands and independent local shops. Parents of young kids should find the Cafe Neo on level -1 (close to the main entry and on the left) for a kids play area.
Bila Labut Prague shopping centre. "The White Swan" is located in Na Porici (between Namesti Republiky and Florenc) caters primarily to old Czech tastes. Contains a basement "Albert" supermarket and the top floor has a small but cheerful restaurant. I don't go here much.
Tesco Prague shopping centre (My). Formerly known as "My" and later "K-Mart" it is again called My. It's located on the corner of Narodni Trida and Narodni. It has an international basement supermarket and a regular "sweets, drinks and papers" shop on the ground floor. The other four floors contain all regular goods.
Note: The Prague shopping centre called "Krone" on Wenceslas Square (still mentioned in various guides) has now closed and been replaced by a branch of Debenhams. A multi-floor Marks and Spencer branch is also in this street.
Prague Shopping Centre - Not quite central location
The biggest "not quite central" Prague shopping centre is now at Novy Smichov (www.novysmichovoc.cz), get off at the Andel metro station. It incorporates many restaurants and a cinema in addition to the international selection of shops etc. The Tesco supermarket is the dominant presence in the building. Also has a play/creche area.
The second biggest Prague shopping centre is the Palac Flora (www.palacflora.cz) centre right next to the Flora metro. The biggest attraction here is the IMAX 3D cinema along with a multi-screen regular cinema. The top floor is for restaurants (two good ones for Thai and Italian), cafes, fast food and the cinema. Lower floors cater to international and Czech shops. Flora has a reputation for supporting more "fashion and clothing" shops than most centres. There's a little shop on the 4th floor between the restaurants where you can get alterations made if the stuff you bought doesn't fit perfectly.
A smaller building but still close to the centre is the Vinohrady Pavilion shopping centre in Vinohradska. Primarily a "clothes and fashion" centre it was developed from an old market hall. One of only three market halls left in Prague. One cafe, no restaurant.
Prague Shopping Centre - Metro Limit
Cerny Most Prague shopping centre (www.centrumcernymost.cz Website only in Czech). Another big supermarket "single floor" complex catering for Czech companies so, not many international shops. It has one quite nice coffee shop.
Centrum Chodov Prague shopping centre (www.centrumchodov.cz) is not quite at the limit of the line (third from the end). It has an International selection of shops, basement hypermarket and restaurant area for fast food on the upper floor. Incorporates a bowling alley and billiard/pool hall. It has a small creche for kids up to 7.
Europark Prague shopping centre (www.europark.cz) is at Sterbohly (free bus from Skalka metro every 15 mins). Built-in Interspar supermarket and OBI DIY centre. It has the best kids play area of all the shopping centres, furniture shops, a reasonable restaurant and fast food sections on both floors.
Letnany Prague shopping centre (www.ocletnany.cz). As the name suggests it's located at Letnany but the closest metro station is Ladvi at the end of the red line. There are free buses from Ladvi and it's a 5 minute trip. The shopping centre is dominated by the Tesco store and a reasonable selection of international brand stores are attached.
Metropole Zlicin Prague shopping centre (www.metropole.cz, free bus from Zlicin Metro or a 5 min walk - pronounced zlitcheen) is the location of the shopping centre (2 floors). Contains a supermarket, cinema with attached fast food area. Reasonable selection of shops but, nothing I couldn't find in the centre.
Prague Shopping - Impulse buying
The oooh! aaah! factor is high in the souvenir shops. Shopping centres are well stocked and there is a lot of choice for items like glass, crystal, ceramics, Russian dolls etc. Try and avoid impulse buying if possible. Make a rough note of what you want and then just browse. When you've found a few things that you like, spend a bit of time on the quality of the item. If you walk out of a shop without buying then the worst that can happen is someone offers you a discount. All central tourist shops have English speaking staff.
Tax Refunds and "Duty Free"
The Czech Republic is now part of the European Union so this option is NOT available to EU Citizens (but it's still cheap compared with the UK for example). If you are not an EU Citizen then check out the rules and regulations of the Tax Refund scheme at Global Refund (www.globalrefund.com). The shops at the airport will still sell certain items to passengers but, signs showing "not for EU sale" are becoming more common. My advice is to take a look at my Duty Free limits page for airport travellers or buy your drink and cigarettes in a regular supermarket (for land travellers) as these are often cheaper.
Cashback
This is just starting in the Czech Republic. Currently the CSOB bank in association with the Albert supermarket chain as well as the "post insurance" company offer the cashback service. It's bad enough trying to make yourself understood in Czech let alone trying to persude a cashier in English that you want cashback so, I expect it will take some time to get fully working. It's the same as in the UK. If you've purchased something and you want extra cash then you just make a separate transaction with the credit card. The Czech cashback system does not appear to support debit cards at present (at least one's not supported by the CSOB bank).
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