5 Reasons We Did Not Enjoy Prague, Czech Republic

Do not get us wrong - Prague is a beautiful city and we enjoyed her beauty thoroughly. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most beautiful European city we have ever been to. However, it was these little things or so called scams running in the city that bewildered us. We are not talking about the big scams or pick pocketing that you can avoid with vigilance but it was the multiple dishonesty that we experienced. Subsequently, it affected our mood and rendered the trip in Prague a rather unpleasant ones, and we just had the thought of leaving here as soon as possible. 

Let's get this right, I lost close to €200 and credit card due to possible pickpocketing in Budapest but I managed to adjust my mood real quick. Do not hate us for not liking Prague, it is just our personal frustration that we would like to vent.

Well, here is the 5 reasons that made us could not wait to leave Prague. 

We read multiple reviews in the Internet before deciding where to have our dinner in Prague. Some citing most of the restaurants in Old Town Prague is a rip-off but Restaurace Mincovna somehow managed to garnered a lot of positive feedbacks.

So we had a reasonable good dinner there, enjoyed the duck thigh and young piglets well. Here comes the irritating part - the bill came up to 909 Czk and I paid with a 1000 Czk note and a 10 Czk coin, which means supposedly there will be a 100 Czk as return.

However I got nothing back after waiting for 30 minutes. The waiter in charge purposely kept the change, disappeared and nowhere to be found. The moment when we were about to left then he suddenly appeared with a smile. Perhaps he assumed the extra 100 Czk to be his tips, or it is a custom to give tips in Czech?

Another incident happened when we were dining. When we were eating halfway, I choked and one of the crew asked if I needed water, which I said "okay, still water please". Of course, a small glass of water was being served to us swiftly, which I graciously accepted with a "thanks". It only come to my realization that I was charged 59 Czk for that glass of water. That means it cost more than €2, and even more expensive than the Pilsner Urquell 0.5l that I had at the same restaurant for 55 Czk?

A rip-off or not? Definitely a yes for us. 

Oh ya, remember to send the breads if you do not intend to eat it. It is not complimentary. Just say no to whatever you did not order. 

After checking out National Museum building and the majestic statue of Saint Wencesles at Wencesles Square, we were tempted to try the sausage and fried cheese at various food stall there. After all, the snacks looked tempting and come in a rather affordable price for around 60 - 100 Czk. Then we thought a Smažený sýr (fried cheese) for 60 Czk, quite a good deal right? 

This is where the rip-off started. We were looking around the menu and it clearly Smažený sýr (60 Czk per piece, 110 Czk for ala carte), with the option to have it small/medium/large at 60/80/100 Czk. Hence we order a piece of medium and no ala carte, after all I do no need any water as hotel is nearby. 

After preparing the food, the cunning owner then shoved 2 pieces of fried cheese and a bottle of water to me, which is an act of cheating! We firmly said no, and one of the people inside the stall almost came out want to start a brawl. Eventually, they gave up and take back the bottle of water, but still demanding us to take the 2 pieces of fried cheese with a price tag of 210 Czk! 

This is totally gross. What a ridiculous price tag for awful street food which was not that appetizing even. I could get better food in restaurants with that amount of money paid. 

Forget about the so called Wencesles Sausages too. It ain't anything special. I believe you can get even better quality sausages from market. 

I cannot tell whether these Prague Ham available widely as street food in Old Town Square is delicious or not, but it is definitely a scam that I almost fall into. Prague Ham is a regionally brand protected by European law but sad to know it got abused in such a way.

The stall appear to be "clean" without any fishy job, even with price tag displayed 99 Czk / 100g.  Here is a trick though, if you go there without specifying the weight (which most tourists did), chances are they will give you a big slab of meat, along with with potatoes and charge you a big fortune out of it. Then they will give you some crappy reason such as they have to give you this weight otherwise you will only be eating fat meat.

I went to approach one of the stall and asking for 100g and he was reluctant to sell me. Lucky me!

Another food that you should avoid at all cost in Prague is this chimney cakes known as Trdelník. It is actually the Hungarian version of kürtőskalács but it tasted awful in Prague.

Go to Budapest or Hungary if you were to enjoy a real good chimney cakes. 

It is hard to describe the feeling when we were in Prague. I was expecting a lot of tourists, like what we have expected in Paris, Vienna or Brussels but the vibes in Prague just felt different, in a negative way. The exodus of people in Prague Old Town Square made me suffocated and feel utterly uncomfortable there, and dozens of tourists bus unloading more people just further aggravated the scene.

This is a very personal feeling though. It is just the vibes in Prague that did not feel right, which eventually propel the decision to leave Prague earlier than planned.

I have never been that stressful when exchanging currency in foreign countries other than Prague. The more articles or blog posts I read about it, the more anxious I grown. Almost all money exchange office is potentially a scam venue, ranging from outrageous exchange rates or a hidden commission apply. 

What I did was asking how much I will get by exchanging that amount of Euro and fortunately the exchange office printed the rate and amount I will be getting, before I passed her my notes. 

Still, the entire experience of finding an exchange office was not a pleasant one.

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There are still a number of things you should be concerned when travelling in Prague, such as pickpockets, the infamous tram 22, the cash machine scam, taxi rip-off and many more. 

Let's get this right, I am not trying to paint Prague or Czech a bad picture. It was merely my thoughts after spending 3 nights there (even though we escaped one full day to Dresden, Germany). As a matter of fact, we had a rather fun time and wonderful experience when exploring Brno, a small town in Czech Republic.

Eventually, we conceded to the scams by treating it as tuition fees for exploring others' culture. 

Finally, your encounters may be different from mine. Perhaps you had a fun time in Prague, where as mine was otherwise. I just want to highlight that:

1) We all had different experience at different time, even though at the same place. It is a norm that you might disagree with my thought based on your experience, but I have never experience what you had and otherwise. Nevertheless, there is no hatred involve.

2) It is not a personal attacking. I still like Czech and would like to return to Brno in future, just I had a bad experience in Prague.

3) I am not discouraging you to visit Prague. Prague is a beautiful country, just exercise cautious by taking the sharing above and hope it did not ruin your trip. I just hope my sharing would help in planning your desired adventure. 

Hope you have a good time travelling in Prague.