The Czech Republic is a real storehouse of wonderful gifts and souvenirs. Your eyes will get tired of looking at the variety of Czech souvenirs, your hands won’t stop rustling the money bills, and your suitcases will swell up before you even notice.
There is so much that can be bought here that any attempt to describe all that is possible to bring from the Czech Republic is futile. When you are walking around the Czech cities, do not hesitate to look into all the boutiques and antique shops where you can find things that useful or completely useless, but pleasing to the eye and soul.
By the way, the questions “What to bring from the Czech Republic?” and “What to bring from Prague?” are the same, because everything that is produced in the country is sold in Prague.
What can not be exported from the Czech Republic
So that you do not make unnecessary purchases, we will begin with what gifts and souvenirs from the Czech Republic it is forbidden to export the customs regulations of this state.
From the Czech Republic, items of historical or cultural value cannot be exported. The cultural value items can be paintings, products from porcelain, crystal and ceramics.
In order to avoid problems at the border, you need to keep your receipts for such buys. Also, stores must require certificates to confirm that these souvenirs do not belong to cultural monuments. If the purchased products have historical value, it is necessary to obtain a permit for export – for sculptures and paintings they will be given out at the National Gallery (Prague-1, Staromestske nam.12).
In order to bring plants or animals from the Czech Republic, they will also have to obtain the necessary documents and certificates. If the plant or animal is very rare, it cannot be taken out.
As for any food and alcoholic beverages, it is allowed to export them from the country without any restrictions.
You leave the Czech Republic to come to another state, and this state has its own customs rules for the import of goods. And these rules may not coincide at all with the rules for the export of goods from the Czech Republic.
In the Czech Republic, the Tax Free system operates. If the goods were purchased in stores that support this system, 20% of its value can be returned at the border. It is important that the packaging is kept intact and special checks are filled. The minimum purchase price is 2577 Korunas (100 €).
1. Czech food and drinks
For each tourist, the national dishes of the country visited are new gastronomic sensations, as well as a useful gift option. We invite you to get acquainted with an overview of Czech-specific foods and drinks that can become an excellent souvenir.
1.1 Trdelnik
In small confectionery stores and stalls, which are always plentiful in touristy places, traditional Czech pastries are sold. These are hollow tubes baked on charcoal. A baked trdelnik is sprinkled with icing sugar or chopped nuts, flavored with vanilla or cinnamon, or spread with chocolate paste.
By the way, the “fool” is a “fool.” This name is a kind of hint that the buyer was fooled by buying pastries without filling. But you won’t be disappointed in your purchase!
You can try it yourself and bring a gift box from Prague for just 50 Korunas.
1.2 Karlovy Vary Wafers
Payments – that’s what wafers are called in the Czech Republic. This is an interesting gift, because wafers baked in Karlovy Vary are considered special. They are prepared from water from Karlovy Vary thermal springs. Between the round and very thin pastries, there is a filling that can be made of nuts, lemon, apple-cinnamon, etc. There are about 15 options in all. Round plates have a rather large diameter – 15-20 cm, but they are very light and fragile.
You can buy Karlovy Vary wafers in Karlovy Vary, Prague and other cities. The cost of packaging is 25-40 Korunas, it depends not only on the number of wafers placed in it, but also on where it is sold. In supermarkets it is always cheaper.
Karlovy Vary wafers are an excellent and tasty souvenir from the Czech Republic, and in order to bring it intact, it is advisable to pack between hard flat objects.
1.3 Pardubice gingerbread cookies
The most common shape of the delicious honey gingerbread is the heart, although there are other options. Gingerbread decorations are decorative ornaments and inscriptions written in Czech language.
This sweet is sold in the stalls, which are located throughout the year in the Old Town and Wenceslas Square in Prague. Price starts from 20 CZK.
Big Pardubice gingerbread cookies are an excellent gift that you can bring to children and adults with sweet tooth.
1.4 Strudel
Another popular dessert that many recommend bringing from the Czech Republic is the famous strudel.
Czech confectioners bake it from a very thin and delicate puff pastry with a variety of fillings: apples and other fruits, chocolate, nuts, berries, poppy seeds, cottage cheese.
I must say that in Prague it is most convenient to buy a strudel as a gift in a supermarket. It is more difficult to bring pastries made in a café.
1.5 Cheeses
There are almost 2,000 types of cheese in the Czech Republic!
The soft, white moldy cheese of Hermelin goes well with white wine and beer. It is also pickled with various spices, fried and baked. Hermelin packaging costs from 20 Korunas.
The next most popular “moldy cheeses”, which will also be a good present: Kamadet, Brie, Plesnivec, Gerarnont with one type of mold, as well as Vltavín with white outer mold and blue inside.
What to bring true gourmets from Prague from food are delicious olomouc cheeses. This is a special kind of cheese, it is produced only in the Czech Republic. Olomouc cheese cakes on black bread with onions are considered a good beer snack, and when fried they can serve as an independent dish.
Cheeses are better to choose in supermarkets or specialized dairy shops.
1.6 Meat products
It is rare that any tourist refuses to bring at least several varieties of spicy sausages, smoked meats or sausages from the Czech Republic as a gift to his family. Such meat delicacies are traditionally served with beer, but they can be enjoyed as an independent dish.
It is most convenient to bring meat products that belong to the “just warm up” series. All kinds of sausages can be bought both in large stores and in butchers, markets, and even in tents during gastronomic festivals. Starting at 20 CZK per 100 g.
1.7 Slivovice
Surely among your friends there are people who have long dreamed of trying the national alcoholic beverages of the Czech Republic. This means that you can bring them from Prague a strong Slivovice which is a brandy based on plum juice. The drink has a strength of 45%, and because of this strength, the fruit flavor is difficult to distinguish. This souvenir is more suitable for males.
Slivovice is on the shelves of any supermarket. The price for 0.5 liters is from 150 Korunas.
1.8 Czech Beer
The legendary Czech beer, the birth place of the Pils, will be a great the best souvenir for friends.
Popular brands such as Velkopopovisku Kozel, Gambrinus are already distributed outside the Czech Republic. Therefore, it is better to bring less well-known varieties as an original souvenir. For example, “Sviansk Maz”, “Krušovice”, released in Prague by Staropramen, or produced in the city of Pilsen by the “Pilsen Holiday”.
Prices for a 0.5 liter can of beer start at 20 Korunas. But can beer has a longer shelf life, so the taste goes bad. Try to bring a drink in a glass.
You can also take an empty plastic container, go to the brewery with a brewery and buy fresh, immediately brewed beer for bottling. But keep in mind that draft beer is stored on average 4 days, so you need to buy it just before you leave. By the way, many tourists claim that it is necessary to bring the beer “Novomestsky Brewer” from Prague – it is sold in the brewery of the same name (address: Vodičkova 20, Prague-1).
1.9 Becherovka
Becherovka is considered to be a good alcoholic souvenir, which has been a visiting card of the Czech Republic for more than 200 years. The original Becherovka has a rather specific taste, because it is infused with 20 types of medicinal herbs, has spices and mineral water. Thanks to this very composition, Becherovka (38% fortress) is considered a good digestive.
In addition to Becherovka Original, other types of this drink are also brought as a gift from Prague and other cities of the country:
- Cordial Liqueur (35% alcohol) – sweet, with lime blossom extract.
- Becherovka KV 14 (40% strength) is a very bitter herb aperitif with the addition of red wine and sugar free.
- Soft liqueur Lemond (strength 20%), which combines the taste and aroma of lemon and medicinal herbs.
- Liqueur Ice & Fire (30% alcohol) is almost black with menthol and pepper.
You can buy Becherovka at any supermarket or specialized liquor store. The average price for a 0.5 liter bottle is 300 Korunas.
1.10 Soft drinks
Non-alcoholic drinks, such as coffee beans, can also be brought from the Czech Republic as a souvenir. This Czech counterpart to Coca-Cola has various tastes: apple, currant, and cherry. Compared to Coca-Cola, kofola is considered much less harmful: it contains 3 times less sugar, and the acid that corrodes tooth enamel is completely absent. Kofola is always present at grocery stores, starting at 9 Korunas.
What else can be brought from the Czech Republic is mineral water. A bottle filled with healing water from Karlovy Vary is not only an original, but also a useful gift. A good option would be the healing water Kyselka from the Teplice spa, there are 20 species in the line. The table mineral water Mattoni from a spring located 10 km from Karlovy Vary is also popular. Any of the listed waters is available in the named resorts, in Prague and any other city. The price of a bottle of 0.5 liter in a supermarket is from 15 crowns.
2. Beer cosmetics from Prague
Good natural cosmetics from Czech Republic are a useful gift for yourself and your relatives will be foams and bath salts, scrubs, shampoos and hair masks, shower gels, face and body care cosmetics. The assortment is quite extensive, so everyone will find what to bring from Prague as a gift for themselves.
Beer SPA centers operate in Prague, where they offer not only a beer bath, but also purchase cosmetics based on beer for independent use. There are also many beer shops (Beershop), where visitors are offered beer and various cosmetics based on it – souvenirs that are uniquely Czech.
A huge assortment of beer and hair care products based on beer is offered by Manufaktura. There are specialized stores for this brand both in Prague and abroad. Prices for the products of this company start from 70 CZK per facility.
3. Bohemian glass
Czech crystal must be included in the list of what you can bring from the Czech Republic not only as a gift for others, but also for yourself.
From a financial point of view, products from Bohemian glass are most profitable to buy at the factory where they are produced. From Prague, such excursions go to Beroun, Mlada Boleslav, Podebrady, Karlovy Vary.
Of course, there is Bohemian glass in Prague. Bohemia Crystal is the most common chain of stores, often offering good discounts. Many shops where good gifts from crystal and stained glass sell from 250 CZK are concentrated on Celetna Street.
There are specialized galleries of the Moser brand, which sell the best crystal glassware in Prague, at two addresses: Male Namesti 11 and Prikope 12. Be prepared to pay 1290 – 57935 crowns for a crystal vase, 540 – 8755 crowns for glasses.
4. Jewelry
Now we will talk about what can be brought from Prague in terms of jewelry. In jewelry stores in the Czech Republic they offer any accessories, but the most interesting products are with garnet and vltavin. These stones look good with silver, so silver jewelry is mainly represented.
Certified jewelry can be purchased in any city, in a company jewelry store. For example, in the Czech capital in the Prague-1 area:
- st. Panská 6 – here is the Czech Granat Turnov Museum of Czech Pomegranate, at which the store operates;
- st. Štupartská 746/11 – center lapis Diamond;
- st. Dlouhá 710/28 is a branded boutique of the Turnovo Granát factory, duv Turnov.
4.1 Jewelry with pomegranate
Jewelry with a unique pomegranate in a rich cherry red hue is another Czech brand. The mineral is mined near the city of Turnovo, and there are no other similar deposits in the world. There is also a factory and a shop where Granát duv Turnov brand accessories are created and marketed. Prices start from 1000 CZK.
You can bring an exquisite accessory to your beloved woman – this will be the best gift from the Czech Republic.
4.2 Vltavin stone and jewelry with it
And what souvenirs to bring from Prague if you want to make a magical gift? Of course, the magic vltavin and jewelry with it.
This semiprecious volcanic glass is found only in the southern part of the Czech Republic, not far from the banks of the Vltava River. Vltavin has rich, warm green hues, inside it is filled with air bubbles, and its surface is covered with small cracks. The mineral is small, so jewelers often use it in its original form, without processing and grinding. And irregularly shaped frames give jewelry an even more spectacular look.
Estimated prices for products with flavored (in Korunas):
- small suspension – 465-4995;
- ring – 1520 – 5410;
- earrings – 850 – 9605.
5. Magnets, Mugs, Shirts, etc
If you haven’t chosen anything suitable from all the previous options, take a look at the miscellaneous souvenirs.
5.1 Beer mugs
Prague is not only the capital of the Czech Republic, but also the world capital of beer. The most common attributes of a foamy drink in this country are massive liter mugs made of ceramics, wood, metal. They are decorated with symbolic images of the Czech Republic, ancient emblems of the brewers.
The largest selection is offered in shops near Old Town Square, prices from 270 EEK. A little expensive, but every man will like this souvenir!
5.2 Czech Krtek
In Soviet times, the Czech cartoon about an energetic mole, always falling into trouble, was popular. This funny character, who is called Krtek here, has not yet lost its popularity.
The best gift you can bring to the children from the Czech Republic is the soft Krtek plush toy, presented in all sizes: from 7-8 cm to huge giants. But you can bring not only toys – with the image of a cartoon character, backpacks, umbrellas, notebooks, pencils, magnets, clothes are sold.
The cost of a souvenir in any store in Prague and every Czech city: from 12 crowns, depending on size and functionality.
5.3 T-shirts and caps with the symbols of the Czech Republic
As a good souvenir from Prague, you can bring a T-shirt with the symbols of the country or with characters who are associated with the Czech Republic (the same mole). You can choose a thing with original inscriptions, for example, with the name of the capital, written in different languages, or with all kinds of phrases about beer.
Such universal souvenirs are sold in every souvenir shop. Prices start from 200 CZK.
5.4 Magnets and commemorative coins
Magnets are convenient and compact souvenirs that you can bring to yourself, to relatives, and friends. They are on sale in absolutely every shop and at all the sights of the country. Issue price: from 15 Korunas and above.
Coins depicting attractions are a good alternative. They are sold in special machines installed in tourist places near the box office or at the entrance. Price – 50 CZK apiece.
Decide on what to bring from the Czech Republic and enjoy the process of finding souvenirs! Have a nice shopping!
