Practical Information

Time

The Czech Republic lies in the same time zone as the rest of Central Europe; you will therefore be using Central European Time (GMT + one hour). The Czech Republic uses summer and winter time, and the time of day is told using the 24-hour system.

School holidays

The main school holidays are in summer (July and August). Other holidays are at Christmas (usually December 23-January 3) and in spring (one week, which varies from school to school). 

Language

The official language spoken in the Czech Republic is Czech, which belongs to the group of Slavic languages, all of which are Indo-European languages. Specifically, Czech is one of the West Slavic languages and is very similar to Slovak.

Currency

The official currency in the Czech Republic is the Czech crown (Kč, CZK). One crown is divided into 100 hellers. The only coins in circulation come in values of CZK 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and you can also receive a CZK 50 coin. Bank notes come in values of CZK 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000.

The Czech Republic has slowly been preparing itself for its transition to the euro, which is expected to happen around 2012. Nonetheless, it is already common today that many shops and restaurants will accept payment in euros (but the exchange rate is less favorable than in exchange bureaus),

Credit cards

You can of course withdraw your money using your international payment card. There are many banks in the Czech Republic that operate ATMs. ATMs commonly recognize most card types (Visa, MasterCard, Plus, Cirrus and other). However, you can get a better price if paying directly with your card. In particular, in Prague, nearly every shop, restaurant and hotel accepts cards.

Electricity

Before traveling to the Czech Republic, you should bear in mind that mains sockets may be different from those you are used to at home. This problem can easily be solved with a universal adapter. Voltage is 230 V, 50 Hz. Sockets are two-forked.

Shops - opening hours

The opening hours of most shops from Monday to Friday are 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays mornings. Major retail stores and shopping centers are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day including weekends, and some are open 24 hours a day.

Banks and authorities - opening hours

Banks and public offices are mostly open on working days (Monday to Friday) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. though the hours of individual branches can vary. Post offices are also open on Saturday morning.