Jakub Novak, 32, works in IT and has lived in Prague his entire life. He agreed to talk tourists, beer, and what's happening to his city over two Pilsner Urquells at Lokal Dlouhááá — where tank-fresh Pilsner costs 59 CZK and the clientele is almost entirely Czech.
His answer is mixed. Tourism money matters — it's something like 10% of Czech GDP. But Prague's center has basically become a theme park. He grew up in Stare Mesto (Old Town), and his family moved out five years ago because there were no more grocery stores — everything turned into a souvenir shop or a currency exchange booth. The last butcher on Dlouha street closed in 2019. Now it's a cocktail bar.
The frustration isn't with tourists individually. It's with a city government that won't manage the flow, and with the businesses that exploit visitors through hidden fees and bad exchange rates.
Q: What makes you angriest about tourist behavior?
Trdelnik. It sounds ridiculous, but the "traditional Czech trdelnik" signs everywhere are a genuine sore point. It's a Hungarian chimney cake that appeared in Prague around 2010. No Czech person eats it. No Czech grandmother has a trdelnik recipe. It's a marketing lie.
Then there are the stag parties. British and German bachelor groups turn the center into a frat house on weekends — matching T-shirts, beer bikes, midnight shouting. Locals have long asked the city to regulate them.
Q: Where do you actually drink beer?
Not in Old Town. The best beer lives in Zizkov, Vinohrady, and Holesovice.
Lokal Dlouhááá (this very bar): Tank-fresh Pilsner Urquell, 59 CZK. This is how Pilsner is meant to taste — unpasteurized, unfiltered, straight from the tank. Most tourists drink Pilsner from a bottle or a regular tap. Tank Pilsner is a different beer entirely.
U Sudu: An underground warren of cellar rooms near Wenceslas Square. Multiple bars, cheap beer (45-55 CZK), and a crowd that gets wilder the deeper you go into the basement.
BeerGeek: Craft beer bar in Vinohrady. 30+ taps of Czech and international craft beer. If you're tired of lager, this is the place.
Pivni Rozmanitost: The smallest bar in Prague (maybe 15 seats) with 12 rotating taps of Czech microbrews, in Smichov. Nobody finds it by accident.
Q: Czech food — what should tourists actually eat?
Czech food carries a bad reputation — people assume it's just pork and dumplings. And yes, vepro knedlo zelo (pork, dumplings, sauerkraut) is the national dish. But done well, with fresh knedliky (dumplings) and properly braised pork, it's excellent comfort food.
The must-try list:
Avoid the tourist restaurants near Old Town Square. Walk to Vinohrady (10 minutes on foot) or take the tram to Karlin. Prices drop 40% and food quality doubles.
Q: What's overrated in Prague?
The Astronomical Clock show. Crowds gather, stare at a clock for 60 seconds, watch some tiny figures move, and wander off confused. The mechanism itself is genuinely remarkable — 600 years old, hand-maintained by a single clockmaker — but the hourly show underwhelms.
Charles Bridge between 10AM and 6PM. It's a beautiful bridge. At dawn or after dark, it's magical. At midday, it's a traffic jam of selfie sticks.
The Lennon Wall. It meant something in the 1980s under communism. Now it's repainted constantly and layered in tourist graffiti. Fine for a quick photo — just don't expect profundity.
Q: What's underrated?
Vysehrad: The other castle, south of the center. Almost no tourists. Great river views, a beautiful cemetery where Dvorak and Smetana are buried, and a quiet park. Free entry.
Riegrovy Sady: A park in Vinohrady with a beer garden and the best sunset view of Prague Castle across the valley. The beer garden pours Gambrinus for 40 CZK. Locals arrive with blankets and stay until dark.
Naplavka: The river embankment below the National Theatre. Saturday farmers market (8AM-2PM) with Czech cheese, beer, and sausages. In summer, boats along the embankment become floating bars.
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Holesovice: Excellent exhibitions, far from the tourist center. 200 CZK.
Q: Best day trip from Prague?
Kutna Hora (1 hour by train, 130 CZK round trip). A medieval silver-mining town with the bone church (Sedlec Ossuary — a chapel decorated with 40,000 human bones, 160 CZK) and a beautiful Gothic cathedral (St. Barbara's, 160 CZK). Both fit into half a day.
Cesky Krumlov (2.5 hours by bus, 200 CZK) is the other obvious choice — a fairy-tale town with a castle, river, and medieval center. It's grown touristy but remains genuinely stunning.
Q: Your perfect Prague day?
Wake at 6:30. Coffee and a rohlik (bread roll, 3 CZK) from a bakery. Cross Charles Bridge before 7AM, when you can actually feel the medieval stone underfoot. Breakfast: scrambled eggs and coffee at Cafe Savoy in Mala Strana (220 CZK).
Morning: Walk up to Prague Castle (free to enter the grounds). St. Vitus Cathedral nave (free). Golden Lane (part of the Circuit B ticket, 250 CZK).
Lunch: Svickova at Lokál in Dlouhá (175 CZK with beer). Walk it off through Josefov (Jewish Quarter — combined ticket 350 CZK if you want the synagogues).
Afternoon: Cross to Vinohrady. Coffee at Misto. Beer at Riegrovy Sady park (40 CZK from the garden).
Evening: Dinner in Karlin — Eska for modern Czech food (mains 250-400 CZK). Then jazz at Jazz Dock under Palacky Bridge (no cover, cocktails 180 CZK) until midnight.
Total spend: roughly 1,200 CZK ($50). For practical mistake-avoidance, lean on the 18 things I wish I'd known guide. Prague is still absurdly cheap when you know where to go.
Jakub leaves visitors with two things: "Pay in koruna, not euros. And please, for the love of God, don't eat trdelnik and call it Czech." For the ultimate Central European debate, see the Prague vs Budapest comparison. And for nearby Vienna, the classical music scene is unmissable.
