Is Prague a City Full of Scams?
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
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0:00 Is Prague City Full of Scams?
0:47 Scams in Prague
2:00 Tourist Traps in Prague
4:34 SurfSharkVPN (partner of the video)
5:38 Fake Scams
9:39 Czech Word
Thank you for your support!
Janek Rubeš & Honza Mikulka, Prague based journalists
#HonestGuide
As we're still coming back to this - where to exchange money? Safely & with the best rate? Please check it out and feel free to share it with anyone traveling to Prague: Honest Exchange places in Prague - www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1jmZ7dEkDNIqSePBPzWHHjSQ5_m_97rOK&usp=sharing
Why don't just use revolut and pay by card or withdraw with recolut card, thats what i do when i travel.
99% of places accept cards.
You're the I would visit Prague if I ever visit Europe. Thanks for the videos.
I also used your recommendation on this!
Keep up the good work janek 👍 , love your content ❤
Im from Czech republic
A bit off topic, but ok: If you exchange money at some random dude on the street, you are really asking to be scammed. There is just no scenario in which this could be beneficial for you in any way.
Most tourist scams are avoidable, if you have at least three working brain cells. I would only feel sorry for tourists if they have been attacked or pick pocketed. If you are falling for a scam, that's on you.
Might need it in a hurry to score some fentanyl or xylazine
There's a money scam shown on this channel where the scammer waits outside an exchange office after hours. When the tourist walks up, the guy pops out and says sorry we just closed, did you need to exchange. That can seem pretty legit. Also ignorant people, which many tourists seem too be, are typically more gullible
Depends on the country, in eastern Africa it is generally OK and they don't try to scam you
There is never a need to exchange money with a scammer or a legit service. An ATM or a bank will provide the best exchange rate. You can also open accounts at certain banks which will not have ATM and foreign transaction fees, such as Capital One.
The "Bird Poop Scam" is actually real! ...Partly... and maybe not specifically in Prague, but for sure in other European countries.
My friend had her camera bag stolen in a train station in Rome by someone doing something similar. He came up to her, and acted like there was something on the back of her sleeve, causing her to put the bag down. He patted at it for a bit, and blocked her view, while his buddy ran away with the camera. Then he quickly bid her a good day, ran off, and by the time she looked down and realized the bag was gone, so was he.
exactly.. there are even bunch of go-pro videos on youtube who got same or similar pickpocketing.
yeah happened to me -_-
Happened to us years ago in Amsterdam. Luckily I saw the hand reaching for my wife's bag and hit his hand.
yep, saw it done in spain
That’s not a scam, it’s just theft
I was in Prague for seven days in April. I only had one experience of a potential scam. I was at a bank ATM when a man approached me to exchange USD for crowns. I told him to beat it, and he walked away. This has happened to me in almost every city I have visited in the world. Prague is one of the cleanest and safest cities I have ever visited. Can't wait to return.
It depends where were you trying to withdraw as well... If you were at some shady ATM, he maybe just was trying to help you avoid withdrawing USD dollars from you account and withdrawing it as CZ crowns at rate 1 usd = 12 czk... I am always trying to warn tourist to do that. It is not a scam per se, but tourist trap. Even withdrawal fee from these is rather high for locals to use, but legal. Exchange rate is "legal" as well but criminal from my perspective. What exchange rate did you get from the ATM?
😮 What? Which cities?
Any place that tourists flock to will also attract scammers looking to scam them. Prague certainly is not the only place this happens.
Singapore? Japan? Street scammers are very low in presence of both these countries.
@@DailyShit. Prague the worst? Paris, Athens, Rome .. ? Most people havent even seen these scammers while in Prague, only in these videos.
Says "Prague is not full of scams". COUPLE MINUTES LATER: names at least ten different scams 🤣
@@DailyShit. sorry but people should visit both cities, just because both cities are by the same river doesn't mean they are the same experience ffs, if you have the money and time, PRAG is 100% worth it, if you have 3 brain cells you WILL NOT get scammed
Yeah he also states this like 45 seconds into the video
The candy stores aren't only a tourist trap, they're disgusting. Go past at night and see how many flies and mice you can count when there are no people around to chase them away. Oh, they left everything out during the covid lockdowns and just sold the stuff that had spent months out once the lockdown was over/
I was asked to leave one because I was taking ONE photo to send to my girlfriend. Taking photos in them is banned. They were not happy when I took a few steps and then took several photos of the same stuff through their window, this time from public land that they have no authority over.
Hmm.... ZESTY!!! 😀 😛
It was probably just the same as it was when it was left because bacteria will not eat that toxic junk candy
That Drew Binsky photo 'scam' is basically like when you go to a different capital city in Europe and you and your partner get stopped by a someone, who compliments you, says a prayer, ties strings around your hands etc etc... And then asks for a donation. He didn't cheat you, but socially engineered a situation in which you feel bad for turning him down.
I saw that at Maimi Beach first. It must be a renowned hustle.
scams are a "socially engineered situation" in order to get a profit out of an unknowing person.
The common thing in Italy was handing the couple a flower...
@@JackCarsonite
It happened to my friend in Paris. 😕
well I wouldn't 😂
Actually, the fake police officer one happened to me in Zizkov (sorry, no Czech keyboard). I've been living here for three years and only had that one person attempt to scam me. I was walking down the street when he stopped me (a guy who definitely didn't look like a police officer, but I wasn't going to judge a book by its cover). He said "Do you have any drugson you?". I said "No". He said "Right, I'm an undercover policeman. Take out you wallet and passport and put them on the ground". Coming from London I realised straight away a 'soft' mugging. I laghed at him and said "Listen, mate, I'm from London. If you're going to mug me then just f*cking mug me, because what we're doing right now is bloody romantic. In fact, the only way you'll get anything from me is if you suck me (sorry children)". I walked away. "F-you, English" 😂
You wanted the fake policeman to suck you off?
that was great! how did the man respond? hope you reported him to the real police after. The Czech police dont take s*it from those who imposter them
@@danitaaaas Read the comment again, it's in there how he responded 😅
That's hilarious. I would tell them to take me to the nearest police station and call my embassy and my travel insurance there, in front of his colleagues.
I lived in Novovysocanska, I know that place :D
I was in Prague for 2 days last month (beautiful BTW) and I didn’t see any evidence of scammers on the streets and I watch your videos all the time. The only scams I saw were people flooding into the cbd stores and people lining up for the “traditional” trdelniks. 🤣
Ok, but those trdelnoks do look delicious though. I feel like if I go Prague and see those for sale, I'm getting one.
@@ShesAaRebel They are delicious and it's not like there is a law that you may only eat traditional stuff on holiday.
@@ShesAaRebelthey are, but the problem with them is the price, it should cost like 1 euro but in the center of prague they are selling them for like 6 euros 😀 its just a piece of flour with cinammon and sugar 😀
@@lukasfousek8780 1€ for a freshly made pastry? Come on. In Germany they are 4-7€.
Last time I was in Prague they were 60-75 KC afair.
@@thetruth9210 Nope. Used the buses and trams.
I was in Prague recently, for about 6 days. I myself did not witness any scams. I bought water in stores, but not in the old city. I rode the trams, and purchased food and water at grocery stores that were located near the transit hubs. I think I paid about 19 or 20 crowns for the water. I did find Prague to be a very friendly city. If you're willing to get out of the main tourist area, it's easy to find stores and restaurants that don't have the tourist surcharge.
Friendly? I wouldn't say so. People are constantly rude, the waiters act like they hate their jobs and what strikes me the most is that they don't speak English! Even in the old town the most tourist place! Their mentality to scam or overcharge you is far beyond normal. Although it's a very beautiful city, not the new town that has the ugliness of Soviet architecture but the old town, is overshadowed by unfriendly people.
@@Dida16 I totally disagree with your assessment. I didn't have any problems whatsoever speaking English to the servers in the old town area., or in areas outside the old town. Every person with whom I spoke was very open and friendly towards me. I was respectful towards them, and they were towards me as well.
@@Dida16 Imagine that, a country that doesn't have English as their first language not having a lot of people speak English...
What a load of entitled BS.
@@JimIBobIJones What an argument! I've traveled to most European countries and I have never met a single person that doesn't speak English! Even the elderly were in a position to communicate! As if English is an international language and is taught in schools as a second language! What a plot twist, who could even imagine that? 👉😳
@@Dida16 are you genuinely suggesting that you are entitled to expect people from other countries to speak your language just because other countries use it more? Your entitlement is only matched by your ignorance of history and geopolitics.
The Czech Republic and many other Eastern European members of the EU were part of the Soviet sphere of influence during the cold war.
English has only been a Lingua Franca for these countries for a few decades and even then in a much more limited capacity prior to joining the EU.
Just visited Prague for a week and this channel helped so much! We overheard some other tourists in the city saying "Honest Guide is GOAT" and I couldn't agree more. Thanks for the videos!
This had to have been me and my group haha. We were just there and referenced Honest Guide at least 10-15 times while walking down the street.
Thanks for your videos! I've been to Prague last week and while nobody actually tried to scam me, I felt really well informed about everything from watching your content and it was cool to recognize a lot of places I've seen on your channel like Střelecký Island or the Hradčanská metro station for example. I was only there for three days and only had a day and a half to really go out and explore but I'll definitely be back. One thing that happened though and I don't know if you ever mentioned it in a video, but we bought 24hr tickets for the tram and subway thinking they would automatically be valid for that period from the time of purchase and didn't know we would have to stamp them at the entrance as it wasn't really obvious. Luckily we didn't get caught. (Maybe it's more obvious for city people but I'm not really used to public transport).
We have been to Prague last week. Thanks to your tips we had a great week. Instead of Trdelník we ate Kolaches, had a great chickendish at Stridacka and we rode the streetcars as locals . Thanks for all the tips.
I am an Indian and living in Europe since last 3 years. I travelled across all of Europe and I can say that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities here. I love the cobblestone roads and alleys. Very beautiful and must visit.
Reading you I can only recommend Venice and Barcelona if you havent been there yet. Venice is in my (French) opinion one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
Prague isnt bad at all, I mean... I could go to the Czech Republic just for the food so if in addition the city is beautiful there's no hesitation :)
@@herrhaber9076 been to Venice as well... It is also very beautiful. Loved to eat Goulash there :)
I just spent a week in Prague with my partner and we had an incredible time! Your videos helped a lot, and a big thanks especially for recommending the Kolace. We went back multiple times for more!
We had our car broken into the first 15 minutes of arrival in Amsterdam. Parked in front of the hotel. Went in to check in. Got into our room to look. Went outside. Window was gone, bags, too.
Really amsterdam?
I did visit Prague so many times for one week or even just an expanded weekend and never encountered any scam at all. Just those tourist traps I just don't fall fo. Also the people living there are so nice. Once I didn't pay attention walking around and fiddled with my phone (maps) and one guy was screaming at me "pozor" which I knew was "attention" and there were in fact tram tracks I did cross without noticing. So he warned me that there can be a tram at any time. What a legend!
It always good to know some words in a foraign language as you guys always teach us.
I was just in Prague a couple days ago. I can 100% say watching your videos was extremely informative and helpful. We were able to avoid all types of tourist traps. Can also say we didn't see a single scam outside of the food by weight which thanks to you we were already aware of and stayed away. Keep up the great work 🙌
Food by weight is not a scam. You find this all over the world, including at supermarkets in the US, or at Disneyland.
@@ruralsquirrel5158 that's a grey area imo. inflated price per pound is a tourist trap (legal scam if you ask me...) serving way more than a normal portion is for sure a scam, in the video they even refused to serve a smaller, more reasonable portion.
@@ruralsquirrel5158 As the other person said, food by weight by itself is not a scam. It can however be done in a way that constitutes a scam, like the Prague Ham stand does.
We had no issues in Prague. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back! And we didn't find the prices to be too bad. And yes, we stayed in the city center, didn't venture to the edges of the city (we were only there for a short visit).
Amazing timing I just checked scams in my country-Slovenia this morning. And seen those AI predictions for Slovenia too. And honestly never seen that sort of scams like AI made it not in Prague and certainly not in Slovenia...which is comparable to Prague...smaller and I think not so interesting for scammers then you are...but maybe that will change too as now we all have you to give us advice and researches about every scamming! Thank you! love you!
The bird poop scam does exist in Spain, the guy the tried it on me in Ronda, used way too much “bird poop” ( about as much as a small horse) so I had my hands in my pockets as he tried to clean it, and I accidentally stepped on his foot as he did so..
It was when I visited Tbilisi and saw a stand with a sign "Traditional Czech Trdelník" when I realized that we've lost 😞 Or rather Hungary has lost its traditional pastry. It's ours now.
As an American I respect the stealing of other's foods. 😂...
Suck it Turkey (Meatballs became Swedish).
@@JackCarsonite Hamburgers come from Hamburg
@@JackCarsonite, then You, according Your words, totally haven't your own kitchen. What a sadness...
@@JackCarsonite Swedish Meatballs actually come fro the Narn
@@JackCarsonite Of course, the Turks got it from the Persians just like the Greeks and Romans, so... :D Though to be a lot more fair, the basic idea of "chopping up/grinding some meat and frying it" is hardly something arcane, and there are _many_ different styles of meatballs, many of which don't have strong connections to the others.
Also, Trdelník is originally _probably_ from Transylvania... so while it's somewhat fair to call it Hungarian traditional pastry... it also kind of isn't. History and nationalism don't go well together :D
I was in Prague but only to switch buses. I had 90 minutes in Florence and the amount of scammers was amazing. I just looked at the money enhance curious how much Euro worth and like 5 person in 2 minutes approached me to change Euro to old Hungarian Bank notes. Also like 10 person asked for cigarettes.
Funny thing is that next to Florence station there is a police department😂
Florenc is unfortunately big ugly stain of the city.
I'll guess they werent Czechs (?)
there once was a tv show on discovery about turist traps/scams and they showed a situation in Prague where this guy was in search for an escort in Prague and was directed to one club where he was greeted by a good looking worker who oferd him to buy her a drink and after he did she just left.
the drink was water and it is a system.
after that he left the place and a guy outside asked him if he want "full service" and the actor agreed.
so the guy took him to a cab that took him to a place far from center where there was like a pun with half naked girsl.
the actor enterd the place and after couple of minutes the girls left and couple of thugs hit him in the face and ask for his cash.
the taxi driver waited for him and took 3 time more to take him back to city center.
I think you need to check the clubbing scene for scams.
Love your show!
Searching for an "escort" is not the "clubbing scene". If you go for that kind of stuff you're already leaving the legal realm and you can't expect to find anything but trouble after that.
Next you'll be complaining that people get scammed when buying drugs...
@@MarvinCZ I understand what you saying, but I think it worth mentioning the same as they did on Absent and weed coffee shops.
@@lxdgr3t The fake weed and absinthe shops are in a completely different league. "Escort" is seriously illegal stuff. As soon as you come anywhere close to anything like this... this is bad. Really bad. Even _real_ marijuana and absinthe will be unlikely to give you any trouble. But what you're talking about is _not_ clubbing. It's not even remotely tolerated. This is serious deep Mafia territory. Concrete shoes and all that. I'm not saying noone does this... but you can be almost sure anyone engaging in any of this is serious trouble, and has connections in either the government or organized crime. Locals don't do this for fun. People don't hang out in strip clubs.
You can not film in those kinds of places also that would not be youtube friendly at all. I was in Můstek, Praha, and I had a woman offer me sex in exchange for cash in the middle of the street. Early in the morning. I was shocked I have been in Prague for months. This was the first time it had happened to me. I felt very uncomfortable & knew it was just an attempt to rob me.
I thought I was clicking on a Drew Binsky video! You got me Janek! I loved my 3 day trip to Prague last year, and Honest Guide is in part to thank for how enjoyable it was! I didn’t see any scams, while I was there and I can’t wait to go back!
While there is lots of scams in prague, hardly have I had such good experiences in terms of tourism that I had in cz. I have exchanged money at rates that make me question how these shops survive, I have eaten in beautiful restaurants with awesome service for prices that make you feel bad when paying and I have met incredibly helpful people on the streets just about anywhere.
Keep on rolling CZ. Germany is jealous😋
I am czech and can confirm my favourite exchange place that I go to for dollars before vacations operates nearly on national bank rates, it is amazing
I was only in Prague 3 weeks ago. During my time there I never encountered any scams but we did fall for one tourist trap. We went for lunch in the old town square and got some pizza, which was reasonably priced, then ordered two espresso coffees. For the two espressos it cost the equivalent of €20. Crazy price but it was our own fault for not double checking the price
Now, I wouldn't buy it, but to be fair... Starbucks espresso costs something like €5 in a normal Prague Starbucks joint (more expensive in the touristy places). Granted, quite scammy (as are so many American companies), but also quite common in the world. And in fact, paying €5 for an espresso is actually quite common in Prague coffee joints (rather than having a coffee with your lunch; of course, it's often actually good coffee, unlike Starbucks :D ); tea can be _much_ more expensive (not because the tea itself is expensive, but because it's assumed you're going to be drinking that tea for an hour or two while chilling out with your friends in a tea house). €10 is overpriced, but on a completely different level than asking €6 for a bottle of water :D
Oh my god, Starrbucks. The most expensive and worst. I went two times only there. First time, out of couriosity and second time just to confirm that it is bad and will never go there anymore.
I visited Prague last week and LOVED it. Definitely visiting again, honestly if you use card or getting cash from Bank supported ATMs you pretty much encounter 0 problems. I did everything by card and had 0 issues (well except the limited selection of toilets and a few vendors accepting only cash but in that scenario just ask before hand and problem solved)
Hope to see you there on my next visited! Keep up the good work!
Visited in early May. The biggest tourist trap I’ve seen is the toilets. So they’re all mostly 20ck each and for those who don’t carry cash, it can be a hassle, and it’s almost impossible to withdraw cash without paying to do so.
Now go to an ATM to withdraw cash and you’ll find that most of them are the EuroNet type that are exposed on this channel. Those that aren’t can also still be dodgy. We used one which wasn’t EuroNet. Withdrew 200czk which is around £7.50. We DECLINED the conversion as recommended by lots of Czech videos and we were charged around £6 in transaction fees (80% of the whole amount) because we declined it. Having contacted the machine issuer, they told us that if we accepted the conversion, we would have only incurred a charge of something like £2
The toilets are also a great example of something that operates with "close oversight" of the government. A lot of bastards involved. And an _incredible_ business - I've actually known a guy who came to be the operator of toilets on the main train station. He literally came in every evening in a car, dumped the trunk full of coins from the days "work". Around a million crowns each day. Paid the staff less than a thousand per day, of course... and no rent, with negligible costs overall.
Your best bet is just going to the toilet in the restaurant you stop by for a meal. Or looking for a toilet with online payments... or just free. Though these are rare in the tourist areas. As for getting the coins... you're often best off just getting them from a shop or such. Locals usually don't have coins either :D Though again, you need to avoid all those tourist traps, obviously. A simple grocery store will allow you to pay with card and you can ask for a payback in Czech coins and bills. No need for currency exchange. I very rarely use paper money, here or anywhere else in Europe.
Cash is king😅
As a tourist guide I have to say Prague is very beautiful but exhausting to work & visit. I've only ever experienced a couple of the scams attempted but the amount of tourist traps is truly exhausting, there's always someone trying to take advantage of you and that doesn't really provide a relaxing experience...
Another tourist trap (or scam) I haven't heard mentioned yet are the fake plays/concerts. For instance most visitors just want to go to the national marionete theater, but then you can buy tickets for at least 2 other puppet plays with misleading names that cost less and end up with you watching a lower quality play in a 10-person theater...
For this reason I would always recommend people visit insteqd Brno or Zagreb, or perhaps Lviv when things go back to normal...
Every city needs a channel like yours!
Implying something is free (taking their picture) then asking for money for printing it out against their will is literally a scam. A lie by omission is still a lie.
Against their will? They agree to it, they can say no. It's just uncomfortable to say no.
@@MarvinCZ i mean, the definition of "scam" is "a dishonest scheme; a fraud.", so yeah implying that something is free and then charging for it - even if the person can say no - is a scam
@@MarvinCZ It literally is against their will, they print it out first and ask them to purchase it later.
@@KatastrophicNoodle They ask to purchase, they don't force them against their will to purchase.
@@MarvinCZif they would Force then its robbery and not a scam…. This is a scam.
7:20 The "bird poop scam" wasn't created by AI. It was created by a screenwriter for the British TV show Hustle, it's one of the tricks Mickey uses in S03E02, but instead of some white paste he uses mustard (from a dispenser he stole shortly before).
I live in Warsaw, I visited Prague with my wife for our 5th anniversary - it was 2 years ago and the stay was awesome, we'll defenitely visit it again :)
We were there a few months ago and we witnessed no scams. A lot of tourist traps (ham/pancake/whatever per gram being our favorite one - they even responded to our negative review on google and its hilarious) but that is to be expected and easily avoided following advice from your videos :) PS - We know you can't reply on emails but we wrote to you about our experience and a potential idea for the future video, the one where you measure tourist and local experience in the same locations. It would be interesting to see :)
Just happened I watched your videos before going to Prague last July. The videos about scammers made me pay extra caution when travelling there. I didn't see any scammer at all, there was even posters telling the tourists what the Czech bank notes looked like. I was lucky not trying that old Prague ham stall. If Prague is really full of scams, it will be the same for other tourist cities.
A bit side track, this video discusses a serious topic, but I am distracted to the beautiful scenery. I loves this city, hope I can travel to this city again in the future.
Bird poop scam did happen to my sister years ago! It was on the tram. They work in pairs. One puts something on your jacket and offers to help to clean it. The other one takes your wallet.
Just wanted to let you guys know how much I enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work!
Im so safe thanks to you channel. Me and my brother visited for the 5 time last time a few weeks ago. We got the 72 hours metro card and 2 times they looked at our tickets. The only "Scam" was place north of the Charles bridge. We ordered som beers and when paying they told us it was cash only so had to go to a ATM at a visitor center and it had a fee. Other then that it was a lovely visit. Downtown we seen a guy who was trying to trade fake belarusian money to a tourist but to as we did not dare to interfare.
I once made the mistake in a Taxi to ask to be sent to, what I could only remember to be the closest landmark to a friend's place near to Náměstí Míru, was this very memorably named brothel. My friend pointed it out during the day, and I was wow, like right here, in this unassuming location and simple door. I nonetheless remembered the name and stupidly told the driver I wanted to go "Near" to this brothel. I was Not sent there, but took some long drive around the city all the way near to Lighthouse Towers. I was, more or less forced into a brothel and sat at the bar for some expensive drinks and many girls kept asking for private time. I was eventually able to leave and walked all the way back to Hotel Kampa Garden.
Probably that would be classified as a Taxi Scam at so many levels.
After I very quickly learned all the names of the metro stations and tram lines.
But it makes for an amusing story to tell.
ive been watching this channel for 7 year, already went to prague twice, there is no way im getting scammed. Thanks bros!
I was in Prague for 5 days, last month. I live in paris. Prague is a cleaner and safer city than Paris. Beautiful museums, cheap beer, beautiful and well-preserved heterogeneous medieval, Gothic, Baroque, art nouvau and art deco architecture. Paris had more cultural activities (but with only 5 days I didn't have enough time to visit all the museums I wanted to see) and better food; traditional czech food is good, but i find it a bit boring in time and with a lot of cultural appropriation from austria, hungary... There are a lot more rip offs in paris, often romanians or other Eastern or Central European countries. And the pigeon droppings scam does exist and has already been seen in Paris in the metro or train stations by attacking tourists loaded with luggage: two accomplices are necessary; discreetly stain a person's clothes using a pear filled with a liquid (yogurt, etc.) that can pass for bird droppings. While the first takes care of helping the person to clean himself, the second accomplice grabs a backpack, a bag that can contain precious objects (computer, camera, etc.)
You are so right about Prague being cleaner and safer. I’ve been to both Paris and Prague and I’d choose Prague EVERY day. Paris as a whole is a tourist trap.
I don't know if I'd call it "cultural appropriation". It's just that there's a lot of overlap with other cuisines because the Czech lands were a melting pot of cultures for many centuries. These foods were not suddenly invented in the last twenty years to cash in on tourists or something (other than the Trdelník, of course :D ). Overall, Italian-style cuisine seems by far the most common (though of course, the quality varies a lot between families), and while there are plenty of foods people consider "very Czech", you'll find the same dishes in Bavaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria... I mean, you do realize that we have been subjects of the Austro-Hungarian empire and before that a part of the Holy Roman Empire, right? Would you call Indians eating English-style food or Burgundians eating Parisian-style food "cultural appropriation"? :D During the First Republic, a full third of the population of Bohemia were Germans (who came to Bohemia in droves since the 11th century). It's not Czechs "appropriating" someone else's culture and cuisine... it's just people living together and exchanging culture over centuries. It's especially obvious when you compare cuisine from the central regions to the border regions. In fact, if you look all over the territories of the old Austro-Hungarian empire (and to a lesser extent, the Holy Roman Empire), you'll find the same thing - a huge amount of cultural exchange, especially in cuisine. And that empire covered modern Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Northern Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia... a lot of mixing. German and Polish cuisine and culture was also mixed a lot. You can see the same thing in France in the regions that had a lot of mixing between German lands and French lands (and French and Spanish, of course). There was some influence on Czech cuisine even from French cuisines, but you're not going to see a lot of that in "people's food", more in the fancier restaurants. France was always a fairly rich agricultural country; in contrast, a Bohemia is colder, and a lot of the land is fairly heavy (not to mention the forests and swamps that were replaced with fairly poor farmland). Even back in the 11th century, industry (mostly mining and forestry) was a sizeable part of Bohemia's importance. The Germans settling the border regions didn't go there for the poor farmland.
In fact, France kind of stands out, and unsurprisingly, it's due to nationalism. France very consciously eliminated foreign influences on its cuisines. Similar movements happened in a lot of other European countries, but France had a definite head start thanks to the revolution (which on the one hand built heavily on early nationalism and on the other eliminated the guild system, allowing knowledge to spread easily). Czech nationalism is... weird. And make no mistake, a fair amount of the foods that are popular in Germany, Poland or Austria and Czechia _originated_ in Czech lands. A lot of mixing everywhere. A lot of the dishes you'll see as traditional Czech cuisine are meat-based... which is not exactly representative when you realize that for most of history, meat-based dishes were a weekend meal. Most families only had meat once a week. All those heavy sauces were meant to be eaten about once a week, not every day. Meat was still pretty scarce throughout the communist period (Czechoslovakia wasn't one of the "food centres" like, say, Ukraine; though there wasn't a problem with starvation either given how important it was industrially), and when communism fell, a lot of those dishes that were once weekend meals started becoming almost daily meals in a lot of families. It takes time for people to readjust, and one of those readjustments was the fairly sizeable switch to Italian-style dishes (with much lighter sauces, less meat etc.). In fact, my grandparents were always careful about food, and my parents overindulged in the beginning with the newfound riches... but by the time I was making my own food, I was mainly back to the lighter dishes (with lots of Italian influence). That's something like 10 years of "Suddenly we can afford those holiday/weekend meals almost every day!". Somewhat paradoxically, this overindulgence seems to survive a lot longer among the poorer Czechs ("at least we got a good chunk of meat!"). A lot of the traditional Czech meals _other_ than these weekend dishes were lost (and sometimes reimported from the countries that adopted them centuries ago, leading to even more mixing). And of course, just like in France, bread (and later pastry) was always a huge part of people's food.
Cultural activities tend to be a lot more spread out. Prague is even weirder than most capital cities in Europe tend to be; it's almost its own country in many ways. The economic gap between Prague and the rest of the country is pretty massive (Prague's GDP per capita is slightly above Paris', while the country as a whole is _well_ below EU average), so cultural activities that aren't mostly paid out of taxes tend to disperse. Czech people don't travel to Prague cultural activities all that much (other than the museums and such); the other direction is more common. The city empties out considerably on weekends and holidays :D And Prague itself is fairly low-density overall - it's really crowded in the tourist areas, but nice and spread out in most of the city, with lots of greenery (though personal cars certainly did a number on that - thankfully, it seems to be turning back, if slowly). A lot of _places_ to go in Prague, though. Most of them aren't visited by tourists either.
The tourist load is immense when you consider how concentrated the tourists are. Prague is really spread out... but the tourists aren't. I've "enjoyed" more than my share of that as a student, since I had to crawl through a sea of tourists almost every day to school, and was stuck in crowded trams while moving between the buildings (Charles University is also really spread out :D ). I think this also adds to the perception of scammers; the area they operate in is _tiny_ , the vast majority of them are literally on one street (that locals never go to). They also usually aren't Czech (though there's still plenty of unsavoury Czech people all over the country, of course; the communist rule certainly didn't help with that). This also further skews the value of that tourism - in many towns the proportion of people benefiting from tourism is pretty sizeable; in larger cities, less so. In Prague... it's really a very small (and vocal) community. A lot of services needlessly inflate in prices too. As for the scammers, trappers and cheaters with their "buy a bottle of water for 6€" or pay-by-weight-actually-quite-disgusting-food, they often have connection to the city's officials. It's quite disturbing, and horrendously unfair to both the customers and their competition (rents are quite expensive in the tourist areas - and now consider these bastards often don't pay rent at all under the guise of some "charitable activity" or some such). I'd be quite happy if there were a lot fewer tourists, but I certainly do not condone cheating them :)
From our point of view, things got a lot better in the cheating and scamming department. When I was a kid, stealing and cheating was absurdly common. Today, it's actually quite rare (unless you go into the really bad parts of the country or really bad parts of some cities). Of course, many of the old thieves and cheaters got connections in the government... :D I hope we can keep moving towards a society where you don't really have to worry about your safety at all.
There's always an opportunity for someone to cash in on tourism, unfortunately - and of course, a the vast majority of the costs of tourism is born by the taxpayers, not the people who profit from tourism. One relatively recent thing I find particularly hilarious is "river boat rides". I can understand it in, say, Hamburg, where you go through the whole city, with its canals, shipyards and harbours... but in Prague, the boat literally goes the whole trip just looking at the Prague castle and Charles bridge. You never see anything you wouldn't see just as well from the same spot you board the boat :D If you want a boat trip in Prague, I'd recommend just taking the ferry to the zoo - it's a nice trip, and you get a visit to the zoo :P Both are pretty nice if you're a fan of geology too (there's a few more places like that in Prague as well).
"cultural appropriation from austria, hungary" Have you ever heard about Great Moravia, Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire or Austro-Hungarian Empire?? We literaly share hundreds of years of history with Austria and Hungary. Of course our cultures mixed during the time. We spent more time being one empire than independent states.
@@LuaanTi & @kripolik
First of all i would like to apologize if i offended any sensibility or feeling. the term "cultural appropriation" was not particularly well chosen.
Simply when I travel I try to taste local dishes, drink local and visit places that are not necessarily the most touristic or popular to get an idea of the country I am visiting.
Prague is not the Czech Republic, any more than Paris is France.
To claim that I know Czech cuisine because I ate 7 full meals would be foolish and presumptuous. However, I did not try to eat in pizzerias, I scrupulously avoided the Trdelniks and tried to eat in "Czech" restaurants. So inevitably there are restaurants "for tourists" in the lot, but I also ate one evening in a bistro a little outside the old town where there was not a tourist.
However, on the menu there were always more or less the same dishes: schnitzel, goulash, and, curiously enough, steak tartare, which until then I had considered a French perversion.
Joking aside I really like steak tartare and enjoyed eating it to see the difference in Prague.
Coming back to the cuisine, I must admit that I don't know if there is a meat or fish specialty that is typically Czech and that has been exported around the world. There are pastries, but I don't know if there are dishes. If there is please let me know.
Similarly, there are no Czech restaurants in Paris, Madrid or Brussels, whereas there are Hungarian or Polish restaurants. Let's face it: Czech cuisine is not very popular around the world.
And yes, I know that belonging to an empire, the too brief independence after the first world war, its annexation to Germany during the second (and I am ashamed as a Frenchman of the infamy that were the Munich agreements), its occupation by the Soviets did not help to build an original gastronomy or even one that could be exported internationally.
And that's okay, cooking is only a small part of everything the Czech people have to offer the world.
The Czech people are a struggling people, who have always struggled to exist in the concert of European nations. And I have immense respect for that; as Victor Hugo wrote "ceux qui vivent, sont ceux qui luttent" (Those who live are those who fight).
Over the three full days (the first and last days being devoted to transit), I tried to visit places and museums where I didn't see many tourists:
The national memorial in Vítkov, the army museum in Žižkov, the Gothic art museum of Saint Agnes, and of course I went respectfully to the Národní památník hrdinů heydrichiády.
Did I go to Prague Castle? Yes of course. At the National Museum in Prague? yes, at the opening and it is very beautiful. Did I go over the Saint Charles bridge? yes, at a run, but yes.
I am a tourist.
But what I caught a glimpse of the history of the Czech people, their history and their struggles makes me want to go back, probably to another city than Prague. Because the country has so much more to offer than its cuisine.
His beer already, let's not forget his beer ;-)
As for "French" cuisine, it does not exist, there is certainly no Parisian cuisine.
All the somewhat traditional French dishes are regional dishes, cassoulet, beef bourguignon, escalope bordelaise. Sometimes peasant dishes were put on the tables of bistros during the 19th century.
Sometimes they are reinventions and borrowings from foreign dishes or specialties such as croissants.
But especially French cuisine when we talk about gourmet cuisine or haute cuisine it is a method, born from the work of Escofier.
There is no French cuisine, there are cuisines which, when inventiveness, inspiration and a taste for goodness mix with cultural curiosity, produce masterpieces.
What about french "cultural appropriation" of Italian cuisine?
Thank man, to bring these informative videos, I love your videos… keep it up…
An Honest Guide and drew Binsky episode would of been epic! 😮
Amazing videos. Excellent work by channel creators. Very useful for people travelling to Prague and around.
Haha, when I was in Prague, I got a "bird pooped" a lot. Usually it happens to me once or twice a year, however in Prague I got "bird pooped" a couple of times over the course of the weekend. Anyway it was actual birds and not a scam and no one local tried to clean me.
We've recently travelled to Nicaragua and the dropped phone scam should have been their local thing, but never experienced it.
Also not seen that in PRG.
Hope everyone will have a blast visiting PRG!
Unfortunately many highly sophisticated variations of bird poop and "dropped" phone scam exist in other countries. Main rule of travel: never take anything from anyone under any circumstance, avoid answering when someone tried to forcibly talk to you and never pick up anything from the ground. Last one refers to a classic "you stole money from my wallet and these totally random and unknown strangers saw you do it". Good to know they're not popular in Prague.
Here in Hawaii we don't have any/many scams. But what we have is thieves. If you leave it on the beach, it will be stolen . We have bike thieves , and when you have purse etc they will come by and take it. After dark, some places you would be best to stay away from. Cars broken in and steal. But, come and see the islands with your eves open, then don't worry. 🌴🌴Aloha
I was in Prague a couple of weeks ago and your videos helped a lot. Whilst I was caught with the food by weight scam at the central square, I did not have any other problems. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Strongly recommend anyone to visit.
Prague is a wonderful city. It has scams like everywhere else. Unlike most places to want to make Prague better and you are doing a great job. I want to go to Prague because of you.
Maybe it has changed since I was there as a tourist a few years back. Back then it didn't have "scams like everywhere else" - it was a sh*tshow of attempted scams and tourist traps at every corner.
@@fraggystyler It the Republican Revolution. Republicans rob everyone in American and their philosophy has spread to the Czechs.
how can you say all that if you have never visited that dirthole?
Visited Prague last year, and used many tips you have in your videos. Amazing city, delicious food and GREAT BEERS! Can't wait to go back. Keep the vídeos coming
I was in the Prague a month ago. I've used some of your tips for restaurants, so thank you, it was delicious and not expensive :) I did not meet any scammers, but I found one tourist trap, near Charles Bridge. There is this robotic drink bar, it looks like a tourist trap at the first sign, only english signs, any sight of czech language. You can enter there just to see, how the drinks are made by a robot, but drinks there was very expensive. You can check (pun intended) prices before ordering, so we just took a few photos and left :D Greetings from Poland
What restaurants you west ?
Went **
@@danilock I was in Střídačka, Janek made a video about it, you can find it by title: " Taste of Prague: 3 Must-Try Restaurants in the City Centre"
@@danilock I sat outside the restaurant, the church nearby is beautiful, this is quite small and not crowded street. The church was renovated, so there was some noises, but still great place.
@@kacpi60 thanks !
the bird poop one was probably taken from an Indian Scam where somebody sublety drops monkey crap on your shoes and somebody else conveniently shows up to clean it off for you and charge you a fee.
Going back to prague again tomorrow and staying for a week, was there 2 months ago for four days and did not see a single scam then. Beautiful city and friendly people !
6:25 I know that one. That also happened at a restaurant chain in Argentina that has become a tourist trap. The beer was diluted, the photographer suggested she could gave the guys her number if they bought the photos, and the waitresses chained our bags to the seats until we paid.
I'm thinking of visiting Prague in September.
Scammers are pretty persistent and reluctant to take "no" for an answer, but I like historic places and Prague is a city of interest to me.
Visited Prague and got a lot of stuff done thanks to your videos.
Also, the impersonating a police officer did happen to us in Madrid.
The main scam (and only one we’ve encountered here) is that scourge of fake Google reviews for cafes and restaurants. And it’s everywhere, not just in Prague! So many of the reviews are fake, though it depends on the restaurant. Perhaps some restaurants are paying for reviews. The NYT has a recent article about it. And it does make it hard to decide where to eat. Thank you for your wonderful videos!!
Actually, in India, they do have something called a monkey poop scam. Three guys work together. One guy walks past you & squirts something on your shoe. Then another guy, the "good samaritan" walks up to you & points out that it appears as though a monkey pooped on your shoe. He then tells you that he knows someone that can clean it for you & ushers you around the corner to where his buddy has set up a little cleaning station. Of course, they pressure you into giving them way more money than what their imposed service should actually cost. Although it is hard to catch on camera; I believe Karl Rock was able to capture it.
my not wealthy christian elderly neighbours went to prague many years ago and were robbed in theyre hotel room whilst they slept. i seem to recall it was also from the hotel safe in theyre room. the police ivestigation that followed decided they had been gassed in theyre beds whilst sleeping possibly via the air conditioning duct then the duct was used to enter theyre still locked room as well. they were unharmed but obviously it was confusing and upsetting
Hey Mate I saw you in the Danish travel program called "nul stjerner" where thy are in Prag :D good
episode
When on holiday I try and stay out of the city centre and every holiday I go to the end of the tram lines and it’s there I do any shopping that needs done I try and go where the locals go even for a beer, ended up in some strange places but always managed to make my exit, informative post
It’s a bizarre way to vacation, as locals don’t go to nice places. You might as well stay at home.
“i eAt wHeRe tHe loCaLs eAt” so you go to McDonald’s or a Kebab vendor who sells frozen chicken nuggets from the supermarket
Personally I would define dodgy ATMs as a scam or con. It’s also the first thing you encounter in Prague airport, an ATM with min withdrawal on screen equating to £500. Very bad first impression in an official environment. Great videos and recommendations, top tips that I found genuinely useful after encountering multiple dodgy scams/tourist traps within hours of arriving. I ended up much enjoying my visit once I got the lie of the land. Keep up the fine work!
I've been to Prague too many times for recreation and work.
On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it an 8 for safety/scamming. Perhaps a 6 in the centre of town. Not too bad, as I'd give Paris and Athens 2.
If you haven't been there yet, I can't recommend it enough.
These warning videos are great. I still really want to visit Prague in the near future. Just need our rail strikes to end so I can safely book.
Thank you for the great information i love to travel i haven't been to prague it's on my list so thank you!!!!!
The biggest scam is the taste of local beer, unless you go to micro-brewery with their own restaurant.
Also, you can be asked to pay extra if you are trying to pat by card, so better always have some cash with you.
Doing great work brother ❤❤❤
Love the way how show the true picture of Europe and it will help many people to not fall in scam ❤
Hi, may I know if we can exchange the expired money in the bank in cz IF we unfortunately get scam? I am from Asia, we can exchange new notes at any bank for the same value if we have the expired ones.
These aren't expired Czech bills, though. They are completely different currency, usually almost worthless. You probably _can_ exchange them - but they're worth nothing.
Could someone link or name an episode about the fake absinthe? Cant seem to find it in the list of videos.
Kudos to you man for helping out tons of people over the years.
In hindsight it doesn’t seem worth it. The government is showing you apathy. The cops looks the other way all too often. You only got a camera guy or two to watch your back & that too only when you’re officially filming. Who knows when the target on your back starts to grow much bigger & then finally glow for someone from these gangs to take a swipe at you. You can’t watch your back all the time.
Unless the laws get much stricter such that the cops actually get to charge & keep them inside until their court hearing this system itself remains your major enemy for failing to both protect tourists & you from these scam-gangs.
I am happy to anounce that the traditional Trdelnik is now also traditional in Vienna and from what I know in Budapest anyway. So we must be talking here already about a Austro-Hungarian tradition, spanning half of Europe :)
... I am already excited to see which other traditions we will rediscover in the coming years. Maybe those candy scam stores which simply did not exist in Vienna a few years ago and now they do, just like in Prage or Budapest ...
I was in april in Paris and around the Eifeltower they were like 5 groups who did do cubs and ball game! It was funny to see and I even filmed one
Great video Janek!
The one of the problem is that tourists can not use normally pay cards. (Yes, they can but the costs is unknown) In Warsaw you don’t need change money for example …. Stockholm too.
You have a unique show, especially since you seem sincere.
My gf fell for the snake scam. I turned around 5 seconds and she had the damn snake in her neck already LMAO. Since I watch the channel I already knew they would ask for an exorbitant amount of money so I told the guy I only had 50 crowns in my pocket. He got really upset demanding more money but I said that's all I have in cash take it or leave it. Luckily she took it and lefts us alone, my gf learned a valuable lesson!. Thank you, guys, for the help!
This channel is by far the best advertising to take a tourist trip to Prague.
Congratulations on the video.
I'm going to Prague on 11/15/23.
I ask: do businesses charge a 10% tip fee?
Also never buy money on the streets by weight. It`s a double tourist trap scam!
😂😂😂😂👍
Me and some of my ex Raf mates are doing a reunion in Prague the weekend of the 9th September any ideas of what to do or what's on in the area that weekend would be appreciated and if you are in the area will buy you a beer love your videos helps loads
I came back from prague on the 3rd of september 2023. My hotel was in old town. I bought cans of beer at 75 crowns walked to the concert hall the cans were 30 crowns. Went into a shop off the square called food and wine small bottle of jack should cost 196 crowns they wanted 500 crowns i walked out.
Don't ever exchange money in Prague center, just walk 15-20 minutes and you'll find honest money changers, no "commission tax", nothing of that sort. What you'll see on the exchange rate board, will be in your pocket.
We were victims by an old lady at the airport when we asked her the location of our hotel. She asked us to follow her to the unauthorized taxi. The taxi driver went around Praque before he dropped us to our hotel and asked for high fare. My friends decided to pay to avoid arguments. When we went out of our hotel searching for restaurant, we realized that our hotel was only situated next to the train station 😱…. so we were scammed.
I remember that restaurant at 3:03. We didnt get a receipt on how much everything costs... It was just a piece of paper written something something = price (idk how much it was). Also the table next to us it was the same thing but i think they were locals or tourist girls who tbh really didnt give a shit... Keep in mind this was in 2015 with my family tho.
when someone travels somewhere that has a different currency and maybe much higher nominal value (like in czech republic for example), im sorry to say but its fully on them if they fall for scams like buying water 5x the normal price. i dont get how people can travel so unprepared and without any research about goods and food prices, this is one of the most basic and necessary things to do before travelling anywhere
Was in Prague, my #1 top of cuties in Europe. (My list from now: Vienna, Krakow, Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, Alicante, Paris, Dubrovnik, Dresden).
Thx for your advises they're help.
I'll be back to play tai chi in Prague in September, it's a regular thing for me now. I don't even walk through Prague 1 when I'm there now lol.
I always have groceries in the supermarket, e.g. bought at kobylsy. the pusher columns are also very annoying in the center of prague. - how many know the southern castle in prague... and the beer also tastes good outside the center. it's been a while since i was in prague, i'm from nuremberg. I have always done day trips. first buy a day ticket for public transportation, and then drive to the outskirts, then walk back to the city. that was always my approach. of course that's a luxury, because i knew i'd keep coming back, but the poor tourists who only stay for a weekend just have to endure it and be careful.
I lived in Prague for almost six years, yep right there are loads of tourist traps in city, so the best practice is to buy candies / food from Supermarket, you will find a billa / tesco etc in most places just grab water or soft drinks or anything you want available there.
Prague is a beautiful city, and highly recommend to visit. ON money scammer side, depends where you coming from but if youa are from Europe, then get a multi currency card & no need to get cash at all from exchanges places, just use ATM or even better use the card as most places in Prague accept usual cards (Master/Visa etc.)
Was in Rome and subjected to the 'service is not included' scam. In Kusadasi was approached to buy 2,000 year old coins for 15 Euros. New Orleans the old, where you got your shoes bit was done. I've seen the blue folder, I believe in Paris with the shell game too. If one travels, one will see scams.
i'd argue that a lot of these tourist traps are still scams, just not illegal ones.
true
Thanks for helping those that don't know that they need to be helped.
The bird poop scam is real, happened to me in LaPaz Bolivia, we were onto them and threatened to yell out Police and they scarpered (Aussie slang I think for 'racked off', decamped, flew the coop). We are visiting Prague in early August, thanks for the videos
love the work you do
couvert (charging extra for bread / ketchup / spoons etc.) may be categorized as a tourist trap, or 50% extra charge for sitting on the terrace.
But adding additional drinks to the bill is a scam in my book, and it happened very very frequently in touristy places. on my first 2 visits to prague I received a correct bill maybe once.
After pointing out the wrong drink count, they didn't even bother to say they are sorry for the mistake.
So better to have a sober guy with you keeping count 😛
Exchange money at official banks or exchange s only please also check each and every note when they give you change in return as they insert void or other currencies with same no of less value
Better yet, exchange only a token emergency amount of money (check how much that is beforehend) but otherwise just pay with your card.
Firstly tq for Honest Guide video footage and his effort to prevent this illegal activities.. you are really Great !
We loved Prague. To be honest they take card payments virtually everywhere so didnt need cash. The local supermarkets/ small family shops were extortionate, but prices cleary marked...so you only buy for convenienc. No tesco local, in the historic part, but one further out. Oh ....give the drinking chocolate shops a miss. Ive never tasted such a sweet drink in my life, must be 50% sugar.