English
Español
中文
हिन्दी
FrançaisTravel and Tourism
Travel and Tourism in Czech Republic
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Czech Republic.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
- Time Difference
- UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- Currency
- 25.02
- Climate
- Prague has a humid, continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Temperatures range from January's average daily high of 32°F (0°C) and low of 22°F (-4°C) to July's average daily high of 76°F (24.5°C) and low of 56°F (14°) Average annual rainfall is about 30 inches, distributed throughout the year. Humidity averages about 80 percent. During the winter months, high humidity makes the winter cold penetrating. Light to moderately heavy snow can be expected during January and February. Pollution can be severe during the winter months because of soft-burning coal and frequent temperature inversions. Reduced hours of daylight from November through March combined with smog and raw weather create a gloomy atmosphere. In fact, from mid-October when Daylight Savings Time ends until early April when it begins again, Czech law requires drivers to drive with their headlights on at all times.
- Language(s) Spoken
- Czech belongs to the Slavic group of languages. The central European nation is ethnically quite homogeneous. The only noticeable minority is Roms (Gypsies), who are bilingual. Many Czechs speak German, French, Russian or English as a second language, depending on their generation. Younger Czechs generally use English as a second language. The Czech Republic came into existence first in 1918, and then on 1 January 1993 the division of the Czech and Slovak Republics. In their language days, months, season and lots of other words are wrote with non-capitalized first letters.
- Ethnic Groups
- Czech 81.2%, Moravian 13.2%, Slovak 3.1%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Silesian 0.4%, Roma 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2%, other 0.5%
- National Holiday
- Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)
- Geographic Coordinates
- 49 45 N, 15 30 E
- Location
- Central Europe, between Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria
- Airports
- 120
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Regions and Cities
Things to See and Do
The Czech Republic offers an almost bewildering range of attractions that extend well beyond its famous castles and churches. The country has approximately 2,000 castles and castle ruins, more per capita than virtually any other country in Europe, and many of them are accessible and open to visitors during the spring, summer, and autumn months. Konopiste Castle near Benesov, the last residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand before his assassination in Sarajevo, contains extraordinary collections of hunting trophies and armories that reveal the obsessions of the man whose death triggered World War One. Cesky Sternberk Castle, owned by the same noble family since the thirteenth century without interruption, rises from a sheer cliff above the Sazava River in a setting so dramatic it appears to belong to fiction. Krivoklat Castle in the Berounka river valley, a royal hunting castle associated with Charles IV among others, is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Bohemia and contains a remarkable Gothic chapel.
The bone church at Sedlec near Kutna Hora, formally the Ossuary of the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist, deserves special mention as one of the most singular attractions in all of Europe.
Every country, every topic, all activities & recipes
✓ Instant access on this device · ✓ No subscription
Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
Prague has adequate Western-style medical clinics with English-speaking doctors and dentists. However, the Czech medical system is organized differently from the medical system in the United States. Even though central emergency rooms exist in most hospitals, patients are often sent to the facility that treats their specific medical condition (i.e., broken noses are sent to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist rather than to the General Practitioner).
Every country, every topic, all activities & recipes
✓ Instant access on this device · ✓ No subscription