Facts about Czech Republic
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Shopping in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is an excellent shopping venue, with its charming historic lanes, traditional markets, cobblestone squares plus cosy restaurants and cafés, greatly enhancing the shopping experience. It's also a place renowned for s great gifts. Particularly famous and reasonably priced are Czech crystal and fine glassware. Other local products include jewellery made from crystal, garnets or amber, as well as ceramic crafts and paintings. The country abounds in antique shops selling old prints, books and maps, as well as large department stores offering well-known designer brands, as well as music stores selling reasonably priced CDs.
Bohemian glass and crystal, pottery, wood carvings, hand-embroidered clothing, porcelain and food items are some of the most typical items to take home with you. You'll easily find excellent shops specializing in glass and crystal, while associations of regional artists run their own retail shops. Other potential purchases include porcelain ornaments, geyserite carvings from Karlovy Vary, lace and needle embroidery from Moravia, red garnets and semi-precious stones from Bohemia. The best places to buy pottery from are Kolovec and Straznice, but these items are also easily available in the capital.
Prague is the best place to go shopping in this country, with a bewildering variety of new hypermarkets and shopping malls, It features several department stores, remnants of its older days, as well as newer shopping malls. The Bílá labuť department store is a reminder of shopping in Czechoslovakia during the 1970s and 1980s. This is not the place to bargain hunt for international brands or local handicrafts, rather it's a neat place for a little 'time-travelling' into the past. Kotva (The Anchor) is a further reminder of socialist Czechoslovakia, while the British store chain Marks & Spencer at Wenceslas Square offers a range of clothing, overpriced housewares and foods. Tesco is ubiquitous in Prague with eight locations, while the chain also has stores in every region of the Czech Republic.
The Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Czech Republic is about 22 percent for most products and services. Non-EU residents can get a refund for anything purchased no more than 30 days before departure from the country, as long as total amount exceeds a certain minimum. You are strongly advised to get a receipt stamped at the Customs office in the airport or at the border, and then obtain your refund, with a small fee deduction from border crossing offices or at the airport. Thomas Cook offices, duty free shops, and exchange offices also give refunds. As a foreign visitor from outside the European Union you might also be able to claim your refund after you return home, provided you contact services such as Global Refund or VAT Max. Please note that you have three months after the date of purchase to claim your refund.