Travel money

Travel money in Czechia: cash or card?

Cards work nearly everywhere and the koruna is the point: euros are taken in tourist Prague at a made-up rate, and exchange offices are a genuine trap — though the law gives you three hours to cancel a bad one.

Czech koruna (CZK, Kč) · figures checked 18 August 2026 against the sources at the foot of this page

Scotch Mist (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cash gets you

Small pubs outside the centre, markets, some rural businesses, and paid toilets.

A card gets you

Everything else, contactless included — Prague in particular is thoroughly card-friendly.

What to carry

A modest float in koruna. Not euros: paying in euros here is a self-inflicted loss.

The cost to avoid

Exchange offices and dynamic currency conversion. Between them they take more from visitors than any fee does.

The money itself

100 KčGreen
200 KčOrange
500 KčPink-brown
1,000 KčPurple
2,000 KčGreen-grey
5,000 KčBlue

1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 koruna. Coins are in daily use — a beer, a tram ticket and a paid toilet are all coin-sized amounts, and the 50 Kč coin is worth keeping.

The 2,000 and 5,000 koruna notes come out of cash machines and are hard to spend: a pub or a small shop may simply not have the change. Withdraw amounts that produce 500s and 1,000s where you can, and break big notes in a supermarket.

Every way to pay, and whether it works for a visitor

Whether a payment method exists in Czechia and whether you can use it are different questions. This table answers the second one: no local bank account, no local SIM, no residency.

Visa / Mastercard
Works
Accepted almost everywhere, contactless included, including in pubs, on trams' ticket machines and at market stalls in the centre. Czechia took to contactless early and it shows.
Apple Pay / Google Pay
Works
Works at any contactless terminal and clears larger amounts without a PIN. As useful here as the plastic.
Cash (koruna)
Works
Always accepted and still normal in neighbourhood pubs, markets and small towns. Koruna, not euros.
Euros
Works, with a catch
Tourist restaurants and shops around the Old Town display euro prices and will take them — at a rate typically several percent below the real one, with change given in koruna. It is a markup dressed as a convenience.
American Express
Works, with a catch
Hotels, larger restaurants and department stores. Beyond that, unreliable. Carry a Visa or Mastercard.

Cash

Czechia is card-first and Prague especially so — contactless works in pubs, in shops, at ticket machines and in most places a visitor spends money. A few hundred koruna covers what is left.

Cash still matters in the ordinary places: a neighbourhood hospoda, a farmers' market, a village shop, the paid toilets in stations and around the sights. Keep coins for the last of those.

The one rule that saves real money is to hold koruna rather than euros. Every euro you spend in a Czech shop is converted at a rate the shop chose.

Cards

Acceptance is broad and contactless is standard. Where cards fail is at the small end outside the centre — a village pub, a market stall in a suburb — and even those are increasingly equipped.

The consistent cost here is dynamic currency conversion. Hotels are particularly aggressive about it at checkout, and terminals in the tourist centre default to offering you euros, pounds or dollars. That rate comes from the merchant's processor, not your bank, and it typically adds several percent.

Say koruna, every time — at the till, at the hotel desk and at the cash machine. If a receipt shows your home currency, the conversion has already happened and it was not in your favour.

ATMs

The machine’s own feeUsually nothing at a Czech bank; up to several hundred koruna at an independent machineBefore your own bank charges anything

Per withdrawalCommonly 5,000–15,000 Kč per withdrawal, with your own bank's daily limit often binding first

Czech bank machines — ČSOB, Komerční banka, Česká spořitelna, Raiffeisenbank, Moneta — generally do not surcharge foreign cards, and there is one on most central streets.

The machines to avoid are the independents standing in the busiest tourist spots, which combine a high withdrawal fee with an aggressively presented conversion offer. The screen will make declining conversion look like a risk; it is not.

Take koruna, decline the conversion, use a bank's own machine, and withdraw enough that you are not doing this repeatedly.

Changing money

Prague's exchange offices have been a documented tourist trap for decades: boards advertising a headline rate that turns out to apply only to large sums, 'no commission' signs concealing a spread of a fifth or more, and a second, worse rate produced once the money is on the counter.

The protection is a Czech law that most visitors have never heard of: you have the right to cancel a currency exchange within three hours and get your original money back, for transactions up to the equivalent of €1,000. The office must give you a receipt and a written notice of this right before the exchange. If you walk out realising the rate was terrible, walk back in.

Better still, do not exchange at all. A withdrawal from a Czech bank's cash machine, in koruna with conversion declined, beats almost any exchange office in the centre — and a bank branch will change money at a fair rate if you want notes in hand.

Costs that are not the price

Tipping is around 10%

Round up in a pub, 10% in a restaurant for good service. Tell the server the total you want to pay when handing over money rather than leaving cash on the table, which is the local habit.

Euro prices are a markup

A menu in euros near the Old Town is not doing you a favour: the rate applied is the restaurant's, and your change comes back in koruna. Ask for the koruna price.

Watch the bill in tourist restaurants

Some places in the centre add a cover charge, price bread per piece, or serve a larger measure of beer than you ordered. None of it is illegal if it is on the menu — reading the menu is the defence.

You can reclaim VAT if you live outside the EU

Minimum spend is 2,001 Kč in one shop on the same day. Get the form, have it validated by customs on the way out of the EU, and expect the refund operator to keep a portion of the 21%.

Paying for transport

Prague sells tickets rather than taking taps

There is no open-loop barrier to tap: buy a time-based ticket from a machine, in the PID Lítačka app, or with a contactless card at the yellow machines on trams and buses. Validate paper tickets in the yellow box when you board, and keep them — inspectors are frequent and fines are collected on the spot.

Trains and buses are cheap and app-first

České dráhy and RegioJet sell by card in their apps, with seat reservations that cost little and save a lot on the Prague–Brno–Ostrava corridor. Long-distance coaches are comfortable and similarly cheap.

Taxis have a bad reputation for a reason

Use an app rather than hailing near the sights, where overcharging is a long-standing problem. App fares are fixed in advance and paid in the app.

What you may carry in and out

Cash payment cap

Cash payments above 270,000 Kč — roughly €11,000 — are prohibited, a rule aimed at property and vehicle transactions rather than travellers.

Carrying cash across the EU border

€10,000 or the equivalent entering or leaving the European Union has to be declared. Travel within the EU requires no declaration.

Common questions about money in Czechia

Can I pay in euros in Czechia?

In tourist areas of Prague, sometimes — at a rate the business sets, typically several percent worse than the real one, with change given in koruna. Czechia uses the koruna and is not in the euro area. Pay in koruna by card or cash.

Can I cancel a bad currency exchange in Prague?

Yes. Czech law gives you three hours to cancel an exchange and get your original money back, for amounts up to the equivalent of €1,000, and the office has to tell you about this right in writing before the transaction. If you realise the rate was terrible, go straight back with the receipt.

Where should I change money in Prague?

Ideally nowhere — withdraw koruna from a Czech bank's cash machine with conversion declined. If you want notes, use a bank branch or a well-reviewed exchange away from the Old Town, check the rate applies to your amount before handing money over, and remember the three-hour cancellation right.

Do I need cash in Czechia?

Some, but less than you would expect. Cards work in pubs, shops and ticket machines almost everywhere. Keep a few hundred koruna and some coins for neighbourhood pubs, markets, small towns and paid toilets.

Are there ATM fees in Czechia?

Czech bank machines generally do not charge foreign cards a surcharge. Independent machines in the tourist centre charge heavily and push dynamic currency conversion. Use a bank's own machine and always choose to be charged in koruna.

How do I pay for Prague public transport?

Buy a time-based ticket before or as you board — from a station machine, the PID Lítačka app, or the yellow card machines on trams and buses. There is no tapping through a barrier, paper tickets must be validated in the yellow box, and inspectors do check.

How much should I tip in Czechia?

About 10% in a restaurant, rounding up in a pub. The local way is to say the total you want to pay as you hand over the money rather than leaving it on the table afterwards.

Where these figures come from

Checked against the following on 18 August 2026. Fees and thresholds move; where a figure varies by bank or by machine, this page gives the range rather than inventing a single number.