Comments on: Are the people in Prague really unfriendly?

By: Vickey

Vickey — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:00:36 +0000

I went to Prague in the summer of 2011 and I thought the people were fine! No different than any other country. I’m sure most places have stereotypes of unfriendly people and I’m sure there are as we are all different. If you go there looking for the stereotype to be true, then your more than likely to find it to be true!! lol

By: lulu

lulu — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:54:51 +0000

I’m just ending a week in Prague. I’ve been surprised at the mirth and liveliness shown by a lot of young people on the metro and trams. Other than that, my experience with strangers in public spaces here was similar to my experience in other large cities…a few rude folk, most people either polite or neutral, and a few folk who appear genuine and pleasant.

It was difficult to tell if the ticket and sales clerks at the Kafka museum were unfriendly or just kafkaesque 😉

By: papsy

papsy — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:13:05 +0000

I have lived in Prague for a year and since then hbeen back several times for long weekends. It’s true, the vast majority of czechs are sad faced and its pretty common for waiters and bar staff to be rude and unwelcome towards customers. Shame as its a great city…can’t have it all I guess.

By: Zam

Zam — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:44:58 +0000

I have lived in Prague for several years working as an English teacher. I have many Czech friends, and know countless Czech acquaintances.

Let me be very blunt: Czechs are very cold, surly, negative people by nature.

Its just this way! I will make no effort to be nice, politically correct, or go into the worn out cliche about “you can’t stereotype a nationality blah blah blah”. Yes, you can. We all do it. All the time. Yes there are exceptions to national stereotypes. But nonetheless each nationality has traits or characteristics.

To futher reinforce the rightness of my position: even the Czechs I know personally are always bitching about how negative, nasty and rude the Czechs are to each other! Its not me making this observation, but native Czechs.

Hungarians bitch about Czech negativity…..so do Slovaks (who are generally a bit more cheerful). Germans too.

Where does this surly, sometimes nasty Czech pessimism come from? I really don’t know. But its there. Staring you in the face every time you get onto the metro. Its there in the classroom, the the student looks like somebody just told him his mom died, and he’s looking at you in the face, evidently miserable and depressed saying “good morning” with a dour, miserable expression. No enthusiasm, no happiness, etc.

Anyways that’s my opinion on this topic. Czechs are a miserable lot. And many of them will very openly admit it if you get to know them.

By: Jan Novak

Jan Novak — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:06:13 +0000

You observed, that “on trams or metros none of the czech people validates their tickets”. It is true, because they have usually permanent card (so called “tramvajenka”) which is valid for one or two months.

By: Patty

Patty — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:12:06 +0000

I had no idea that the people were unfriendly. Granted when I visited Prague, I was younger, but we had the best time. The architecture was gorgeous, the history was fascinating and the people that I met were wonderful. We sang songs with the locals in the pubs (hummed really since we didn’t speak of word of Czech). The best part was the proprietor of the inn where we were staying actually made us a birthday cake on the 4th of July! It was a hoot! The cake had the blue field and dots for stars, but the stripes were the best part. Unfamiliar with the 13 colonies, she must have had 30 red and white stripes. It was a pin stripe cake! And I have to mention the dark larger spoiled me and now I can’t drink the swill that we call beer.

By: koray

koray — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:54:08 +0000

They really don’t smile, which irritated me at all times. Even the waiters and waitresses are so unfriendly. They get angry if you do something unpleasent or against the rules. They do not speak English intentionally. On trams or metros none of the checz people validates their tickets whereas the tourists are the only target for the control inspectors. Wxchange offices are real traps for tourists.

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:38:07 +0000

Dont worry about Buenos Aires, trust me, people here love to chat and make friends with foreigners, and learn about their culture.

By: Jan Novak

Jan Novak — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:04:41 +0000

Excellent comment. But I disagree, when you throw Czech republic and Albania on the same pile. It´s nonesense to compare Czech republic and Albania. After all, Czech republic does not belong to Eastern Europe.

By: Prague Teacher

Prague Teacher — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:18:07 +0000

Some of these points are valid, some are speculation. I taught English in Prague for two years and the truth of the matter is that Prague people do appear to be miserable because they do not smile, but that doesnt make them bad people. I was told by a few Czech friends not to smile or people would think I was weird. I didnt listen because I was excited to be in Prague, but they were right because people did look at me weird when I would smile as though I was breaking the law. It’s rare to see the people of prague smiling… Also, Czechs who dont speak another language will make no effort to help you if you cant speak Czech. I found this to be a problem many times for me, but once again, this doesnt make them bad people. It’s a common courtesy to try to speak the language of the land you are in and not hate someone because they can’t speak your language in their land.
So they have miserable faces, ok. They may not help you (if they dont understand you) ok, but every nation, every country has its problems. If you are ok with the lack of smiling (not a deal breaker) or can get past the language barrier, then you will realize that Prague is not the bad of a place to visit or live