Customs and daily life

Daily life

• Language. Czech is the only official language, a West Slavic language reputed to be difficult. Tourists generally manage with English, often with German or Russian. First words: Dobrý den (hello, at any time of day), Na shledanou (goodbye), Ahoj (hi, between close friends), Děkuji (thank you), Ano / Ne (yes / no).
• Formal address. With a stranger, a shopkeeper, an official or a colleague, people use the formal form (vykání) and say pane (sir) or paní (madam) followed by the surname; the informal form (tykání) is offered, not taken.
• Titles. University titles (Ing., engineer; Mgr., master; MUDr., medical doctor; JUDr., doctor of law) often appear before the name, on letters and doorbells. In a formal context, you can address someone by their title, for example "pane inženýre".
• Name day. Each day of the Czech calendar corresponds to a first name: this is the svátek (name day), which many Czechs celebrate with colleagues or family, sometimes as much as a birthday.
• Payments. Card and contactless are accepted almost everywhere. In cash, amounts are rounded to the koruna. Many tourist shops accept the euro, but give change in koruna: pay in CZK.
• Tipping. The custom goes up to 10%.
• Banks. Closed at weekends and on public holidays.
• Tobacco and dogs. Smoking is forbidden in restaurants, bars and public places. Dogs are allowed in most restaurants and cafés.
• Czech and integration courses. The Centra na podporu integrace cizinců (integration support centres of the Ministry of the Interior) offer Czech lessons and courses on life in Czechia, including on public holidays; according to their website, their audience is "all foreigners legally resident" and beneficiaries of international protection: as an EU citizen settled in Czechia, you are included. Ask your region's centre for the programme.

Public holidays

The law sets 13 public holidays with rest days:

• 1 January: Restoration Day of the independent Czech State and New Year;
• Good Friday (Velký pátek) and Easter Monday (Velikonoční pondělí): 3 and 6 April 2026, 26 and 29 March 2027;
• 1 May: Labour Day;
• 8 May: Victory Day;
• 5 July: Saints Cyril and Methodius;
• 6 July: death of Jan Hus;
• 28 September: Czech Statehood Day (Saint Wenceslas);
• 28 October: founding of Czechoslovakia;
• 17 November: Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day;
• 24 December (Štědrý den, Christmas Eve), 25 and 26 December.

Shops on public holidays. Retail sales are forbidden on 1 January, Easter Monday, 8 May, 28 September, 28 October, 25 and 26 December; on 24 December, only until noon. Shops with a sales area of at most 200 m² remain free to open, as do pharmacies, petrol stations and shops at airports and at bus and railway stations (not those in metro stations). On the other public holidays (Good Friday, 1 May, 5 and 6 July, 17 November), large stores may open. Outside these rules, each shop sets its own hours, which it must display visibly from the outside.

Emergency numbers

• 112: European emergency number, reachable free of charge everywhere (the fire service website also offers sending an SMS).
• National numbers: 150 (fire brigade), 155 (medical rescue, záchranka), 158 (police), 156 (municipal police), set by the official numbering plan (decree 117/2007, in force in 2026).

Common pitfalls

• Doing your shopping on 28 October or 26 December. Supermarkets are closed: plan ahead.
• Switching to the informal form too quickly. At work as at the town hall, wait to be offered the tykání.
• Paying in euros. The rate applied by the shopkeeper may be unfavourable and change is given in koruna; keep a few koruna and use your card.
• Forgetting 24 December. It is the big Christmas day in Czechia: shops closed from noon.
• Counting on English in the administration. Outside the big cities, plan for an interpreter or a Czech-speaking friend.

What changes by country of origin

• Slovaks: Czech and Slovak are mutually intelligible; daily life is very similar.
• British and Scottish people, Swiss people, other Europeans: same customs for everyone; Czechia keeps the koruna (CZK, Kč), even though it is in the EU and in Schengen.