In search of “cultured” tourists, Prague bans night trips to its bars

The Prague bar crawl organized at night by travel agencies is over: the Czech capital, keen to protect local residents from the excesses accompanying these nighttime outings, particularly appreciated by British customers, decided on Monday to ban them. It will now not be “no longer possible to organize guided tours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.” (8:00 p.m.-04:00 a.m. GMT), the deputy mayor of Prague, Zdenek Hrib, announced to the press following a vote in the municipal council.

Prague is “looking for a more cultured, wealthier tourist (…) and not a tourist who comes for a short period just to get drunk”indicated his colleague, Jiri Pospisil. Vaclav Starek, director of the Czech Hotel and Restaurant Association, welcomed the decision, believing that “this will not harm our sales”. “No one will be banned from going to a pub but these tours organized every evening (…) are not necessary”he reacted to AFP, noting that it had become “a problem for the local population and for other tourists”.

Cheap beer

The Czech capital, which has 1.3 million inhabitants, has long been a popular destination for often noisy stag parties and its bars serving semis at unbeatable prices are a hit with tourists. Just like Krakow, a city in southern Poland, stormed by an incessant tide of drunk visitors to the point that some residents have filed a complaint against the town hall.

Foreign fans contribute to the Czech Republic’s beer reputation. According to the Czech Statistics Office, the average Czech – including newborns – drank 128 liters of beer in 2023, a world record, despite a steady downward trend since the Covid pandemic.

Beer is cheaper than water in some Prague restaurants, and many pubs in the historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offer a half of the famous local Plzen beer for less than three euros .