Is Prague expensive? Except accommodation prices and city centre restaurants and other tourist attractions are still quite cheap compared to other EU countries. Lowest daily budget can be as low as 700 CZK if you stay at hostels, eat takeaways and use public transport. If you stay in private accommodation, eat at restaurants but control your budget you can get by on 2500 CZK a day. On the other hand if you stay at top hotels, eat in luxury restaurants and use cabs you could easily spend 10.000 CZK a day. Please do not expect Prague to be extremely cheap and remember that only some products are much cheaper here (like beer and food in supermarkets) but in general, Prague is getting more expensive every year. One reason for this is that Czech Republic joined the EU and now everything tends to be more expensive than before. Attractive hotels range between 3500 CZK to 6000 CZK for a double room. Dinner for two with some drinks at a fancier restaurant can cost around 2000 CZK. Hotels in Prague suburbs can cost as low as 700 CZK for a single room. Staying in a hostel dormitory room for one cost 400 CZK (but can be found for as low as 250 CZK). A beer in a pub outside the centre will cost around 25 CZK (in the heart of the city up to 80 CZK) and a special lunch menu can cost between 60 to 100 CZK. A pack of cigarettes costs 60 CZK, a 0.5 L bottle of water 15 CZK, a loaf of bread 15CZK, a litre of petrol costs around 30CZK, a cup of coffee in a city cafeteria is 45 CZK. Cinema tickets cost up to 200 CZK. The average monthly salary inPrague is about 26.000 CZK to 30.000 CZK (around 1300 US$ or £800). This is not enough for locals to live comfortably in the city centre but if you live in suburbs you can manage quite well. The minimum wage in the Czech Republic is around 5500 CZK, but if you earn this in Prague you would be not able to survive unless you stay with parents :) If you are living in some villages in a poorer region you can spend as little as 5 times less compared to living in the capital. If you want to lower your expenses, you should avoid city centre hotels, restaurants, night clubs and shops. Or ask locals where they’re going out. Visiting galleries and museums is not expensive and some of them are admission free.

Czech currency is called Koruna (Kc or CZK). Bank notes are in denominations of 20, 50,100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 CZK. Coins are of 10, 20 and 50 CZK. Koruna is then divided into 100 halers (h). Coins are of 10, 20 and 50h. The Czech crown has been fully convertible since 1991. Czech Republic (Prague)  expects to use the Euro currency in year 2010. 

Cash and treaveller's cheques are possible to change in all banks, hotels and exchange offices.

Exchange offices most often offer more convenient rate of exchange but charge rather high exchange fee - check ft first. Do not change money on streets - you run a risk to obtain invalid or false banknotes.

Entrance fees to the Prague historical places of interest, museums and galleries are usually between 50 to 120CZK, some of the private museums are more expensive. The admission fee charged at some of the largest and most significant historical sites such as the Prague Castle (350CZK) and the Jewish Museum (300CZK) appears to be rather high. However the ticket is valid for visits to several places and it makes it very cheap. All the fees can be reduced because of the system discounts etc. and cards. Some of the places allow free admission on one of the days in a month.

Prague Economy (this not reflect whole country)
Prague is the wealthiest city in Central and Eastern Europe, and wealthier than many in Western Europe, with a per-capita GDP (PPP) of EUR 32,357, which is at 153% of the EU  average. The GDP per capita of Prague is more than double that of the Czech Republic as a whole.

Money tips:

- Don't carry large amount of cash
- When you're going to a place, where you know you can pay with a credit card, take one and limit the cash.
- Try not to show how much money you have in your wallet.
- Never leave your wallet lying free on a table or anywhere else. Best to keep it is in a closed pocket. Those secret pockets like I have seen once (in underpants or a bra) are maybe a little exaggerated.
- If you know a little Czech don't worry to ask more times when you don't understand the exact sum at the counter. And if you don't, try to pretend you do.
- If you go through or to an especially dangerous place divide your money into two halves and store them in two different places. Then if you are mugged there is a chance that the second half will pass unnoticed.

Despite all these frightening advises the crime in Prague is no worse than in any other big city. For instance the editor of this article is living downtown his whole life and it never occurred to him that he would have to face any criminals. But still the pick-pocketing exists and is advised to be aware of it.