Although the holidays are over and the days are slowly getting shorter, there is something to look forward to. The last third of the summer in Prague is typically packed with events. So, where to? One novel idea is the Prague Sounds open-air music festival, to mark the 25th anniversary of the ‘Strings of Autumn’ Festival. The main venue will be the floating stage on the Vltava river between 2-8 September, allowing the artistry to be watched from vessels, bridges, islands, and the Vltava waterfront, against Prague’s impressive historical backdrop. Vinohrady vintage from 9 to 11 September will be bringing plenty to remind of the bygone Austro-Hungarian monarchy, with a wine tasting selection from all the countries that once made up this multinational grouping. Wine-making has a long tradition in Prague’s Troja district. You get two excuses to visit. Firstly, on Saturday 11 September at the Troja Vintage and the following weekend, September 18-19 at the Harvest Celebration in the Prague Municipal Botanical Garden. You can sample the wine from the local St Clara vineyard, and also take your chance to visit the wine cellars. The very popular Grébovka Vintage bamboozles every year by starting things at Náměstí Míru square, some distance away. In keeping with this paradoxical tradition, they’ll kick off in front of St Ludmila’s...
On Monday, August 16, the Czech government has been continually announcing the first new Covid rules starting from September 2021. What covid rules apply to the new school year and how many people will be allowed to sit in the restaurant? Here’s what we know about changes in Covid measures so far! Schools Mandatory testing: At the beginning of the school year, children have to undergo three rounds of antigen testing – on September 1 or 2, then on September 6 and 9. The testing duty applies to students of elementary and secondary schools. The children can get tested at school or at an official testing point and then deliver their test results to the school. The testing takes place in order to detect the virus among children after the summer holidays. Quarantine: If the antigen test is positive, the child will be sent for a confirmatory PCR test. If it also comes out positive, only this student or his family will go to quarantine. In the last wave of testing (September 9), the entire class may end up in quarantine. The exception will only apply to the vaccinated children and those who have overcome Covid in the last 180 days....
From the beginning of the new school year, several changes are taking place in the operation of Prague’s public transport. The transport company expects a further increase in the number of passengers. Almost all train operations will thus go back to their schedule before the pandemic began in March 2020. The new schedule and timetables for the metro and trams came into force on Saturday, August 28. The bus lines started running on a more frequent schedule on Wednesday, September 1. The shortest intervals between metro trains are scheduled during the morning rush hour. On line A it is 150 seconds, on line B the interval is 140 seconds, and line C trains run every 115 seconds. Trams run every 8 minutes during rush hour. Tramlines 9, 17, and 22 went back to running every 4 minutes. For some city bus lines, the morning intervals are now reduced to the usual 6 minutes from as of Wednesday morning. Compared to its previous operations, approximately 15% more bus connections are now running at peak traffic times. Additionally, as of Saturday, August 28, three public transport stops have also been renamed. The Výstaviště Holešovice stop is now called the Výstaviště. The Černokostelecká...
Earlier this year, the City of Prague approved the 2030 Climate Plan submitted by Deputy Mayor for the Environment Petr Hlubuček. As TheMayor.eu reports, this plan outlines the capital’s goals to achieve a 45% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. Moreover, it stresses the significance of sustainability and circular economies, among others. With these objectives in mind, Prague recently launched various initiatives to become a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable city. Taking a case in point, it established various reuse centres where individuals can deposit unwanted items rather than discarding them. In addition, it reused last year’s Christmas tree, transforming it into furniture for an elderly home. Now, it has taken one more step towards achieving the goals of the 2030 Climate Plan. The City of Prague has recently reported that it is preparing to convert slag produced from the incineration of waste into building materials. According to Hlubuček, the incinerator produces 65 to 70 thousand tons of slag annually. What is more, the city pays approximately CZK 40 million a year for landfilling. Thanks to research and technological innovations, this waste can now be converted into raw materials and used in the construction industry. More specifically, clean slag reportedly has various useful properties which...
Prague Airport said it was deploying more staff to prepare for an expected increase in traffic after the Czech government eased travel restrictions. “We are increasing our personnel capacity and reinforcing the technical equipment to speed up the entire check-in process on arrivals,” said Jiri Kraus, Vice Chairman of the board for Prague Airport in a statement on August 31, 2021. “Passengers can help accelerate the arrival checks too by reviewing the current conditions and preparing all documents in advance.” Travelers from outside the European Union who wish to visit Prague can now do so provided they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to new rules set out by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, as of August 23rd, 2021. However, the vaccines should be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or their own country’s relevant authority, and the travelers should come from countries that have recognized vaccine certificates. Prague Airport said the new airport measures have been implemented in partnership with the country’s Ministry of Health, Foreign Police, and Customs Administration. “Together, the parties thus respond to the gradually increasing traffic at Prague Airport and the possibility to visit the country for tourist activities by foreigners,”...
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis launched his populist ANO party’s campaign for re-election on Thursday vowing to keep out migrants and prevent ceding national powers to Brussels. The Czech Republic took in almost no migrants when a wave of asylum seekers swept the continent in 2015, and echoing Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban, Babis has continued to resist accepting migrants as an important part of his message to the public. “This is the last chance to protect our national interests, living standards, our culture,” Babis said, launching the campaign for the Oct. 8-9 parliamentary election on his 67th birthday in the northern city of Usti nad Labem. He said the opposition would hand over national sovereignty to Brussels and “break up” the Visegrad Group alliance with Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, which Babis has praised despite Hungary’s and Poland’s frequent standoffs with European institutions. “As long as I am prime minister, we will not accept a single illegal migrant,” he said, recalling his resistance to past EU plans to distribute asylum seekers across the bloc. ANO is leading in opinion polls, but not by enough to win an outright majority, raising the possibility of lengthy post-election haggling over a new administration. A...
Which of the world’s cities have the best parks? abcFlora.com carried out a study gathering data relating to the parks in 60 of the world’s best-known cities, allowing them to discover how busy each city’s parks are, as well as how highly rated they are on Google. This in turn gave them the means to generate a comprehensive ranking based on general park quality. At the top of the ranking is Prague. The 13th largest city in the EU and home to over 1.3 million people, Prague’s parks have an impressively high average review score of 4.59 out of 5. While there are plenty of great choices throughout the city, some of Prague’s most well-known parks include Havlíčkovy Sady and Letná park. In 2nd and 3rd are Moscow (4.67) and London (4.56) respectively. Although these two cities are far more densely populated than Prague (Moscow with 12.5 million residents and London with 9.4 million residents) both of them maintained very high scores, with the Czech capital not far ahead of them. Now let’s take a look at the other end of the spectrum – of the cities we analysed, which ones have the lowest scores? The lowest ranking city on the list is...
A decree issued by the Prague City Hall would ban people from walking their dogs without a leash in any green area within the city. It is intended to prevent people from being attacked by dogs, as happened in the spring when a four-year-old boy was bitten by a dog on Petrin Hill. As reported by Seznam Zpravy, The proposal was prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection of the Prague City Hall and will be dealt with by the council. Any person walking a dog in a public greenery area would, under the proposal, be obliged to lead the dog on a leash in such a way that it “does not impede the movement” of other pedestrians. Only specifically designated areas, which can also be added within parks or other public greenery spaces, would allow owners to walk their dog freely. “Any person walking a dog in public greenery area is obliged to lead the dog on a leash. The dog must be guided on a leash in such a way that “does not impede the movement” of other pedestrians. Free movement of dogs without a leash is allowed only on areas reserved for this purpose by the owner...
“Extraction 2,” the planned sequel to one of Netflix’s most successful original movies, will now shoot in Prague. The Chris Hemsworth-starring actioner had been set to lens in Australia. Crew who had already begun preparations in New South Wales, Australia were informed on Friday by Netflix and the Russo brothers’ AGBO production company. Sources close Netflix say the decision to move was motivated by COVID and shutdown concerns. The sequel was written by Joe Russo and produced by Joe and Anthony Russo. Other sources put the move into a wider context, explaining that Hemsworth’s tight schedule and the growing uncertainties associated with shooting in Australia make relocation a safe choice. Hemsworth is scheduled to be back in Australia by November or December to start pre-production of Mad Max franchise movie “Furiosa. For about a year starting in mid-2020, Australia was one of the world’s busiest destinations for filming movies and TV series. It achieved that feat through a robust coronavirus response and generous production incentives. Australia’s attraction has waned in recent months due to a low rate of vaccination, the arrival of the more infectious COVID-19 delta variant and a sprawl of localized logistical complications. At the beginning of this month, WarnerMedia’s HBO film “Days...
According to a revised estimate by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ), the Czech economy grew by 8.2 percent year-on-year or by 1-percentage point quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of this year. Economists originally estimated that the Czech gross domestic product would grow by 7.8 percent year-on-year in the second quarter. In contrast to the first estimate from the end of July, the new data show the Czech economy in a better light. The preliminary projection estimated a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.6 percent. The positive quarter-on-quarter development of the GDP was mainly prompted by growing household consumption. “The easing of anti-epidemic measures has allowed households to spend more on services and long-lasting goods, and their consumer spending has thus contributed to GDP growth of 2.4 percentage points. However, the lower dynamics of export growth and growing imports led to a negative contribution of foreign demand of 2.2 percentage points,” said Vladimír Kermiet from the Czech Statistical Office. Gross domestic product returned to year-on-year growth after a year and a quarter. “Some experts expected up to 10 percent growth, but the reality is less positive. Even though it is still the most significant year-on-year growth of the economy in the whole of...
For the last 13 years, the price of a pack of cigarettes in the Czech Republic has risen by an average of three crowns per year. But now even a higher tax rise will take effect, meaning that cigarettes and tobacco products will increase in price by between 4 and 6 crowns. There are two main reasons – an increase in excise tax on tobacco products (by 5%) and an increase in selling prices from manufacturers. “In total, we should expect a rise in the price of classic cigarettes by at least 6 crowns per pack, shredded tobacco by at least 9 crowns per pack, and heated tobacco by 5 crowns,” said Stepan Krzeczek, chief economist at BH Securities, told Právo. According to the authorities’ estimates, the increase in the tobacco excise tax for the year will bring the treasury an additional 3 billion crowns. However, tobacco companies have raised concerns about the size of the tax increase, with reports that smokers with limited financial resources will turn to the black market to buy cigarettes, and that smuggling rings are already preparing to expand their operations in the Czech Republic. The black market already accounts for 7% of cigarettes sold...
Until the end of the holidays, a unique event called “At home in Prague” is taking place in the capital, which we have proudly joined as a partner. “We are fully on-board with the project’s central idea – supporting local tourism – and so we’ve prepared a once-in-a-lifetime gift for holidaymakers. Everyone staying at one of the project’s Prague hotels will receive a gift from us. A special voucher VIP Day Pass with an additional 10% discount on items, and a maximum 50% discount off the original price, for shopping in Fashion Arena Prague Outlet in Prague Štěrboholy”, says one of the representatives. In an effort to boost local tourism, this year the Prague authorities have created a unique project called “At home in Prague”. More than 230 Prague hotels and dozens of cultural and entertainment institutions have got involved. Fashion Arena Prague Outlet has become this year’s only partner from the “shopping centres” category, preparing even greater benefits for the visitors involved. Everyone booked into one of the participating Prague hotels during the summer holidays can start benefitting from the project. Guests can ask for vouchers at their reception. The voucher enables them to visit various Prague monuments or...
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