Czech Republic trip: full budget by city

The flight counts here, unlike elsewhere in Central Europe. It starts at €21 to Prague in August and climbs to €75 in July, a €54 spread. Against a budget-tier ticket, summer costs more than double early autumn. It is the one line where shifting your dates genuinely changes something.

Lodging in Prague runs from very low to very ordinary. €18 in a hostel, €68 in a three-star, €127 above. The first figure is remarkable, the second is not: from a hotel room upwards, Prague charges like an average European capital. Over seven nights, the choice moves the trip from €462 to €1,120.

Beer is structurally cheaper than water, and that is not a figure of speech. In a neighbourhood pub, a half-litre draught often costs less than a bottle of mineral water of the same size. It distorts the sense of budget: you feel you are spending little because the drink costs nothing, while everything else falls into line.

Prague's historic centre runs a second economy. Around the Old Town Square and along the route to the castle, food prices double without the cooking changing. Two or three streets away, in Vinohrady or Žižkov, you find the country's real rates.

May, June and September are the window to aim for. Comfortable temperatures, open terraces, and airfare at the bottom of its range. September combines all three: it is the month when the ticket is lowest, at €21.

July is the worst month on every count. Airfare reaches €75, the old town saturates, and the continental heat is dry but heavy. If your dates are locked to summer, aim for late August instead.

Winter is cold, dark and cheap, except around Christmas when the old town markets push lodging up for three weeks. January and February are the year's most economical months, provided you accept eight hours of daylight and often sub-zero temperatures.

On a ticket starting at €21, an annual spread of €54 is not trivial: this is the only Central European country in the comparator where the departure date weighs as much as the choice of hotel.

Prague's transport network is dense and cheap. Metro, trams and buses share one ticket, validated on boarding, and the twenty-four hour pass pays off from four rides. Night trams take over when the metro closes.

The koruna is not the euro, and exchange is a deliberate trap. Central bureaux post rates that look attractive until you read the commission. A bank cash machine remains the simplest route, and cards work everywhere, including on trams.

Eating Czech costs little away from the centre. The midday set dish, served in almost every neighbourhood canteen and brewery, runs five to eight euros. In the evening and on tourist streets, the same dish doubles.

Moravia is a wine region few visitors know. The cellars around Brno charge for tastings at prices unrelated to neighbouring Austria, an hour by train from the border.

The currency is the Czech koruna, not the euro, despite EU membership. A few tourist businesses accept euros at a rate that never favours you. Cards are accepted everywhere, including for very small amounts. Czech is a Slavic language with no proximity to English, but English is widespread in Prague and the tourist trade, less so in the provinces. The country is in the Schengen area, so no formalities for EU citizens. A tip of around ten per cent is customary, usually rounded up rather than calculated.