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I'm going to Prague and I'll take some Euros with me, which I intend to convert to CZK.

Should I expect it would be easy to find a Currency Exchange point, for example on central bus station or train station? Are they generally good visible or hard to spot?

I wonder if I should 'prepare' and find some Exchange Points in internet, or I can expect to go there and find one without any problems?

Just another point, do exchange points offer much better exchange rates than banks in general? Or I could, with the same effect, use the ATM (I have a polish card for ATMs).

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The best approach:

Withdraw money from an ATM. Nothing beats the ATM rates in any country in the world, unless there happens to be a black market for local currency (which doesn't apply to any EU countries).

Second best approach:

Exchange physical euros.

You can find a comparison of exchange rates in Prague on Kurzy.cz ("Čistého Kč" = amount of CZK you will get for 2000 EUR).

The very best exchange rate can be had at Exchange.cz, after printing out their "VIP certificate". Their address is Kaprova 14/13, Prague 1. They're open from 09:00 to 22:00 each day.

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  • In addition, OP's Polish ATM card might be from a bank which has branches in CZ – in this case I'd highly recommend sticking to ATMs of that bank, which may charge lower commissions (or none at all) for cash withdrawal.
    – user149408
    Jul 9, 2016 at 16:32
  • Withdrawing is great as long as you do it from your bank account. Some credit cards charge a huge interest from the minute you get the cash.
    – Yëco
    Jan 14, 2017 at 6:59
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Citing from http://wikitravel.org/en/Prague#Money

In Prague, especially around tourist sights, there are plenty of Exchange offices with very bad rates which also charge commission. Best rates are found around Main Railway Station (Hlavní nádraží) - exit the station, left across the park, to street "Politických vězňů". There are about 5 offices, mostly arab-owned, and offer very good rates even for smaller amounts, and even better or negotiable for higher (over 1000 EUR, USD or such). One of the best places in the centre of the city is in Kaprova Street 14/13. Probably the best exchange rate and without commission.

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I don't know about the bus and train stations, but I have seen a lot exchange points in the old town, around the Charles bridge. Finding one of them should be no problem at all. But it doesn't hurt to search for some exchange offices around your hotel or the places you plan to visit.

In general banks offer better rates than exchange points, but there could be also some exception. When you have enough time just walk around the old town and compare the rates.

Last time I was in Prague, the hostel where we stayed had a strange exchange rate and it was cheaper to pay with EUR than with CZK. So sometimes is better not to exchange all the money, but to pay with Euro.

This answer gives some useful information too.

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There are exchange offices at central bus and central train station, both easy to spot. There are many more of them spread throughout the city center. Also, you can easily encounter tourist information spots, where you can get some more directions.

It is also probably good to note that some shops near the city center accept euros as currency, but the rates are usually not very good and you cannot rely on that all the shops would accept it, so it is better to have at least some CZK with you.

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I am from Czech Republic, and so I can confirm that there is at least one Exchange Point on the Prague main train station. You can ask someone from Czech Railways infocenter for exact information how to find this Exchange.

Also anywhere in Czech Republic you should be able to pay directly with Euros, so you do not need any CZK.

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    Don't ever exchange money at the train station! They have one of the worst rates in the country.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Dec 3, 2014 at 15:45
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When we went to Prague last year, the travel agent recommended we exchange our Canadian currencies in Canada prior to departure.

Once there, we found out that the rates were better in Canada then in Prague. You can pay in Euro in most tourist places while in Prague but you have to be careful as often the waiter/clerk will do the convert in his/her head so the amount may not be exact.

Hope you enjoy the city, we did :)

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The best in Prague is exchange.cz for exchange rates hands down.

However, top tip: If you need to quickly break a 10,20 euro note, any Tesco or Billa or lidl supermarket takes euros, usually at exactly the bank rate. Buy a can of coke, mars bar, etc and pay with your 10 or 20 euros- you will get back the rest in change, CZK, at the current exchange rate, and the time saved in not running round looking for an exchange is now worth the mars bar you are eating.

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Usually in Europe your ATM card is much better to get local currency than any other way to exchange money.
Do check the costs on the website of your bank.

The actual amount you pay per transaction depends on your contract with your bank but should be reasonable and the actual exchange is done on the paper money rate the banks use.
When you use an exchange office or bank you pay a fee which is usually higher than that of the ATM and on top of that you get an exchange rate that is worse, can be up to ten percent of the money if you go to the wrong place.
Specially those offices that do not charge a fee mostly give a very poor rate.

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