Prague Currency Exchange: Cash, ATMs and Fees

Published on Updated on 6 min read
Panorama of Prague’s Old Town, with closely packed buildings and church spires.
A view across Prague’s Old Town. (Dmitry Goykolov · Unsplash License · Edited)

Use cards for most Prague purchases and carry a little Czech cash for places that need it. At a card terminal or ATM, choose the local currency rather than pounds to avoid the operator’s conversion. If you exchange sterling notes, establish the final cash payout before agreeing. At Václav Havel Airport Prague, walk-up exchange and pre-booked collection have different rate limits, so arrival convenience need not mean accepting the first offer.

Koruna, cash and cards

Official currency
Czech koruna
Currency notation
CZK; Kč on local prices
Payment currency to choose
Czech koruna, not GBP

A card plus a small cash reserve suits most visits. Cards are widely accepted at restaurants, hotels and larger shops. Small independent vendors, market stalls and public toilets may need cash, so ask about payment before ordering or buying.

Prague travel budgets can help you judge likely spending before deciding how much to carry in notes. Separate purchases likely to need cash from those you can pay by card, rather than exchanging your whole trip budget on arrival.

Some businesses accept euros, but that does not make them the official currency. The business sets its own conversion rate, which you can compare with the Czech National Bank or European Central Bank reference rate. You may receive change in koruna. Paying with local money avoids having to assess a merchant’s euro conversion as well as the price.

ATM fees and currency conversion

  1. Identify the ATM operator and select only the cash amount you need.
  2. Read the operator’s withdrawal charge before authorising the withdrawal.
  3. If conversion is offered, review its exchange rate and charges before proceeding.
  4. Choose local-currency processing, or cancel before final confirmation if the withdrawal terms do not suit you.

An ATM operator’s charge and your UK card issuer’s fees are separate costs. Your issuer’s charges depend on your card terms, commonly including a foreign-transaction fee, a cash-withdrawal fee, or both. Compare the total debit with the cash you need before accepting. A bank-branded machine is not a promise of a free withdrawal.

Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) means the merchant, ATM operator or its conversion provider supplies the rate for charging you in pounds. Conversion charges and the rate must be disclosed before the transaction starts. You must also be offered payment in the recipient’s local currency, leaving conversion to your card issuer. The same choice matters at restaurant and shop terminals. Declining conversion may let a cash withdrawal continue in koruna.

A row of cash machines in the arrivals hall at Prague Airport Terminal 1.
ATMs in the arrivals hall at Václav Havel Airport Prague.
Pavel Hrdlička (Czech Wikipedia user Packa ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edited

Do

  • Select CZK or ‘without conversion’ to leave conversion to your card issuer.
  • Read the separate withdrawal charge even after declining conversion.
  • Use cancel before final confirmation to reject the withdrawal.

Don’t

  • Accept a GBP total simply because it looks familiar.
  • Assume declining conversion cancels the entire withdrawal.

Pounds, rates and exchange counters

  1. Find the GBP buying rate: the counter is buying your pounds, not selling them to you.
  2. Ask how many koruna you will receive for your exact sterling amount, including any permitted charge.
  3. Agree the payout before handing over your cash.
  4. Keep the transaction receipt for its withdrawal and dispute instructions.

Compare net koruna for the same sterling outlay, whether buying cash in the UK, exchanging in Prague or withdrawing at an ATM. Include issuer and operator charges for the withdrawal. Prague is not automatically the better choice: a reference exchange rate is a benchmark, not a retail cash payout.

For amounts tendered above the equivalent of €1,000, the office must provide advance transaction information. This includes the currencies, rate, amount tendered, total payout, any applicable commission and payout after it, plus the date and time of the quotation.

Ordinary cash exchanges cannot carry a commission. Exceptions cover customer-presented coins or cheques, and cashless funds or electronic money transferred through the bureau. Any permitted charge cannot be less favourable than the displayed charge. ‘No commission’ does not establish a good rate. The final payout remains the useful comparison.

The office must promptly issue proof in Czech and English identifying the operator and transaction. It records the currencies, input amount, rate, payout, any fee, actual payment if different, and date and time. It also explains withdrawal, complaint and out-of-court dispute rights and the relevant authorities.

Where to exchange cash

EXCHANGE s.r.o. on Štefánikova accepts GBP cash in Smíchov, on the west bank of the Vltava south of the Lesser Town. Its cash buying rate on 3 October 2026 was CZK 28.50 per £1, with no commission for any client, amount or currency. Only the rate list inside the counter at the time of exchange is binding, not the website quotation. Weigh any extra koruna against making a special trip, especially for a small cash amount.

Name
EXCHANGE s.r.o., Štefánikova
Location
Štefánikova 203/23 150 00 Praha 5-Smíchov Maps
Site
exchange.cz
Hours
Mon–Fri 09:00–20:00
Sat–Sun 09:00–18:00
Essential fact
A currency-exchange office on Štefánikova in Prague’s Smíchov district.

Interchange at Prague Airport provides an arrival fallback, with counters in the arrival and departure halls and transit areas of Terminals 1 and 2. Walk-up exchange and booked GBP-to-CZK collection have different limits:

CriterionWalk-up counterOnline reservation collected at airport
Fees or commissionNoneNone
Maximum GBP spread from CNB midpoint15%5%Best

These caps limit how far the exchange rate can differ from the Czech National Bank midpoint, but they are not quoted payouts. Compare the offered koruna total, rather than treating either cap as the rate you will receive.

For a reservation, select Prague Airport, your exchange parameters, the airport branch and a collection time, then collect the currency in person. Collection can be available within 15 minutes, depending on the reservation. Choose a branch you can reach from your arrival or departure hall, because transit-area counters are not an interchangeable alternative to those outside security.

Reversing a cash exchange

The statutory reversal right covers cash exchanges at bureaux de change and exchange-machine transactions. It does not cover conversion offered by an ATM or at a point of sale before a payment transaction. An exchange machine swaps currencies, while a cash machine dispensing a withdrawal is not the same service.

  1. For an office exchange, request withdrawal promptly at the same branch where you exchanged the money.
  2. Use the receipt’s instructions to exercise the withdrawal right, including for an exchange-machine transaction.
  3. If a dispute remains, follow the receipt’s complaint and out-of-court dispute-resolution instructions.

For a larger exchange, the covered portion does not make the entire transaction reversible. Keep the receipt accessible rather than packing it away: it identifies the transaction and gives you the instructions needed to act.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: services and fares and charges.

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