"Goodbye pub crawl Prague bans night-time pub crawls
Hordes of noisy tourists roaming the streets of Prague at night cause a lot of resentment among the locals. The city council is now taking action against an organized form of beer consumption.
15.10.2024, 10:17
15.10.2024, 13:47
dpa
In future, the tourist metropolis of Prague will ban guided pub crawls at night. This is provided for in an amendment to the municipal market regulations, which is due to come into force at the beginning of November.
The "pub crawls", which are particularly popular with Brits and Americans, have had a negative impact on public spaces and interpersonal relationships, it was explained. This involves groups visiting several pubs one after the other for a fixed fee under the guidance of a tour guide.
"With the updated market regulations, we have an effective instrument to ensure order and combat excessive noise in the streets and other negative effects for local residents," said the mayor of Prague's first district, Terezie Radomerska.
Suppliers show a lack of understanding
The local authorities are promoting "more cultured tourism" in the city center, which has other treasures to offer than just alcohol consumption, with theaters, cafés, restaurants and galleries. The new ban is to apply from 10 p.m. in the evening until 6 a.m. in the morning.
"Normal" tour guides with groups will not be affected. Tour operators expressed a lack of understanding about the decision. According to the CTK agency, a company spokesperson said that the local representatives were only interested in scoring "cheap political points". Tourist groups traveling unaccompanied by a tour guide would cause much more noise.
It was unclear whether the decision would be challenged in court. Last year, more than 7.4 million visitors stayed in Prague for at least one night. That is more than five times as many people as the city on the Vltava River has inhabitants.
Most of the overnight guests, namely around 17.6 percent, came from Germany, followed by the USA, Great Britain and neighboring Slovakia. However, the level of visitors from the pre-Covid era has not yet been reached again.
