Price of travel in Brno, Czech Republic

The primary reason I chose to spend four nights in Brno, Czech Republic instead of Prague was the price of travel. Prague gets loads of tourists and hotel prices are relatively high compared to the average price for lodging in the Czech Republic outside the capital. Also, I stayed in Prague for a week in 2007.

After flying into Prague Airport from Copenhagen on Norwegian Airlines for $83.70 one-way, including one checked bag fee, I boarded a Student Agency ‘yellow’ bus to Prague bus station, where I connected to another bus with nonstop service to Brno, 210 km to the southeast. Brno is only 130 km north of Vienna, Austria. Bus ticket price was 10.50 EUR each way.

Loyalty Traveler – Student Agency cheap bus travel in and out of Czech Republic (Sep 11, 2015).

Price of Food in Brno

Food is inexpensive in Brno compared to the USA.

• $0.50 Staropramen beer Svetly 11 CZK (includes 3 CZK refundable bottle fee)
• $1.00 dark bread loaf 22 CZK
• $0.50 apple 11 CZK
• $1.60 Chili flavored tuna 35 CZK

Exchange rate at hotel 22 CZK = $1 USD. Bank exchange rate a little above 23 CZK at some ATM bank cash machines.

An American expat specifically mentioned tuna being an expensive item in the Czech Republic.

For about $6 to $8 per day I bought sufficient groceries at local markets to eat healthy for three meals per day and drink all the beer I wanted.

Bread and cheese and lots of meat options, but no hot food in markets

Albert and Tesco were four markets I shopped in during three days staying in Brno. The largest market I visited was in Blansko. There was no hot deli food in any of these markets. Larger grocery stores have hot food I was told, but I never came across a major supermarket with a hot food deli in my miles of walking around the city of Brno. Two of the markets were in city center shopping centers near Freedom Square and the historic pedestrian zone, where hot food restaurants and cafes were all around.

• Camembert cheese slices 90 g. 23.50 CZK ($1.05 USD)
• Sliced chicken 100 g 19.90 CZK ($0.90 USD)
• loaf bread rye 20 CZK ($0.90 USD) I don’t prefer rye bread, but I don’t read Czech and it looked good on the outside. I ate it. A baker gave me a free loaf of rye bread in Copenhagen last July and that was the most enjoyable rye bread I’ve eaten. Small rolls were 5 to 7 CZK each. Loaves about 20 to 30 CZK.
• paprika bell peppers 70 CZK/1 kg 22.60 CZK for two. ($1)
• milk 1.0 L 11 CZK ($0.50 USD)
• Fitness mix bag of lettuce 35 CZK with 50% off sticker at 17.50 CZK ($0.80 USD). I purchased packaged bags of salad two times at 50% off for soon to expire products. The lettuce looked fine. There were some packages I examined and did not buy.
• one banana, 4 to 5 CZK ($0.18 – 0.22 USD) 22 CZK/1 kg
• blueberry yogurt (400 g, about 14 oz.) 15.90 CZK ($0.70 USD)
• one apple, 9 CZK 250 g. ($0.40 USD) at price of 35 CZK / 1 kg
• box cereal granola/musli 40 CZK ($1.80 USD)

These are sample prices for items I bought over three days in different grocery stores. Vegetables and fruits were probably priced lower at the farmers markets around the city I saw on Monday. Two farmers markets I saw on Monday were not around in these squares on Sunday.

Náměstí Svobody, Svobody Square, Brno farmers market

Zelný trh farmers market in center square of city by Brno Tourist Information at Stare radnice, Old Town Hall.

Restaurants

I did not eat much food from restaurants, except for pizza slices a couple of times and one hot Asian meal at a café in a shopping center. Pizza slices were 14 and 15 CZK (about $0.65 per slice). My Chinese food meal was 69 CZK ($3.00) for the entrée and 30 CZK for noodles ($1.50). 

Meals around town were priced from about 69 CZK to 169 CZK or about $3.00 to $7.50 USD for entrée and on average 27 to 40 CZK for 0.5 L (17 oz.) beer or about $1.25 to $1.80 USD. I looked at several restaurant menus to see most restaurants allow you to eat well and drink for $5 to $10 per person.

Here are menu prices from a pub restaurant Pivo Richard at the base of the Brno castle park at Hrad Spilberk and near Best Western Premier Hotel International, Brno.

• Burger 89 CZK ($4.00)
• Cheeseburger 92 CZK ($4.15)
• Chicken burger 109 CZK ($4.95)
• Double Burger 149 CZK ($6.75)
• Specialty burgers 129 to 139 CZK $5.75 to $6.25)

Daily special meal 69 or 79 CZK ($3.00 to $3.50 USD). The menu was in Czech, so I don’t know what these daily meals included. One looked like a pasta special and another a fish special.

Beer Prices

Beer was more expensive for beer with higher alcohol content. The most I paid was 16.50 CZK ($0.75 USD) for a Gambrinus Premium 0.5 L bottle and the lowest 7.90 CZK ($0.35 USD) for Staropramen Svetly. Most lagers are 4.0 to 5.0% alcohol.

Brno transportation

A regular ticket good for one hour of travel in the city center is 20 CZK ($0.90). When I traveled by tram across Brno and 30 km by train to Blansko, connecting to another bus driving 6 km into the hills to Punkvi Caves, that was all on a single 5-zone ticket for 42 CZK ($1.90) good for 120 minutes of travel.

Tram and bus ticket booths at squares and other stops sell a variety of ticket types. Most streetcars were modern designs, but I liked this older style streetcar in Brno.

Activities

Everyone’s expenses are different depending on your travel preferences. I would have more information about museums, but they were mostly closed on Monday when I was around several of these places. Typical prices looked to be 80 to 100 CZK for museums and attractions.