Prague vs Brno
Which would you pick?
The short answer
Brno is the cheaper trip, by roughly 31% a day — $75–125 against $110–180 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in May–Jun, Sep, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇨🇿 Prague | 🇨🇿 Brno | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $110–180 | $75–125cheaper |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $7–10 | $6–9cheaper |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $120–215 | $70–120cheaper |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $1.70 | $1.20cheaper |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $1,950 | ≈ $1,950 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇨🇿 Prague
A thousand years of architecture that nobody got around to bombing, a castle district on one bank and a Gothic Old Town on the other, and the best cheap beer in Europe. The center is crowded by ten; the city is wonderful before and after.
- Prague Castle$$Sights
- Lokál$Food & drink
- National Theatre$$Music & theater
- Charles Bridge$Sights
- U Zlatého tygra$Food & drink
🇨🇿 Brno
Czechia's second city and its student capital: a modernist villa on the UNESCO list, a bone-lined ossuary, cellars under the vegetable market and some of the best cocktail bars in Central Europe — at lower prices than Prague, and with hardly any tour groups.
- Villa Tugendhat$$Sights
- Bar, který neexistuje$$Bars
- Zelný trh$Squares & markets
- Špilberk Castle$Sights
- Super Panda Circus$$Bars
Practicalities
| Prague | Brno | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Czech; English is standard anywhere tourists go, less so in neighborhood pubs | Czech; English is common among the city's large student population, less so with older people |
| Currency | Czech koruna (CZK, written Kč). US$1 ≈ CZK 21. Czechia is in the EU but does not use the euro | Czech koruna (CZK, written Kč). US$1 ≈ CZK 21. Not the euro |
| Tap water | Safe to drink everywhere; restaurants will still sell you bottled unless you ask for tap | Safe to drink |
The same in both:
- Time zone
- CET (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer)
- Power
- Type E plugs (Type C fits), 230V
- Emergency
- 112 general · 155 ambulance · 158 police · 150 fire