Printed cups, fridge magnets, postcards bordering on kitsch – cliché souvenirs we have all encountered at one point when travelling. Those heading towards Prague, listen up: here’s your go-to place when it comes to souvenirs.
Even though the Covid-19 epidemic forced tourism to its knee with a single strike, the knock-out is still far ahead of us – or at least we hope so. Perhaps it is time now to choose a domestic travel destination instead of one abroad, or to enjoy the hospitality of our direct neighbors for a couple of days. We are a bit biased against Prague, this is why we don’t understand how the supercool Pragtique store could go unnoticed until now.
Each and every one of us knows the annoying feeling of trying to buy something cool for our loved ones at home when travelling abroad, but we can hardly find anything useable: at the sight of the dozen uncreative fridge magnets, postcards and beer openers manufactured in China we lose the mood instantly to bring anything home at the end of our trip.
Well, you won’t experience this when entering Pragtique in Prague, for sure. The founders of the shop took a whole different approach to the concept of souvenirs: the store offers only one-of-a-kind, loveable and truly local peculiarities. The store was opened by Johana Švejdíková in 2014, and she also launched “Raketa”, a magazine for children and smart parents around the same time. There are two Pragtique stores in Prague currently, – unfortunately the virus did not spare them either, and so they keep the store in the old town closed for the time being.
However, the unit near Charles Bridge is open and welcoming visitors, and it is absolutely worth popping by if you are looking for unique souvenirs: here you’ll find usual tourist sights, such as St. Vitus Cathedral, Orloj or the figure of Franz Kafka and the legendary Golem inseparable from Prague portrayed on the products tastefully.
Not only the sometimes clean, sometimes illustrative and at other times humorous graphics on the objects, but the notebooks, pocket books, pencils, postcards, prints, mugs, the products designed for children and the edible delicacies themselves represent very fine quality, too. Instead of the cheap, spiral bound versions, here we can purchase notebooks with a sewn spine, and posters printed on good quality paper.
Within the walls of Pragtique, one can be sure that they are dealing with true Czech souvenirs: the products on the shelves were designed by Czech creatives, artists and design brands, out of whom many names could ring a bell for our readers, too. Márie Urbanková has also drawn for us in the „Lost in Praha” part of our #stayhomecreative series – you should be looking for her “Memory” collection in the store.
And here’s Czech Grand Design award-winning Nikola Logosová (we have already written about her and the other winners – the Ed.), who recall the art of Chagall with her unique prints on the various objects. The name of Czech illustrator Daniela Olejník has already come up in relation to Čierne diery – she designed the „Golem” collection here: the anthropomorphic being that is created entirely from clay known from Jewish folklore appears on canvas bags, mugs and T-shirts, too.
A brand we haven’t known before but would love to get a hold of their stuff is Kakalík. Instead of the usual ‘I LOVE PRAHA’ signs, here we see completely different messages thanks to the fair amount of black humor, so those trying to avoid boring souvenirs and wishing to return home (or to surprise themselves) with an extraordinary piece of memorabilia should choose from the „I… Prague” collection. The choice of Kafka fans is quite an obvious one.
You might want to visit the Pragtique store earlier than the last day of your trip: if you’d like to explore Prague with a truly informative and exciting travel guide, you should take a look around here for sure. One of our all-time favorites, the Prague Superguide is available here, which have proven its utility on several trips, and something we’ll buy for sure when we are there the next time is the Honest Guide book.
All this and many other supercool souvenirs are waiting for the fans of quality and unique gifts in Pragtique. Until then, it’s also worth checking out the virtual shelves of their online store!
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