8 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD PACK UP YOUR STUFF RIGHT NOW AND MOVE TO PRAGUE
MARCH 12, 2019 | REDWHITEADVENTURES
Have you thought about moving abroad before? Maybe you’ve already tried living in a different country and feel like you want that expat feeling again. Trust us, we know that nagging feeling when the travel bug bites. That’s why we decided to move to Prague. And now we want to share with you why you should do the same!
REASON #1: GREAT EXPAT COMMUNITY
If you’re looking to move abroad but are scared of getting home sick or lost in an unknown city then that’s the last thing you’ll have to worry about when moving to Prague. In the last decade or so, thousands of expats have made their way to Prague and called this medieval city their home. Students come for a semester abroad and expats come to teach English. They plan on staying for a year or two and end up becoming permanent residents after 5 years! Some people also move here just because they’re looking for a change of scenery. This all results in the fact that Prague has turned into quite an expat hub here in central Europe. YAY.
You’ll find expat sport teams, English speaking churches, and all sorts of other clubs. So don’t worry… You’ll easily be able to find communities to welcome you. You’ll have a whole community by your side and we’re sure you’ll enjoy it just like we have been. And hey, you may never even want to leave.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
If you plan to come abroad and you aren’t sure exactly what you want to do here in Czech, we can absolutely recommend taking a TEFL certificate at The Language House. Regardless, if you want to be an English teacher or not, you’ll have gained a family and friends for life from the course and the community you’ll surround yourself with there.
Chris, who has been running The Language House for the past 15 years, does an incredible job with the community aspect of the school and bringing everyone together. If this is your first time leaving home and you’re not having the comforts you’re used to and are nervous about going abroad, this is an unreal opportunity for you. And it will make you feel right at home in this beautiful city. Dom took this course and he enjoyed it so much. If you do go, let them know you found out about it here (give them Dom’s name), and you will receive a 200$ discount until the end of 2020. We’re sure we’ll see you at one of the future expat meetups. Chris hosts these for the school every month and they’re so fun!
REASON #2: FAIRLY EASY TO GET VISA
No matter if you’re from the EU, The States, Canada, Australia, or NZ getting a visa in the Czech Republic isn’t too hard.
EU CITIZENS
Obviously, if you’re from the EU, you’re already legally allowed to stay in the Czech Republic. However, if you do want to stay for more than 30 days you should go and notify the foreign police. This takes about 30-60 minutes and allows you to fully legally stay. All you need is an address of where you’re staying and to bring your driver’s license, passport, and insurance (if you have your European Health Insurance Card this is enough).
WORKING HOLIDAY VISA
If you’re from Canada, New Zealand, Korea, or certain other countries you can apply for a working holiday visa. The process is a bit longer (takes up to 6 months) than if you’re from the EU but if you follow the guidelines there’s a fairly good chance your application will get approved. On a working holiday visa you can stay for up to a year and work and travel as much as you’d like as long as you’re following the Czech laws.
US CITIZENS
If you’re from the US you can apply for the visa called Živnostenský úřad. The process takes up to three months. It requires you to have an address in Czech Republic and your landlord signing a paper stating that you live there. Once that is done you have to go to an American embassy in a different country to apply and then you go back. It costs about 400$ (+ the cost of your trip) and allows you to stay for a year. After that year you can re-apply for another year and so on. After five years you can apply for permanent residency.
REASON #3: LOTS TO DO
There’s no way you can be bored in Prague. There’s an endless amount of pubs, attractions, historic monuments, sporting events… You name it and you can probably find it there (besides the beach)…but there’s lots of cheap flights to warm places!
If you’re into historic wonders you can tour around one of the many attractions such as Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, Old Town Square, the John Lennon wall – you got it.
If the weather is nice, you can also go to one of the many parks this city has to offer. Our favorites are Riegrovy Sady and Letna Park (yes, that’s where the beer garden is!)
If the weather isn’t being too friendly, you can go to one of MANY cute cafes, go to a local brewery, or even make a trip to Pilsner Urquell Brewery.
Apart from that, there are so many day-trips you can take from Prague: Go visit Cesky Krumlov (a must), hiking in Teplice Rocks, or if it’s winter you can even go skiing!
And last, but not least, there are also so many weekend trips you can make. You can make a trip to Berlin, Bratislava, or Vienna, you can cross the Polish border, or go shopping in Dresden or Nuremberg. We’ll talk a bit more about this under reason #7.
As you might have realized by now, there’s endless of opportunities in Prague and Czech Republic. Honestly, the only limitation is your imagination.
REASON #4: IT’S CHEAP
We’re not lying to you. Prague, compared to other capitals around Europe, is CHEAP!
If you like beer, this is the place to go! Buying beer in the store or at a pub is honestly a fraction of what you’d pay in North America or other western countries. Truthfully, it is quite a bit cheaper than US or Canada or even the UK. When you look at the wages you can get from teaching online or at a school or working for some big company like Amazon or Expedia you’ll come away with more money in your pocket at the end of the month than you would in other European countries. It’s not Thailand cheap but it’s a good temporary home while saving a bit of extra cash. Especially if you’re a Digital Nomad!
If you’re a social person and love going out for drinks and meeting friends for dinner then you don’t have to worry about spending too much money in Prague. Especially if you’re willing to eat like a local and try delicious Czech food you’ll have no problem! Jo does it all the time and rarely spends more than 10$ US for a meal and a large beer.
RENT IS CHEAP TOO
You can also find relatively inexpensive apartments. Especially if you don’t come in the peak months of August-October when lots of Erasmus and expats are moving into the city. You could easily go about paying 380$ for a room in a shared apartment close to the city center. One of the most beautiful cities in the world and you can pay under 400$ for a room.
If you’re on a budget and buy food on sales and only go out once or twice a week you can easily live off 600-700$ a month including rent here in Prague.
REASON #5: RICH IN HISTORY
Prague’s castle is the oldest, largest big castle in the world dating all the way back to the 9th century. If that doesn’t scream history then we don’t know what does. Also, there’s about a million good spots to take great pictures of the castle around the city. Get your Insta game ready because there’s a million different spots and angles to get perfect photos of the castle! Especially around sunset it looks awesome! Send us a message and we can send you a list of some spots 😉
If you look at Prague’s history just in the last 100 years it’s quite remarkable. From becoming its own state of Czechoslovakia in 1918 to the invasion of Prague by the Russians in 1968 to finally becoming the capital city of what we now refer to as Czech Republic. This city (and country) has been through A LOT.
When you think of cities rich in history, you tend to think of Rome, Paris, and London since their impact on the Western world has been revolutionary. Czech’s history, on the other hand, may not have had such an impact on America but it has definitely had a great impact on Europe. Now, sitting in the center of Europe, it has become a tourist hotspot to visit and a great place to learn about Czech Republic’s history.
REASON #6: EASY TO FIND WORK
The economic state in Prague and the Czech Republic is booming right now and opportunities for work have probably never been better for expats! With big companies like Amazon and Expedia growing like wildfire, the demand for English speakers has also been growing steadily. Along with travel, online opportunities, and other 21st century startups Prague is becoming quite popular for millennials.
If you are interested in teaching though you will have no problem finding work. With the world being more and more connected the Czechs have realized the importance of English and now almost every school has English classes, and there are also after school programs along with private lessons. Your possibilities are endless as an English teacher and the pay is pretty good.
REASON #7: TRAVELING AROUND EUROPE IS EASY (AND CHEAP)
It’s no wonder why Prague is referred to as the heart of Europe. If you look at a map you see how central it is to the rest of Europe. Do you want to go skiing for a week in Italy? What about relaxing at the beach in Croatia? Hey, what about slamming beers at Oktoberfest in Munich? Well, guess what… Living in Prague will give you access to all of that and more. By bus, plain, train, or by renting a car you can get almost anywhere in Europe in a relatively short time without forking over to much cash.
Just recently we went to Vienna for the weekend which you can read about here, and it only took 4 hours to get there by bus! I’m sure you’ll want to go visit Big Ben and the London Eye since it’s only an hour flight away. And guess what, there are insanely cheap deals all the time to London and we mean INSANELY cheap.. Like 30$ return cheap. Something we don’t find often (or ever) in North America. Pretty awesome, right?
If you’re looking to move to Europe and explore as much as you can while also being somewhat settled down then Prague is the place to go. Set up a home base in Prague with the relatively inexpensive rent and then on weekends or holidays go out and explore the rest of this beautiful continent. That’s what the expat life is all about, isn’t it?
REASON #8: LOTS OF GOOD FOOD
There is an endless amount of good food anywhere you go in the world but Czech is no disappointment in the culinary industry. Czech has become quite the melting pot in the last decade and you can see the influence on the cuisine. You’d be silly to not try a few absolute local places like Bila Kuzelka or U Zlatého Tygra just make sure to reserve in advance.
Also, here is a simple list of some incredible food places in and around Prague:
• CafeFin
• Mr HotDog
• Hill Billy Burgers
• The Tavern
• Pho Vietnam Tuan & Lan
• Cafe Letka
• Dos Mundos Café
If you’re interested in moving to Prague and have any questions whatsoever feel free to reach out to us and we will do our best to help you out any way we can! 🙂
So what do you think? Are you tempted? 😉
Dom & Jo