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Comment by yazr | Hacker News Reader

How is life in Prague for English-only speakers who want to relocate for a few months?

The city itself is so beautiful.

The funny thing is, my last experience with Prague was that I chose two random restaurants to go into and the waiters didn't even speak Czech. When I tried to speak Czech with them, the first didn't even know Czech not even a bit and the second knew a little bit of Czech, but she was more comfortable in English. ...to be fair the first one was an Irish pub and the second some Turkish restaurant.

There is a huge expat community, almost everyone speaks English and IT jobs are open to everyone and will help you with visa and sometimes even relocation. I worked in a company with hundreds of foreigners, they all like it here.

Prague is a beautiful city and they were generally friendly to me and didn't mind speaking English. Some don't and sign language helped when I traveled. But they knew I was a tourist (I was a brown Indian guy who is not exactly the type there ;)). One thing I found surprising for being an European city is how hard it is to find any kind of food past 9 PM. Maybe I picked a neighborhood like that to stay? Also, stores didn't bother following any sort of schedule :). Overall,I'd love to live in Prague and experience more of what the city has to offer. And the train ride from Germany to Prague is so awesome!

Travelling there next week, anything you would recommend?

Check out this YT channel, the most awesome Czech travel guide (videos in English): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt7oj318jVQi7vRbc1bNjJA

Try finding a restaurant in the Netherlands past 9PM. Past 0100 it gets nigh impossible until the next morning 8-9am (6am if you only want a banana or cookie from a train station).

I take it it's different in India?

Really? This is a gross generalization, but in any large US city there are places open 24/7 for the most part.

A lot of European cities don't have anything or close to anything open at night. But it varies wildly by country.

Which neighborhoods can u recommend? Preferably walk-able with cafes etc and some expats..

Karlin, Andel, Vinohrady

Everything in Prague is walkable and has public transport :-)

Prague and Brno would be the two options I'd consider seriously. Prague definitely has a larger English-speaking population, but Brno is not far behind and is generally cheaper. Prague is exceptionally beautiful, however, and so if you are only going for a few months it might be worth the cost (although travel from Brno to Prague is not terrible on the freeway).

It's worth learning as much Czech as you are able to, but you would be fine managing on your own for a few months, especially if you can befriend a local who can help you get on your feet when you arrive (tips on currency conversion, places to eat, places to avoid, setting up a transit pass, etc.)

Life in Prague if you're coming to visit is quite great. I love every minute of the almost two years I was able to spend there and around the Czech and Slovak republics.

Thanks everyone for the feedback here.

Staying close to the airport is probably the top priority ;)

Is Prague safe for a quiet+european+foreign+laptop-carrying male? Or should i stick to the tourist areas?

Czechia is in general one of the safest european countries [1]. I am quiet european laptop carrying male (-foreign) and have ocassionally walked through deserted industrial areas/streets of Prague well after midnight and never felt significantly threatened.

Rowdy and drunk groups of tourists are the most unsettling thing that I occasionally encounter, so maybe it's better to avoid tourists areas instead?

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Peace_Index#Global_Peac...

If you're considering it you might also want to try Brno - it'll be a little cheaper, and the city is in my opinion a bit more livable and relaxing

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