Historic Prague calls time on visiting rowdy drinkers

Historic Prague, known for centuries as the cultural, economic, and political heart of Central Europe, has told people to stay away, if all they want to do is noisily patronize its many ancient taverns.

The capital of the Czech Republic, which is home to 1.3 million people, made the call on Monday by formally banning night-time pub crawls organized by travel agencies.

City councilors explained that they were reacting to calls from residents and local businesses who said they could no longer endure guided stag and hen parties, and rowdy pub crawls.

Zdenek Hrib, a deputy mayor, told reporters: "It will not be possible to have guided tours between 10 pm and 6 am."

Agence France-Presse quoted Jiri Pospisil, another deputy mayor, as saying the city is now "seeking a more cultured, wealthier tourist… not one who comes for a short time only to get drunk".

The Czech Republic is the maker of some of the planet's most famous beers and is also one of its major beer consumers, according to the Czech Association of Breweries and Malthouses, with the country quaffing a record-breaking 128 liters of the beverage per resident during 2023.

More than 7 million tourists visited Prague last year, with many attracted to the city's drinking culture and the 48 bars it has for every 100,000 residents, which is one of the highest densities of drinking establishments on the planet.

The Czech Republic and its capital are not only famous for the number of drinking establishments, but also for the affordability of its beer, with many pubs charging customers more for a glass of water than they do for beer.

The city's government said this week unguided groups of drinkers will still be tolerated, but that it no longer wants to see the "unreasonable consumption of alcohol and disruptive behavior associated with pub crawls".

It added that the large number of organized pub crawls in the city's Old Town had created "the impression of a lack of culture in the community "and that it reduced "the feeling of safety" and had "a negative impact on the perception of the municipality by tourists, potential investors and the citizens themselves".

Local councilors also hope the ban will contribute to cleaner streets, the Czech news agency Ceske Noviny reported.

The local government is also understood to be considering other restrictions on rowdy visitors, including a potential ban on fancy dress costumes.

The ban follows Prague's recent decision to ban vehicles from the Old Town area at night, in another attempt to reduce noise in the area.

The Czech Republic's central government also recently unveiled a ban of its own, outlawing short-term holiday lets in a bid to lower rents for locals and end housing shortages.