The complete guide to supermarkets and food shopping in the central Prague

Lists of all main supermarket chains in central Prague, including Albert, Billa, Tesco, Penny, Lidl and Delmart, including locations, what’s best to buy and opening times.

Whether you’re a tourist looking to stock up on snacks and drinks for your hotel room, or a newly arrived expat in need of groceries for the week, supermarkets are a convenient and affordable option for food shopping in Prague.

The main supermarket chains in Prague (and Czech Republic) are Albert, Billa, Tesco, Penny, Lidl and Kaufland.

These large supermarkets are a little bit hidden in central Prague (and Kaufland doesn’t have a branch in central Prague), which is why I wanted to share with you my list of the main supermarkets closest to the centre, what’s best to buy in each and of course their opening times.

Is there a supermarket in Prague Old Town?

There are no large supermarkets around Old Town Square (the closest ones are at Wenceslas Square or Republic Square) or at the Lesser Town, Prague Castle or Kampa area.

You’ll only find minimarkets, which have snacks, sweets, ice-creams, biscuits and soft drinks and their prices are much higher than the regular supermarkets.

Which supermarket is the cheapest one?

I honestly find that all of the supermarkets are pretty much the same – some items are more expensive and some items are cheaper especially if they are on sale.

Penny is usually the cheapest, followed by Kaufland (which doesn’t have branches in the centre, unfortunately) and then Billa, Tesco and Albert.

The only upmarket type of supermarket is Delmart, which is much more expensive than any of the regular shops and possibly Marks & Spencer, which now sells only dry food.

All the supermarkets have their own brand of food, which is usually less expensive than the branded food, so you can always find something to suit your budget.

If you go shopping in the evening, you might see some items reduced if they are getting close to their expiry date. These discounts are usually very low and no more than 30%, but often only 10%, so it’s hardly worth it.

The largest discounts I’ve seen are in Albert at their fresh bread and pastries counter and often you get a 50% reduction if you go shopping in the evening around 7-8 pm.

Tesco has recently started to promote its Club Card more. If you have one in UK, it doesn’t work here, but it’s easy to download the Tesco app and register. I can’t be usually bothered with all these superficial promotions and discounts, but here in Prague it actually makes sense to use the Tesco Club Card.

I often see more than 50% discount offers on stuff I genuinely need. The weird thing is that often, there is no low-cost alternative for the item you want to buy, so the cheapest way to purchase something is to go with the club card offer.

For example, I was buying pickled gherkins and whilst they are all different brands available they all cost around 80 CZK. The Tesco offer and it wasn’t even their own brand, was 40 CZK!

Supermarkets closest to the Namesti Republiky (the Republic Square)

Albert – Under the Kotva Shopping Centre (Namesti Republiky – The Republic Square 656/8, Prague 1 ), Opening hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m (large branch, spread over two different floors and for some reason, very few people shop there so it’s almost empty every time I’ve visited).

Albert – lower level in the Palladium Shopping Centre – opposite the Kotva Shopping Centre – The Republic Square), Opening hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m (smaller, but more up-to-date branch of Albert in this location).

Billa – entrance next to the Museum of Communism, V Celnici 1031/4 – 2 minute walk from the Republic Square Underground, Opening hours: Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Nice, spacious shop and a good selection of freshly baked bread, rolls and pastries).

Penny Market – Revoluční 724/7, Prague 1 – 2 minutes towards the Vltava River from the Republic Square Underground (line B) (Smaller branch, but packed with everything you need including fresh pastries, fruit and vegetables).

Billa – Narodni Trida (Narodni Trida Underground – Line B & Narodni Trida tram stop no 2,9,22 etc) – lower level Quantico Shopping Centre (next to the Franz Kafka Rotating Head Statue), Opening hours: Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (this one is quite small with very narrow aisles and it seems to be always quite busy with people and long queues).

The supermarkets closest to the Wenceslas Square

Billa: Address: Vodičkova 710/31, Prague 1 – New Town ( Nové Město ) – this is the street that cuts the square in half and where the trams are. The supermarket is on the lower ground floor of ‘Mysak’ shopping centre. Opening hours: Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fairly spacious, good selection of fresh goodies, staples and also regional specialities.

Albert: in the vestibule of Můstek underground station (line A (the “green line” and line B (the “yellow line”), by the entrance in Na Příkopě Street. Address: Na Můstku 16, Prague 1 – Old Town (Staré Město), Opening hours: daily from 6am. to 11pm. (another small branch, but it usually has all the basics).

Albert: in the vestibule of Můstek metro station (line A or line B), by the entrance in Jindřišská Street. Address: Václavské náměstí 831/21, Prague 1 – New Town ( Nové Město ), Opening hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (more modern branch, but still smaller than others).

Albert: in the vestibule of Muzeum metro station (line A and or line C, the “red line”) on the top of Wenceslas Square where you see the large National Museum building. Address: Václavské náměstí 812/59, Prague 1 – New Town ( Nové Město ), Opening hours: daily from 7 am.to 9 pm (small branch)

Supermarkets closest to Karlovo Namesti (the Charles Square)

Albert: There is another large Albert branch on Karlovo náměsti, which is handy if you are walking from the famous dancing house which is close to the Vltava River. Address: Karlovo náměstí 15, Prague 2 – New Town ( Nové Město ). Opening hours: daily from 6 am to 11 pm (large branch, spacious isles)

Billa: on the ground floor of the Atrium shopping centre, Address: Karlovo náměstí 2097/10, Prague 2 – New Town ( Nové Město ), Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 7 am to 9 pm, and weekends from 8 am to 8 pm. (Large branch)

Supermarkets close to the main bus or train station

Billa: very close to Florenc bus station

Address: Sokolovská 69/14, Prague 8 – Karlín, Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 7 am to 11 pm, and Sunday from 8 am to 11 pm.

Billa: Inside the Main train Station

Very compact shop with narrow aisles, but if you don’t have the chance to visit the larger shops, this one has all the basics.

I always shop there when I’m at the train station (the prices are the same as in other Billa shops, they are not more expensive because it’s at the train station). This shop, because it’s at the train station is also usually open, when other large shops have to close for the main Czech bank holidays.

Delmart Supermarket – The Czech only premium supermarket

I thought I should also mention Delmart since it’s the only premium supermarket chain in the Czech Republic (and Prague). The company was founded in 2014, and in August of the same year, the first store was opened in the Zlatý Anděl centre in Prague. As of February 2023, there are 12 Delmart stores in operation.

Delmart is the first supermarket in the Czech Republic that focuses purely on quality food from Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain and other countries. The prices are on average 30-50% more expensive than comparable prices in the regular supermarkets, but the assortment of products is completely different.

Nádražní 344/25, Praha 5 – Andel Underground B Station
V Celnici 10, Praha 1 – close to Namesti Republiky – The Republic Square – as you walk towards the Masaryks Train Station.
Quadrium Shopping Centre at Narodni Trida Tram Stop – Spálená 2121/22, Praha 1 –
Palladium Shopping Centre, Namesti Republiky 1078/1 (the Republic Square)

What’s good to buy and where

I know that this is highly subjective, but here are my favourite finds from the main supermarkets

Albert

You can get really good fresh traditional Czech bread there as well as savoury pastries like rolls with cheese and bacon. They also make still proper traditional Czech rolls – rohliky. I also buy ‘kolace’ there, but check the ones that say ‘Kabat’ (this is a proper bakery that supplies them).

If you have a self-catering apartment in Prague for your stay and don’t fancy cooking, Albert’s ready meals are decent (better than Tesco for sure…). I usually buy Chicken Tikka, Butter Chicken or Red Thai Curry for 80 CZK you can’t go wrong! I know it’s not traditional Czech food, but that’s probably why!

Fresh patisserie cakes – buy the ones that say ‘Mlecna Cukrarna’ as these are made by a really good patisserie and they are delicious! They even do small versions of all the cakes in one package, so you can get a tray to share.

Penny

Surprisingly enough, Penny’s only filled cakes ‘kolace’ have won my vote for the best supermarket ‘kolace’, for the lowest price.

Billa

This supermarket tends to run offers where regular items are reduced by 30% or 50%. I really like Bristot coffee and the only supermarket that stocks it is Billa. The price is normally around 170 CZK, but every 3-4 months I see it on offer for a few weeks when the price drops to 80 or 90 CZK.

Zabka

These are smaller versions of supermarkets usually selling the food & drink basics. The Zabka prices are slightly higher than in regular supermarkets, but not as high as in ‘minimarkets’.

When the large supermarkets are closed during the major bank holidays (see my notes below), Zabka shops are usually open. These shops are also normally open from 6 or 7 am til 10 or 11 pm every day.

Minimarkets

These types of shops seem to have more alcohol, drinks, sweets and savoury snacks than regular groceries. You will find them right in the centre of Prague and Wenceslas Square and they are usually open until late and some even 24 hrs a day. Expect prices to be at least 25% – 30% more than regular supermarkets.

Supermarket opening time restrictions

All supermarkets over 200 square metres must be closed during the seven most important Czech national holidays. These are:

New Year’s Day (1 January)
Easter Monday (movable each year March/April)
Liberation Day (8 May)
Czech Statehood Day – St Wenceslas Day (28 September)
Independent Czechoslovak State Day (28 October)
1st Christmas Day (25 December)
2nd Christmas Day (or St. Stephen’s Day) (26 December)

This law doesn’t apply to food shops located in hospitals, airports, and train stations, but their opening times might also vary from their usual opening times.

Czech supermarket quirks

Pharmacies

You might think a supermarket is a supermarket….but there are a few quirks that I think I worth mentioning when you shop in the Czech supermarkets.

If you are used to shopping in Great Britain, you know that you can buy a lot of pharmacy items in the supermarket. This is very different here – in the Czech Republic the supermarkets don’t have their pharmacy counter and they don’t have any pharmacy items on the shelves.

If you need anything from vitamins to paracetamol you’ll need to find the nearest pharmacy (don’t worry there are plenty of these on the main streets and in the shopping mallsand they are open until 9 pm and quite a few are open all night).

The Czech equivalent of Boots or Superdrug is Teta, Rossmann or DM, but these shops only sell cosmetics, household cleaning stuff, baby food, baby supplies and health food. They don’t sell any medications, as these are only sold in the designated pharmacies.

Prices displays

Another quirk of Czech supermarkets (and some regular shops too) is to display prices similarly to what is usual in the USA or UK, for example roll might have a price of 4.90 CZK. The difference is that when you go to pay for one roll the checkout will ask you for 5 CZK and you won’t get any change!

That’s because Czech currency doesn’t no longer have 5,10,20 or 50 halirs, which was the smaller denomination lower than 1 CZK. The reason, why the prices are displayed this way, is to purely make you think that the item costs less than it does.

Another (slightly better quirk) is that when you buy more items, the price does add up as normal and then your final bill is rounded up or down based on whether it’s below 50 halir or to the nearest 1 CZK if it’s above 50 halir.

Obviously, this is such a small amount of money, so you don’t need to worry about it, but I think it’s misleading to quote the prices like this if you can’t physically get the change because it doesn’t exist.

This blog post was originally written on 3 November 2023 and last updated on 3 November 2023

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