How to spot a TOURIST TRAP (and not be tricked) 

To be clear, what Janek is doing is commendable and he's fully in the right to complain. But just please cut the waiters a little slack with the passive aggressiveness and save it for the people that wrote up the price list. I guarantee that the only result of such an interaction is the waiters being continually more defensive with criticism and having a worse shift, thereby providing a worse service to the guests, while the business owners don't hear about it or can safely disregard anything their bravest employees happen to mention to them about the raking. This kinda looks more like posturing on Janek's end, as he said ''he's just a youtuber''. Not to be snide or anything, as I have to understand no one's gonna watch him write an email. Although, it would be interesting to see Honest Guide try to take down a business, maybe just confront the owner who sits in the shadows in his nice expensive shirt (that's just how they are in my mind). EDIT: Didn't even watch the video to the end before commenting :( , more of those phone calls with owners!

Being a dick to the waiters doesn't really make sense, why not ask for a manager or an owner? You're just giving a hard time to someone who has nothing to do with the prices lol.

​@@ggclewis7763 Big chance the waiters get exploited baout as much as the tourists

​@@ub4348you are still in the right with your first statement. At least in moral perspective. In my opinion interaction with waitress was uncalled for. Interaction with higher ups doesn't automatically clear his social credit or something, i still think it's bad. Not criminally bad, just, uncomfortable bad P.S. Englishnot is not my native, spare me grammar lessons for now if anyone is reading

Agree with the others, if anything the waiters are just slaves to the tourist trap. No need to be passive aggressive to them, I'm sure they have to deal with all the crap already from working in a place like this, the person that setup this place in the first place is most certainly not even there.

Exactly!

Right, when I was there the Flags on the Menu deterred me thinking they were traps. We walked further until we found a place near the water where I got wonderful grilled fish. Wasnt cheap but the Food and Service was amazing.

It always surprises me that McDonald's has a business model here. Near my office I can literally have steak, fries, and a coke for less than the cost of a meal in McDonald's next door

True Story... but the same beer in Hospudka i drank 3 yrs ago for 25 kcs 😮

@@flipschwipp6572 Im glad the food and the service was amazing, although the price made the experience a bit sour

That is horrific!

Wow! xD

Scammers suck!

Its because they want to cheat taxes, just threaten to report it to whatever the tax agency/tax fraud agency of the country you're in and you'll see that card machine magically starts working.

You should always ask about paying by card before you order something, they don't have obligation to accept cards.

@@Pidalinyou are wrong they should warn u upfront that they don’t accept card

@@PidalinCzech customers were paying by card. And I’d always paid by card when I’d previously been in the bar - over a 10 year period!

​@@Pidalinthey don't have an obligation to accept cash or card, but it should be clearly stated beforehand.

When I went, I was so surprised how small the city was. Everyone in the comments talks about bumping into Janek but we didn’t see him despite spending the whole time in the city center.

@@ferretyluv This was my third visit to Prague, but the first with my girlfriend. So, by my experiences, you have a 33% chance of meeting the Honest Guides!

@@WoWBaxter Math checks out

@@ferretyluv Prague isn't small.

​@@ferretyluvwhat do you mean Prague is small?😀

Yes, it's quite common in souvenir shops. My son (6 years old) was in Prague with school before Christmas, he wanted to bring me a present from the souvenir shop. How happy he was that the good lady sold it to him at half price! I didn't have the heart to tell him that the "good lady" was just robbing tourists. What a pure little soul my boy is.

If the price is list and you don't mind paying that price, is not robbing tourist! if a place have no price and just tell you a price! that's different@@anetapechova6600

That is super dodgy. We don't have tourist prices where I live - if the price is high, that's what you pay - regardless if you're local or not.

I'm surprised that the salespeople could speak Czech at all. And who buys stuff from these shops? :D What a shame that you don't return to Czechia permanently.

I wouldn't buy from that place anything, in that case...it would be cheaper still to order it directly from China. And a shorter route to Australia! Or just buy from a real local craftsman.

That probably holds true for Rome and maybe many places in Europe, but in Asia it can be quite normal to have displays of what the food looks like; professionally-made plaster replicas. They are to entice the locals as well as the tourists.

Thank you for this advice-I would probably fell for it (I will be visiting Rome in summer so this is really usefull information)

@@wensdyy6466I live in Milan so idk if it’s the same for Rome but avoid every restaurant who has photo of the dishes outside or even in the menu and you’ll be pretty much ok. Plus if you’re not going to stay in hotel which is in the center try the local restaurants because that’s where the average italian would eat

@@wensdyy6466 I was just in Rome last year, and I'd highly recommend the museum "Centrale Montemartini", it's a bunch of ancient Roman statues and artifacts inside of Rome's first public power station. Really tastefully set up, super interesting, and also quiet and out of the way.

Was about to comment on these: way too many pictures: big red flag. It means the restaurant targets people who does not know the local language or are not familiar with local cuisine

Ahhh Yes, our best sellers are nothing, I'm not hungry, and I'm good.

@@rodrigorebollos Is there any "Thank you" ?

@@jankomuzykant1844 It's been phased out, but our "No Thank you" is just as good. Could we also interest you in Our Deserts? Our "Check Please" is very popular

That’s hilarious 😂

I don't know what the etiquette is in Croatia, but here in the Rep. of Ireland, if you're sitting in an eaterie/ café or bar but don't want anything (even if your friends are ordering) it is considered only good form - more like an unwritten rule, actually - that you order something modest nevertheless, eg a plate of chips (French fries), or a pot of tea; or a 'glass' (half pint) of beer. It doesn't mean you have to actually eat/drink it! The same generally applies for using the 'facilities' (toilets) as well, in fact there _are_ often signs stating this explicitly. To be fair, in urban areas this has become something of a necessity to keep drug users out, or simply because they don't want a train of people coming in off the street just to use the toilets, but often proprietors are just kind of being 'jerky' about this, considering the lack of public conveniences here. To be fair, most places will accede to your request if you look reasonably 'respectable' and say something like "Is it ok if I use the loo 'real quick?'" but you can't count on it. (If they _do_ 'give you the nod', it still can't hurt to buy a coffee or just put a Euro in the tip jar, if you can afford it.) Your best bet if you're broke and really caught short might be to discreetly use a hotel or even a bookmaker's (ie betting) shop, bearing in mind the old maxim, 'sometimes it is easier to apologize than to ask permission', and, you know, just use your head, and 'DBAD' (Don't be a dick!). Department stores, where they still exist, and shopping malls are of course golden in this regard. One situation where the above 'guidelines' are usually relaxed is in those country towns where buses leaving either for the hinterland or back towards the city usually stop outside 'The Central Hotel', or some business of that sort (assuming there isn't some kind of dedicated bus shelter). In such establishments it's generally understood that people who've maybe 'come up to town for the day', perhaps for a hospital appointment or just to do a bit of shopping, can come in and shelter while waiting for what might be one of only two buses to come through the entire day! Such passengers, tourists included, are obviously free to order some refreshment, but it would almost be unheard of for them to be snarled at for _not_ doing so. Please bear in mind here, I'm not talking about centres like Cork or Limerick in this regard, I mean the sort of small towns that honestly, in other places, would be considered villages; and, as always, there is the possibility of running into a Basil Fawlty type, while equally, Ireland _is_ known as the 'Land of 100, 000 Welcomes, so don't take anything I say here as 'gospel'! Sorry also if my comment is a bit overlong! (Maybe Lonely Planet are hiring, lol!)

Just use the Google Maps , read and write comments, you also can like the best comments, useful.

ah I went to barcelona with my family some years back and it was as if the tour guide was bringing us to tourist traps on purpose, as if he had a deal with them. often we would find lower prices and higher quality if we just went to a similar shop across the street (or googled for the same service) 😮‍💨

@@lrizzard I was there last September and I just let Google Maps reviews take the wheel, everyone knows reviews can be faked but we had a good look for every meal we went for and it didn't let us down thankfully.

​@@lrizzardyeah, that is a good conclusion. They do have those deals.

you have one guy here on youtube

For a few thousand viewers, it is! 😄

Who is "Yanek," though?

Janek, not Yanek. Janek=John, not Yan or similar names.

Dude, that sounds just like Krakow. Loads of underground bars and clubs there.

The guides get a little cash for bringing their groups into to a restaurant. We were lucky and got a reasonable meal and price...for the city center area. But still, in the outer city region, where we stayed, the costs were nearly half of it.

Oh yeah that’s def a common experience. Any time a tour guide mentions a restaurant, I’m making sure to steer clear of that area lmao I’ve been fucked over before from blindly trusting guides also.

I only go to 'Free' walking tours where you pay at the end based on what you think is fair. Like platform 'Guruwalk' or similar. They are highly dependent on reviews and I never had problems of them doing tourist traps, often they warn about them.

You give good advice. After 20 years in Prague I've learned to do almost exactly the same things.

Don't forget about paid reviews.

I'm Czech living in Ireland and I do the same 😊

oh so you know well those tourist traps in Italy when they give menu without prices and then a simple coffee is 5 euros. btw that's disgusting no matter of nationality

​@@WeissWhite yea it happens a lot in our country too (Italy), but don't feel targeted, they do it to foreigners and locals as well 😂

Those people aren't "doing business", they're cirminals

I've heard and seen a lot of tricks & ways to scam tourists out of a some extra money, but this is really just taking the piss. Adding an extra 10% charge and wrote it in a foreign language , with a different alphabet. 😂

Never had problem paying with phone even with thick walls and i work partime in Prague

You don't need to be online to pay with your phone. You can pay with your phone in airplane mode or even on an actual airplane, it will work fine. The system only needs a connection once every couple of days to update the tokens but not for the actual payment, that works completely offline.

Interesting 🤔 My phone is a mid range and NFC only failed in that specific place. And I've been paying with Google Wallet for quite a while.

@@MarvinCZ I didn't know this. Thanks for clarifying that! :)

You don't need signal to pay with your phone, it's NFC chip, the same as in your credit or debit card, your card is literally copied to your phone, when you tap, terminal just thinks you pay with normal card. If you don't mean pay with some online payment.

The Red Deer might not be a tourist trap by definition but it's quite overpriced. Just the fact that it has been a bank sometimes in the past doesn't make it a recommendable spot.

@@tomwolf2981 Fair enough. Though I only went in for a beer. And the fact that they were totally chill for a place with high ceilings and marble walls probably helped. I was in a bit of a lonely mood that day. Travel will do that. They probably would have let be just be there for hours an hours with no pressure or pretention. I like that. And after, they let me look around the closed off lower floors and were remarkably friendly and inviting about it.

@@Bnio Sitting here in a local pub with a Tank Pilsen for 52 CZK in front of me, it's hard to answer accordingly. Yes, 75 CZK might be a decent price for you and it kinda is, given the location. But it is by far not an usual beer price for Prague. Everything above 69 CZK is kind of a tourist trap. The Red Deer, as I mentioned before, is not a classic tourist trap but it has very "touristic" prices. Well, for somebody from the US the prices seem to particularly Low but they aren't.

Sorry I edited my comment and took out the price. I just found my receipt and it was 72czk. And, well, that seems to be the going price for most 500ml in town. The Christmas market in Old Town Square (not the nearby restaurants); the cafe at the base of Petřínská Tower was 75; most normal looking bars that weren’t obvious tourist traps were going at that rate in the city center. To get a beer for 50czk might be available farther away, but that’s farther away. Pay for proximity I guess. At least it’s definitely not 13 euros for 1 liter. THAT BEING SAID, the local grocery store near my hotel had cans of Urquell and Kozel for 25czk, and those were lovely in-room night caps.

I just checked the menu for Grand Cafe Orient and the Budvar is 80czk for 500ml. As a tourist it’s a balance between feeling welcome and not being taken for a ride.

You don't even need to travel that far. A lot of the time just taking one or two turns off the beaten path is enough to find awesome spots. For example, there are lots of great restaurants near Karlovo náměstí, all it takes is a 3-minute walk

Is it just Prague? I've had a fantastic experience in the smaller Czech cities I visited. Even had the best pizza of my life in one, located right at the completely empty center square of the empty city center. I love Czech's peacefulness :)

The patriot systems are anti air devices. It wouldn't make sense for one of their missiles to hit a building.

I never stay in the city center. Not even in the US where I've lived my entire life. It's just not worth it. If I ever visited Czech Republic years ago like I wanted to, I woulda done the same and deliberately avoided Prague

Wow was it really relevant to mention the ethnicity of your wife? Why not stick in your ethnicity as well, stereotypical white man?

What does God have to do with anything?

Shhht no critical thinking allowed here.@@bobloblaw9302

What's your imaginary friend got to do with anything?

I never understood the 'shouting & pushing ' part in these places . It's one thing having a few good looking boys & girls promoting night clubs and certain bars .But when I'm looking at some place to eat , and someone starts to pressure me to come in, my reflexes are to walk away. It just feels oppressive.

@@spiritualanarchist8162 it's definitely bad vibes, we didn't even acknowledge it

@@spiritualanarchist8162 It pushes me away too. But I'm someone who doesn't do things impulsively. I might want something impulsively, but before I commit, it's research time. If you don't allow me to research, that means I cannot trust you or your service. Even though it may (or may not) be great.

How is it possible that you live in Zlin but never visit Prague which is only 250km away?

@@mracer8 maybe they are a child?

​@@mracer8"only" xd

That's a really good tip

Good strategy! :)

There's a bar in Ginza, the super-posh part of Tokyo, that specializes in Pilsner Urquel on tap (super rare in Tokyo), and even they only charge about 7 or 8 euros for 500ml.

@@Bnio uhm yeah thats gonna be 14 to 16 euros for a litre? Even more than the one showed in this video lmao

Yeah, but it’s also 9,000km from the source of that beer and one of the few locations in all of Japan you can get it on tap, and it’s still within a euro of the price at that tourist trap. That’s the point I was trying to make.

It actually IS about the same price as Oktoberfest.

without the nice dresses lol

More often than not, Rents for those restaurants and shops are obscenely high so a "Non-Turist trap" has a low chance of sticking around longer than the first bank loan runs out. Which creates a vicious cycle. It wasn't always this way, but rarely you see property owner asking reasonable money for the restaurant as they too want to cash in on that property. Sad times :(

The Czech Republic and Prague are great. They are not "flooded with such insanity." You just have to be careful in Prague 1 the main tourist zone which is one reason why many locals aren't thrilled to go there.

We are generally more expensive than Germany now with our crazy inflation we had and with how big supermarket chains are acting toward us (mostly your German chains). People who live near german border are going to Germany for shopping, it's cheaper and even better quality.

​@@PidalinTrue Story. Why keeping Monopoly Money KCS... make it like nearly all neighbours around, incl. your Slovak Friends. CZ has one of the highest Inflation Rate in Europe, and you know they Story about the Czech Word of the Year: "Nutela" 😮😅

@@wernerleinberger9847 we literally use nutella as some price measurure, you can say "it costs like 2 nutellas" or "it's cheaper than nutella" 😀

Please order next Time a "Bavorak" in Czechia... you ll be suprised with Fernet 😅

And do they also cater for English tourists who haven't yet clicked that a pint is a thing in the UK and not the rest of Europe? 🙄

@@bugsygoo A pint is equal to 568 mL - he was using it because it is the term he is familiar with and so that comes to mind fastest, in a restaurant they know its about 5 dL XD

Nice menu isnt the trap, if you have nice simple menu, its usually good restaurant. If you have 20 flags, its usually weird. 90% of czech restaurant even in small cities have czech and english menu versions for travelers.

They should play by rules.

It's your responsibility to know how to use the public transport. It's not like this is the 80s and there's no internet where you can find a 3 minute tutorial within 30 seconds of searching.

That's not a tourist trap, that's just a different system than you're used to. It's not intended to confuse you, it's intended to help people who want to buy tickets in advance and then use them when needed - that would be impossible if tickets became immediately valid.

I’ve never had an issue with ticket validation. It was my friend’s first visit to Prague and she thought you could validate on the metro like you can on the bus. She won’t make the mistake again! 😂

He calls it a trap because they give you a bigger serving and charge you more.

A big beer is usually half a liter, not one liter. So it's a trap because they don't tell you how big is a big beer and then once you see it well you gotta pay for it.

@@InTimeTraveller That's not a trap.

Hahaha. If you come for a large beer in my place i will bring you a 15 litres. I will make some money from you . But this is large for me soryy

As long as you declare it clearly on the menu, then it's perfectly fine. @@user-wc9eh6se5p