Plush Krtek dolls and other toys are available in many stores. Courtesy photo.

By Nancy Ryerson

If entertaining stories of your time abroad will not be gift enough for friends and family back home, take a walk through Prague’s holiday markets and shops and pick up these gifts for everyone on your list.

For your parents: Bring back a small bottle of Czech mead (medovina in Czech). Often served hot, this drink made of fermented honey, water, and other spices is sweet and tasty.
Where to find it: Most Christmas markets around Prague. Try the market at the Namesti Miru.
Price: About CZK 150 ($7.89) for a half-liter bottle.

You could also treat their feet to warm slippers insulated with fluffy sheep’s wool and decorated with an embroidered pattern. The slippers also come in a more masculine style—slipper boots that look similar to a Yeti’s feet.
Where to find them: The holiday market at Wenceslas Square
Price: CZK 300–400

For your younger siblings: Czech manufacturer and retailer Manufaktura carries a wide range of traditional wooden toys and puzzles for children. Though a 21st century kid might not be that interested in wooden toys, the store carries many fun and tricky puzzles and mind teasers that could offer a challenge to even the best Xbox players among us. The store also has many manifestations of that adorable, ubiquitous Czech mole Krtek, the star of a cartoon series that dates back to 1956. Bring Krtek back as a stuffed animal, wooden toy, puzzle, keychain, pencil, coloring book, and more.
Where to find it: Manufaktura, Melantrichova 17, Prague 1; www.manufaktura.cz
Price: Puzzles and brain teasers: CZK 100–400; Krtek keychains start at CZK 50

Beer shampoo and other lager-based cosmetics are available at Manufaktura. Courtesy photo.

Teenage siblings might enjoy a CD from a Czech rock band. Check out the band Garage, featuring NYU lecturer Jan Macháček on bass. Try second hand CD store Bazar CD on Krakovská near Wenceslas Square to find this and music by other Czech bands.
Where to find it: Bazar CD, Krakovská 4, Prague 1; www.cdkrakovska.cz
Price: For Garage, CZK 150

For your friends: You’ve probably told your friends back home about the cheap and delicious beer found in Prague. Give them the next best thing (or at least something unique): beer shampoo and conditioner. Supposedly the beer in the shampoo makes hair shiny and strong. Manufaktura also carries a wide range of other beer cosmetics.
Where to find it: Manufaktura, Melantrichova 17, Prague 1; www.manufaktura.cz
Price: CZK 130

Your friends can represent Czech hockey with a hockey scarf traditionally worn at games. Czech sports paraphernalia can be found in gift shops and Christmas markets all over Old Town; this one is from the Wenceslas Square market.
Where to find it: Gift shops and Christmas markets in Old Town
Price: Around CZK 190