Rafting in Cesky Krumlov
While we all know Prague is beautiful and offers something for everyone, if you are here for more than a few days – perhaps studying or here for the summer – and want to do something different, there are many different options, and one of them is rafting.
By far the most popular place to do this is on the River Vltava in and around Cesky Krumlov – itself well worth a visit. My friends and I took a trip there last week, and this post will give some information about that.
Approaching Cesky Krumlov by river
We started on 4th July by taking a bus from Prague to Vyssi Brod, which is a very small town on the Czech border with Austria. Once there we pitched our tents, then made our way to the local brewery to wash away the grime of the bus journey in traditional Czech fashion.
Friday July 5th saw us collect our boats and set off down the river. One of the main highlights of the first two days on the river is the floating Mojito stands in the middle of the river – always popular on the hot days! There are also many bars and restaurants along the way, so no need to carry too much stuff with you on the boats.
Making friends on the river
We camped on Friday night in campsite U Fika, close to the village of Brana, which is a distance of about 20km along the river from Vyssi Brod. Don’t let the distances put you off though – the river flows fast and it doesn’t take very long to get to your destination, even if you’re too lazy to paddle.
July 6th was the second day on the river, and the highlight here is a restaurant named U Vikinga, or At the Vikings. Fantastic food, great prices, and very speedy service. Well recommended to anyone passing, especially the duck!
Duck at the Vikings
We camped just outside Cesky Krumlov and made our way into town for a group dinner at Pizzeria Latran, before returning back to our tents around midnight for an early night!
Sunday July 7th was day three on the river, and is by far the most fun. We had to negotiate four weirs in the first hour – easy for rafts, not always quite so easy for those in canoes, and then stopped at a vegetarian restaurant in the middle of Cesky Krumlov for lunch. Followed by another twenty minutes along the river to go karts!
Go Karting in Cesky Krumlov
After racing around the track for a while we then settled back down to an easy last 5km along the river for the day until reaching our final camp at Zlata Koruna, where a few of our group unfortunately had to leave us due to commitments elsewhere the next morning.
Then finally it was Monday July 8th, our final day along the river. This is probably one of the most beautiful stretches of river, and is also by far the quietest part of the trip with regards other people being on the river with us. There are also less places to stop on this section than the previous days, but most people seemed happy to take it easy on the final stretch.
Lazy rafting on the final day
The final section is about 20km, so is longer than most of the other days, but we made it back to our end station of Borsov nad Vltavou in plenty of time to hand in the boats and equipment and collect our bags ready for the bus back to Prague.
A quiet final day on the river
The trip was privately organised by myself with no issue, and although we were a group of twenty there is no issue with much smaller or larger groups going as well. There are also options for day trips on the river around the Cesky Krumlov area. All boats and equipment were rented from Ingetours – and they also operate all the camps we stayed at too. Their website lists all prices so it’s very easy to work out costs, and if you don’t want to carry all your gear between sites they do that for you for a very reasonable price!
Our group hired a private bus from Prague Coaches, but you can also take the train from Prague to Vyssi Brod, and the station is by the campsite so not too far to carry gear – obviously the train is better if you have a small group! If you prefer a shorter trip, many hostels in Cesky Krumlov offer day trips on the river.