On the trail of great artists and thinkers

Along the Vltava you will encounter an astonishing density of great names – poets, painters, composers and thinkers who were inspired by this landscape or left their mark here. Anyone traveling by houseboat today is not only traveling through nature and cities, but also through a living, cultural memory of Central Europe.

Coffee house, absinthe and literature

In the legendary Café Slavia on the Vltava River, with a direct view of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle, absinthe was an early part of the bohemian scene. The imaginary guest list includes names such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Bedřich Smetana, Franz Kafka and probably also Václav Havel, all of whom are associated with a fascination for this “artist’s drink”. For many visitors to Prague, a café de absinthe with Sacher cake or apple strudel is still the prelude to a “fragmented exploration of the city” in the spirit of Kafka.

Music for the river

The great musical voices of the region include Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, both of whom are deeply rooted in Bohemian culture. Smetana’s symphonic poem “The Vltava” traces the course of the river from its sources to its mouth in the Elbe – beginning quietly, building up to a powerful furioso that you almost feel like you are listening to on board. To a certain extent, anyone sailing on the Vltava experiences the score of this work as a real landscape of hills, vineyards and towns.

Literary Prague

Prague itself is closely associated with the name of Franz Kafka, whose places of work and writing can still be visited today. The Golden Lane below the castle, where Kafka had a small writing room, is one of the most symbolic places for literature fans exploring the city from land and water. Then there is Václav Havel, playwright, civil rights activist and later president, who stands for the city’s modern, intellectual tradition like no other.

Art backdrop for your boating vacation

If you travel through this area by houseboat, you will anchor where composers, poets and painters once found inspiration – from Café Slavia through the castles and monasteries surrounded by the Vltava to the enchanting valley of the midsummer currents. Between absinthe in the café, Smetana’s Vltava in your ear, wine tasting and views from artists’ castles, cultural history and water vacation merge into a particularly dense experience. A boat trip on the Vltava becomes a journey in the footsteps of great artists and their stories.