Beaches in Czechia: 8 Best Swimming Lakes and River Lidos

Czechia is landlocked, so every beach in the country sits on a lake, a reservoir, a flooded quarry or a river lido rather than on the sea. There is no coast, no tide and no salt water anywhere inside the borders, and Czechs are relaxed about calling a sandy lake shore a beach anyway. The sand at most of them is real, some of it dug out of the same pit the water now fills.

This guide covers the eight sandy swimming spots that Czechs actually drive to in July and August. Four are inside Prague or within an hour of it, three are resort lakes in Bohemia, and one is a mining lake in the north with water no fish can live in. The list is below, followed by a full section on each.

The sandy beaches and swimming lakes worth a day in Czechia are listed below.

1. Lhota Lake. Lhota Lake is a flooded sand quarry about 20 km (12.4 mi) north-east of Prague with pale, fine sand, pine woods and a large nudist section.
2. Žluté lázně. Žluté lázně is Prague’s riverside sports and sunbathing complex in Podolí, open since 1910, with sand, courts and bars on the bank of the Vltava.
3. Lipno Reservoir. Lipno Reservoir is the largest body of water in Czechia at 48.7 km² (18.8 sq mi), edged by grass and sand beaches under the Šumava mountains.
4. Hostivař Reservoir. Hostivař Reservoir is the largest outdoor swimming area inside Prague and the one with an official nudist beach set apart from the main sand.
5. Komárovský rybník. Komárovský rybník is a fishpond in Bohemian Paradise with a sandy bottom, a gentle entry and sandstone cliffs above the far shore.
6. Smíchovská náplavka. Smíchovská náplavka is the sand-covered Vltava embankment in Prague 5, used for beach volleyball and riverside bars rather than swimming.
7. Mácha’s Lake. Mácha’s Lake is a 660-year-old pond at Doksy, 284 hectares (702 acres) of shallow water ringed by the busiest lake resort in Bohemia.
8. Kamencové jezero. Kamencové jezero at Chomutov is the world’s only alum lake, a mining pit whose water is too acidic for fish, plants or algae.

1. Lhota Lake Beach

Lhota Lake Beach is the closest thing to a seaside beach within reach of Prague, about 20 km (12.4 mi) north-east of the centre near the villages of Lhota and Dřísy. Lhota is a flooded sand quarry rather than a natural lake, which is why the sand is fine and pale instead of muddy: it is the same sand that was dug out of the pit. The water covers roughly 25 hectares (62 acres) and measures about 780 m (2,560 ft) long by 320 m (1,050 ft) wide.

The shore is lined with pine, and more than a quarter of the beach is given over to naturists in a section screened from the family beaches. Entry to the water is gradual, the lake bottom stays sandy, and the water is clear enough that Lhota is regularly named among the better natural swimming spots in the country. Facilities on site include food stalls, cafés, changing rooms, toilets, lockers and children’s playgrounds.

Driving is the easy way in, and the car parks fill by late morning on hot weekends. Without a car, take the train to Dřísy and walk the last 2 km (1.2 mi) to the water. A day here is not free: parking, entry to the guarded areas and food add up, so bring more cash than you expect to spend.

2. Žluté lázně

Žluté lázně is Prague’s oldest river beach and still its busiest, sitting on the Vltava bank in the Podolí district of Prague 4. The complex opened to the public on 16 June 1910 and takes its name from the yellow fencing that once separated it from the smarter Modré lázně, or Blue Spa, next door; the two merged in 1949. Prague City Tourism puts its capacity at up to 9,000 visitors.

What Žluté lázně offers is a sand-and-grass riverbank with loungers, volleyball and other sports courts, a children’s water area, bars and food stalls, rather than open swimming. Swimming in the Vltava here is limited, so treat it as a sunbathing and sports complex with a river view. Admission is charged at the gate.

Trams 2, 3, 17 and 20 stop at Dvorce, directly opposite the entrance, which puts it about ten minutes from the centre of Prague. Evenings are the good time to come: the bars run late and the crowds thin out once the sunbathers leave.

3. Lipno Lake Beach

Lipno Lake Beach lines the largest body of water in Czechia, a reservoir of 48.7 km² (18.8 sq mi) that South Bohemians call the Lipno Sea. The reservoir was made by damming the Vltava between 1952 and 1960; the dam itself is 296 m (971 ft) long and 25 m (82 ft) high. Lipno stretches about 42 km (26.1 mi) end to end and up to 5 km (3.1 mi) across, which is enough water for sailing, windsurfing and kiteboarding.

The main beaches are at Lipno nad Vltavou, where grass and sand run down to a shallow, gently shelving entry. Cafés, restaurants, boat and board hire and a lakeside promenade sit directly behind the sand, and the south-western shore of the reservoir runs along Šumava National Park. Water temperatures here are mountain temperatures, so the swimming season is short and concentrated in July and August.

Český Krumlov is the nearest large town, about 40 km (24.9 mi) and roughly a 45-minute drive away. Trains and buses reach Lipno nad Vltavou, and the village is compact enough to cover on foot once you arrive. If you want to combine the beach with something dry, the Treetop Walkway above the village opened on 10 July 2012 and runs 675 m (2,215 ft) through the canopy to a 40 m (131 ft) tower.

4. Hostivař Reservoir Beach

Hostivař Reservoir Beach is the largest outdoor swimming area inside Prague, set in Hostivař Forest Park between the Hostivař and Petrovice neighbourhoods. The reservoir was created by damming the Botič stream, and the shoreline mixes sand, grass and wooden decking. Admission is charged in season and lifeguards are on duty during opening hours.

A separate nudist beach is the reason many people come. It lies away from the main sand, cut off by woodland, and it is one of the long-established naturist spots in the country rather than a recent addition. Clothed and unclothed bathing do not mix here, which is what keeps the main beach family territory.

The entrance is on K Jezeru in Prague 10, reachable on city public transport from the centre in roughly half an hour, with parking near the main gate. Come early on a hot day: this is the swim that Praguers default to when they cannot leave town, and the grass fills before noon.

5. Komárovský rybník

Komárovský rybník is the second largest pond in the Bohemian Paradise protected landscape area after Žabakor, and the one people actually swim in. It lies at the village of Branžež, about 15 km (9.3 mi) from Mladá Boleslav, and it began as a fish pond before recreation took over. The bottom is sandy and the entry shelves gently, which is why it fills with families rather than serious swimmers.

Above the northern shore rises Sokolka, part of the Příhrazské skály sandstone massif, so the view from the water is cliffs rather than hotel balconies. Several beaches ring the pond, along with campsites, a boat hire, table tennis, a sports pitch and a beach volleyball court. Facilities are basic camp-and-pond facilities, not resort facilities.

Buses run from Mladá Boleslav to Branžež, and the walk from the stop to the water takes about 15 minutes. Most visitors drive. Accommodation is campsites, cabins and guesthouses, and the surrounding rock towns make this a better base for a walking weekend than a pure beach day.

6. Smíchovská náplavka

Smíchovská náplavka is a sand-covered river embankment rather than a swimming beach, running along the left bank of the Vltava at Hořejší nábřeží between the railway bridge and Palacký Bridge. Sand was once dug out of the river here and hauled across Prague from this very quay, which is where the beach association comes from. The sandy area is now used for beach volleyball, beach tennis, mini football and pétanque.

The arched cellars set into the embankment wall, the kobky, hold cafés, bars and workshops, and boats moored along the quay serve food and drinks. Views run across the river to Vyšehrad and along the arches of the railway bridge. Nobody swims off it, and no one should: this stretch of the Vltava is working river with barge traffic.

Metro line B to Anděl puts you a short walk away. The embankment runs year-round events, with food and music festivals clustered into the warm months. The beach bar that traded here as Smíchovská pláž has closed, so come for the sand, the cellars and the river rather than for a named venue.

7. Mácha’s Lake

Mácha’s Lake, Máchovo jezero in Czech, is the resort lake of northern Bohemia and the one Prague families book a week at. It is not a natural lake at all: Charles IV ordered the Great Pond dug in 1366, and the water only took the poet Karel Hynek Mácha’s name officially in 1961. The pond covers 284 hectares (702 acres), making it the eighth largest in the country, and it is shallow, which is why it warms up early and stays swimmable into September.

Four sandy beaches ring the water at Doksy and Staré Splavy, with playgrounds, volleyball, snack bars, pedalo hire and a passenger boat that circles the lake. The shore is backed by pine woods and by Bezděz Castle, whose twin towers stand on a basalt hill in full view of the water. A 14 km (8.7 mi) footpath runs the whole way round.

Doksy sits about 13 km (8.1 mi) south-east of Česká Lípa and roughly an hour and a half north of Prague. Buses and trains reach Doksy, and the beaches are a walk from the station. Book accommodation early for August: this is the closest thing Czechia has to a seaside resort town, and it behaves like one.

8. Kamencové jezero

Kamencové jezero at Chomutov is the only alum lake in the world, and swimming in it is unlike swimming anywhere else in Czechia. The water sits in the pit of mines worked for alum and vitriol between 1558 and 1785, and it holds around one percent alum. Nothing lives in it. No fish, no water plants, no algae, so the water stays clear all summer without treatment and never turns green.

The lake covers 15.95 hectares (39.4 acres), runs 676 m (2,218 ft) long by 240 m (787 ft) wide, and reaches only 3.4 m (11 ft) at its deepest. Sandy beaches and mown grass banks line the shore, with wooden piers out over the water, boat and paddleboard hire, and a campsite behind the beach. The alum water is often credited with helping skin and respiratory complaints, which is a local claim rather than a medical one.

Chomutov is in the Ústí nad Labem region in the north-west, about 90 minutes from Prague by car or train. Combine it with Jezero Milada near Ústí nad Labem, another restored mining lake with clean water and open shoreline, if you are making a trip of the region.

What are the best beaches in Czechia near Prague?

The beaches near Prague are lake, reservoir and river spots inside or just outside the city limits, and four of them carry the day-trip traffic. None of them is more than an hour from the centre. The main options are listed below.

• Lhota Lake. Lhota Lake is the one to pick if you want open water and real sand, about 20 km (12.4 mi) north-east of the centre, with pine woods, a gentle entry and a large nudist section.
• Hostivař Reservoir. Hostivař Reservoir is the largest swimming area inside Prague itself, in Hostivař Forest Park, with a guarded main beach and a separate naturist beach in the trees.
• Žluté lázně. Žluté lázně is the riverside sports and sunbathing complex at Dvorce in Podolí, ten minutes from the centre by tram, with sand, courts, bars and limited river swimming.
• Smíchovská náplavka. Smíchovská náplavka is the sanded Vltava embankment at Anděl, good for beach volleyball, a drink in the cellar bars and a view of Vyšehrad, and not for swimming.

What are the best sandy beaches in Czechia?

The sandiest beaches in Czechia are the ones built on quarried or mined ground, because the sand is native to the site rather than trucked in. Lake resorts with imported sand exist, but they run thin and coarse by comparison. The four with genuine sand are listed below.

• Lhota Lake. Lhota Lake has the finest, palest sand in the country, left behind by the sand quarry the lake now fills, and it runs the length of both the family and naturist sections.
• Mácha’s Lake. Mácha’s Lake has four sandy beaches spread between Doksy and Staré Splavy, backed by pine and by the full resort apparatus of snack bars, pedalos and playgrounds.
• Kamencové jezero. Kamencové jezero has sand beaches and piers around water kept permanently clear by its alum content, which is the single strangest swim in Czechia.
• Lipno Reservoir. Lipno Reservoir has sand and grass beaches at Lipno nad Vltavou, shelving gently into cold mountain water with a full watersports scene behind them.

What are the best party beaches in Czechia?

The party beaches in Czechia are the two that run bars and music into the night, plus one lake that hosts a major festival on its shore every August. Czech beach nightlife is bar-and-festival nightlife, not club nightlife. The three are listed below.

• Žluté lázně. Žluté lázně runs beach bars, DJ nights and open-air events on the Vltava bank through the summer, and the crowd shifts from families to twenty-somethings after dark.
• Smíchovská náplavka. Smíchovská náplavka fills its embankment cellars and moored boats with bars, and the sanded quay hosts food and music festivals across the warm months.
• Mácha’s Lake. Mácha’s Lake hosts Mácháč, an electronic dance festival running on the lake shore at Doksy since 1999, with techno, house and drum and bass across two days in mid-August.

What are the best beaches in Czechia for kids and toddlers?

The beaches for kids and toddlers are the ones with a shallow, sandy, gradually shelving entry, and there are four with a genuine paddling zone. Depth matters more than facilities here. The four are listed below.

• Mácha’s Lake. Mácha’s Lake is shallow across most of its area and warms up faster than any other resort lake in Bohemia, with playgrounds, pedalos and snack bars behind every beach.
• Komárovský rybník. Komárovský rybník has a sandy bottom and a slow drop-off that makes it a standing recommendation for families in Bohemian Paradise, with campsites right behind the water.
• Pasohlávky. Pasohlávky on the Nové Mlýny reservoirs in South Moravia has two lagoons fenced off for swimming, both with gentle entries, sandy and grassy beaches, playgrounds and a water slide.
• Lipno Reservoir. Lipno Reservoir shelves gently at Lipno nad Vltavou and pairs a shallow beach with the village’s summer attractions, though the water stays cold well into July.

Are there any nudist beaches in Czechia?

Yes, Czechia has several nudist beaches, and the two easiest to reach are Hostivař Reservoir in Prague and Lhota Lake north-east of it. The naturist beach at Hostivař is separated from the main beach by woodland and is one of the older established nudist spots in the country. At Lhota, more than a quarter of the sand is naturist, screened off from the family beaches rather than mixed in with them. Czech naturism is ordinary and unremarked on at both, and neither charges extra for it.

What other famous attractions are in Czechia near its most popular beaches?

The attractions near Czechia’s beaches are the castle, the national park and the rock towns that the lakes happen to sit inside. In every case, the beach is the reason to stay a night and the attraction is the reason to stay two. The four worth planning around are listed below.

• Bezděz Castle. Bezděz Castle is a 13th-century royal Gothic castle on a basalt hill in full view of Mácha’s Lake, and the climb from the car park to the twin towers is the standard rainy-day trip from Doksy.
• Šumava National Park. Šumava National Park runs along the south-western shore of Lipno Reservoir, covering forest, peat bog and glacial lakes, with marked hiking and cycling routes leading straight off the lakeside path.
• Příhrazské skály. Příhrazské skály is the sandstone massif rising above Komárovský rybník, with the Sokolka cliff directly over the northern shore and a network of Bohemian Paradise walking trails on top.
• Vyšehrad. Vyšehrad is the fortress and basilica on the rock across the river from Smíchovská náplavka, a 20-minute walk over Palacký Bridge from the sand.

Which beaches in Czechia offer romantic views?

The beaches with the views worth a detour are the three set against something other than a car park: mountains, a castle hill or sandstone cliffs. Prague’s river spots have a skyline, but they also have crowds. The three are listed below.

• Lipno Reservoir. Lipno Reservoir looks west across open water to the ridges of Šumava, and the promenade restaurants at Lipno nad Vltavou face the sunset directly.
• Mácha’s Lake. Mácha’s Lake is framed by pine woods and by the two towers of Bezděz on their hill, which is the view the poet the lake is named for came here for.
• Komárovský rybník. Komárovský rybník sits under the Sokolka cliff, so the far shore is sandstone rather than shoreline, and evenings on the water are quiet once the campsite settles.

Are there any beaches in Czechia that host festivals?

Yes, the lake shore at Doksy hosts the country’s main beach festival. Mácháč has run on the shore of Mácha’s Lake since 1999 and takes place over two days in mid-August, with techno, house, hardstyle, tech house and drum and bass across several stages on the sand. It draws a national crowd, and accommodation in Doksy and Staré Splavy books out for that weekend well in advance.

Beyond Mácháč, the beach events are smaller and city-based. Smíchovská náplavka runs food and music festivals along the sanded quay through the warm months, and Žluté lázně programmes open-air music on the Vltava bank all summer. For the full calendar, see our guide to festivals in Czechia.

What modes of transport serve the beaches in Czechia?

Four modes of transport serve the beaches in Czechia, and which one works depends on whether the beach is inside Prague or out in the country. City lidos are easy without a car; resort lakes are much easier with one. The four are listed below.

• Trams and metro. Trams and the metro reach the Prague beaches directly, with trams 2, 3, 17 and 20 stopping at Dvorce for Žluté lázně and metro line B at Anděl for Smíchovská náplavka.
• Trains and buses. Trains and regional buses reach every resort lake on this list, including Dřísy for Lhota, Doksy for Mácha’s Lake and Lipno nad Vltavou for Lipno, usually leaving a short walk at the end. You can compare trains and buses across Europe on one search rather than juggling operator sites.
• Cars. Cars are what most Czech families use, because a lake day means towels, a cool box and a pushchair, and the car parks sit at the beach entrance. If you are flying in and want the lakes as well as Prague, DiscoverCars compares the Czech rental desks in one search.
• Bicycles. Bicycles work well for the last stretch, since Czechia’s marked cycle network reaches Lipno, Mácha’s Lake and Bohemian Paradise, and most resort villages hire bikes and e-bikes by the day.

Which places in Czechia host the top beaches?

Three regions hold the beaches worth travelling for: Prague, South Bohemia and the Liberec Region, with the Ústí nad Labem region a fourth if you count mining lakes. Prague has the river lidos and Hostivař; South Bohemia has Lipno; the Liberec Region has Mácha’s Lake.

Prague’s beaches are urban and paid. Žluté lázně and Hostivař Reservoir both charge admission and both sit inside the transport network, so they work as an afternoon rather than a trip. South Bohemia is the opposite: Lipno is a full holiday region with a 42 km (26.1 mi) reservoir, a watersports scene and Šumava National Park along one shore. The Liberec Region’s Mácha’s Lake sits in the middle, close enough to Prague for a long day and equipped enough for a week. For more of the country, see our guide to wonderful places to visit in Czechia.

Where is the closest sea beach to Czechia?

The closest sea to Czechia is the Baltic, reached through Poland or Germany, but the sea Czechs actually drive to is the Adriatic in Croatia. The Baltic coast at Świnoujście or on Rügen is the shorter drive from Prague and the colder swim; Croatia is the longer drive and the reason half of Czechia empties out in August. Slovenia and Italy sit between the two on both counts.

Neither is a day trip. If you are in Czechia for a week and want salt water as well, treat the Adriatic as its own leg of the trip rather than an excursion.

Where to stay near Czechia’s beaches

Accommodation near the Czech lakes splits into resort hotels, campsites and rented cabins, and which one you want depends on the lake. Lipno nad Vltavou and Doksy both have promenade hotels and apartments; Komárovský rybník and Kamencové jezero are campsite and cabin territory.

Book early for July and August, because Czech families take the same two weeks and the lake towns fill. Whole cabins and lakeside apartments tend to be listed rather than hotel rooms at Mácha’s Lake and Lipno, so Vrbo is often the better search for those two, while the beaches inside Prague need no accommodation plan at all beyond a tram ticket. If you are basing yourself in the capital and taking the lakes as day trips, read our Czechia facts guide first for the practical ground rules, and browse the rest of the country on our Czechia hub.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the team covers Czechia for independent travellers, from Prague’s river lidos and the Hostivař and Lhota swimming lakes to the resort shores of Lipno and Mácha’s Lake, including the tours, cabins, rental cars and rail connections worth booking. We update this page when access, facilities and season dates change.