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One the favorite summer activities for Czech people is to take a canoe and go for a few days trip down the river, having beer along the way and spending the nights camping. Want to try it as well? Here is how you start
The Czechs are an outdoor people, you will see them hiking, cycling, running, camping and doing anything outside all year round. Summertime is not exception, and with heat coming in and the lack of access to the sea, the Czechs are turning to the many rivers the country has to offer to cool down and do their water activities. One of these water activities is a local summer tradition called Voda (in translation - water). You bring your friends, some camping gear, rent a canoe (or bring your own) and row it with your friends down your favorite river. The tradition is so popular that you have official trails to row on (for safety), organized camp sites along the way and of course beer stops to refill your stock and take care of your thirst.
The voda experience
This activity is mostly local, it is always surprising to meet any foreigners along the way but the Czech people are friendly, and with the amounts of alcohol involved you will be understanding Czech in no time.
Voda is usually a group activity, you will see groups of friends or family having 2-3-4 canoes (or rafts) rowing together or having a beer break together on the water. You can either get a 2 people canoe, which is faster but less stable, or a raft that can fit 4-6 people, stable and slow. You can also rent sealed barrels that you can put all your camping gear and clothes in so they won't get wet.
Almost all of the camping sites are reachable by car, how it usually works is that the people leave their car at their finish point and then take public transportation to their starting point.
Things that you need to know before you go
Learn how to steer a canoe before you get on the water - All people will be rowing, but one person will be steering the boat, it is best that all people know how to do it. It is not rocket science, I watched a few YouTube videos to get the hang of it and I was ready.
You will get wet - Even if you are a rowing expert, the water will get to you somehow. Whether you will flip the boat on one of the waterfalls, or get splashed by the people you share the river with, or you will just be too warm and jump into the water to cool down. Either way, you will end up in the water, so waterproof you clothes, your phone, and your speaker in case you feel like having a party on the water.
There are waterfalls - A lot of these water trails have waterfalls, some of them are dangerous so you should know when you need to get your boat out of the water, and some are more friendly and you can go down on them with your kayak, they are considered fun. In any case, all of them should have a safe option to take the boat out, walk past the waterfall with the boat and then put it back in the water. The waterfalls are classified as 'passable' or 'not passable', you should know which one is which BEFORE you get in the water.
There are life-jackets - As most of the Czechs are good swimmers, they are mostly used as a cushion to sit on, but by all means use it for your safety (like I did)
Plan your route - As most of these rivers are very frequented, you can find a lot of information online about where to rent a boat, where to camp, where to buy food or beer, and where are the waterfalls. One of these sources is this app which will show you where is what , it even tells you on which bank the restaurant is, and where can you get your boat out of the water to avoid a dangerous waterfall.
Plan for your abilities and state of mind - Most of the people come to these rivers to take it easy, there is a great possibility of alcohol being involved, or sharing your canoe with your children. All of those might be fun but it will make your advancement slower, the boat will move less if you are not rowing so do not plan more than you can handle.
Plan by your canoe renting company - There are many canoe renting companies, choose one and find out at which points you can return your boat.
You paddle is king - This is your most important piece of equipment, guard it. If you flip the boat hold on to it. You will probably catch up to the boat, but you might never find the paddle if you lose it.
Bring plastic bottles - This is your second most important piece of equipment, whether you want to drink water or fill one with beer or other alcohol you should have a bottle for it, using the plastic cups is extremely uncomfortable when you are on the water, and you can cool the bottle down by tying it to the boat and putting it in the water.
Be friendly - It's a big tradition on the water to greet other people, whether in boats or on the shore. Just yell Ahoj at them like a pirate, you'll fit right in!
My voda experience
I'm an extremely bad swimmer, I would even say I can't swim. But living in Czech Republic and having a partner that grew up there made me reconsider what I think about being in a kayak going down the river, my only condition was to go to a slow river so I am at least in complete control of what I'm doing. The way I chose to do it also meant that I will be rowing a lot more, as I won't be enjoying the fast current helping me out. I have flipped the boat multiple times, I have went down multiple waterfalls and I have been rowing for hours. I survived and I even consider it fun, the proof of that is that I did it more than once.
So if you are like me and want to start slow, here are some options:
Berounka
One of the favorite rivers for the canoeing activity, as it is considered easy but not boring (waterfalls, yay!) and has A LOT of stopping points along the way. We did a 3-day, 62km route starting just out of the town Chrást. This was our route:
We arrived to Chrást by train from Prague, and walked from the train station to our starting point. We slept at Tábořiště Kobylka (point 2) and Rekreační středisko Pohoda (point 3), before ending our water journey at Hospoda U Jezzu. From there we took a train back to Prague. The night stops are official stopping points, meaning that they have restaurants, so you don't need to worry about food. We had a staggering 14 waterfalls on our way, out of which 10 were passable in the water. I, of course, flipped the boat on the second one of those, just 5km from the start, but we recovered quickly and kept going, we did not flip the boat even once for the rest of the 57km. We made friends with many people, including a bachelor party that was extremely fun. A great experience for my first time, so good that I agreed to do it again.
Dyje
Another favorite river for beginners, the slowest one I've been to (meaning that you have to row to advance). This river also has fewer stops and waterfalls, if you are really afraid I would recommend to start here. Our route was 2 days, 26.4km.
We started from Znojmo, to which we arrived by train from Prague, spent the night in the town. In the morning, after looking around the very nice castle we hit the water. We slept at Vodácké tábořiště Krhovice (point 2) and finished our route in Hrádek. This time there were only 5 waterfalls, and only one of them was passable through the water. This river is a newer location for canoeing, meaning that the stops along the way are a bit more scarce (but there are enough), and it is less visited, we were the only ones in the water for the most part. And we finished the route in a Moravian village, where the wine-tasting is something you shouldn't miss, and you will hear about in a future post.
Divoká Orlice
This river is a bit faster than Berounka, and we did only one day, 16.7km on the water. The river itself offers a lot more than what we did, but if you are in the area and you have only one day to spare consider this one. This time there were 4 of us so we rented a raft.
We arrived by car up to Týniště nad Orlicí, where we parked the car and left our camping equipment as it is also our final stop, and took a train to Kostelec nad Orlicí to start our route. This part had only one waterfall and it wasn't passable by water, the way is kind of straightforward, we stopped by for lunch and a beer refill somewhere in the middle, but other than that we were on (or in) the water.
Final thoughts
If you read this post it means that either you are planning to go on the water or you are one of my friends that I made to read it. Either way I hope you have enjoyed it, that it helped you to start or at least that you got some information about canoeing in Czech Republic.
Want to know what else is there to do in Czech Republic, just want to read more of our adventures, or you are one of said friends? Read the other posts!
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