A stretch of stone embankment below the road on the Vltava, with a Saturday farmers' market, bars in the old ice vaults, and the best summer evening in the city.
What it is
Náplavka means the alluvium — the stretch of stone embankment below the road on the right bank of the Vltava, between the Dancing House and Vyšehrad. For decades it was a place to park.
Since around 2010 it has become the best public space in Prague: the embankment is closed to traffic, the old ice vaults cut into the wall have been converted into bars and galleries, and the whole thing fills up from spring to autumn with people sitting on the stone with their legs over the water.
The market
Farmářské trhy Náplavka, Saturday mornings roughly eight until two, and it is the best food market in the city. Producers from Bohemia and Moravia — cheese, smoked meat, bread, apples, wine, honey — plus prepared food stalls and coffee.
It is a genuine market that Praguers shop at rather than a tourist attraction with a market attached, which is increasingly rare in the centre.
Go early; by noon the queues at the good stalls are substantial.
The vaults and the boats
The ice vaults — twenty arched cellars in the embankment wall, restored in 2020 with circular glass doors — hold bars, cafés, a bookshop and exhibition spaces.
Moored boats along the embankment operate as bars and clubs, and several have terraces on the water.
In summer there are outdoor films, concerts and a swimming pool moored on a pontoon.
The walk
Náplavka connects two things worth connecting.
North it runs to the Dancing House — Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić’s 1996 building, nicknamed Fred and Ginger — and on toward the National Theatre.
South it runs to Výtoň and the steps up to Vyšehrad, which is the walk to do: an hour along the river ending on the ramparts with the best view in the city.
The railway bridge at Výtoň, a rusting steel structure that is the subject of a long argument about whether to restore or replace it, is worth looking at on the way.
The other bank
Smíchovská náplavka on the left bank is quieter, with its own smaller market on Saturdays.
Practical
Free and open. The bars take cards; the market stalls prefer cash.
In spring the river floods and the embankment closes — the 2002 flood put it several metres under, and there are marks on the wall.
Winter is quiet down there, and the vault bars stay open.
