What to wear on the Vltava

What should I wear on a boat tour in Prague?

Comfortable smart casual, flat shoes and one warm layer more than you need on land. The cabins are heated, the decks are not.

Prague's cruise boats have a covered main deck with big windows. Prague Boats says the main deck on every one of its boats is heated all year and air-conditioned in summer, so inside you dress as you would for a restaurant. The problem is the deck. Once the boat moves, the air off the Vltava cuts through a shirt, even in June, and on a November evening it is properly cold.

Layers solve it: a light knit or fleece under a jacket you can take off at the table. Add a scarf from October to April. You will want the deck for photos of Charles Bridge and the Castle, so plan to step outside at least once.

Is there a dress code on the Prague Jazz Boat and dinner cruises?

No. The Jazz Boat publishes no dress code, and Prague Boats says its Crystal Dinner is not a strictly formal event.

The Jazz Boat's own site and its GetYourGuide listing say nothing about clothes. Smart casual is fine: jeans and a good shirt or a dress, whatever you would wear to a decent restaurant. Some couples dress up because it is a special night out. Nobody minds either way.

Prague Boats is the one operator that answers the question. On its Crystal Dinner page it recommends smart casual or evening wear and adds that it is not strictly formal, so wear whatever feels comfortable. The one real dress code on the river is for the boat party: the night ends at EPIC club, where the listing gives smart casual and asks you to bring a passport or ID card for the door.

No dress code, a live band and the lit bridges: the evening most visitors dress up for anyway.

★ 4.7 · 2 hours 30 minutes · from $46

Explore the Jazz Boat → Tour details

What should I wear to a jazz bar in Prague?

Smart casual. The cellars get warm, and at Reduta coats, jackets and bags go to the free cloakroom.

Prague's jazz clubs are relaxed. A full room heats up fast, so wear something light under your coat. Reduta's rules, printed on its GetYourGuide listing, say no coats, jackets or bags in the hall: hand them in at the cloakroom, which is free. Backpacks, oversize luggage, your own food and drinks and pets are not allowed either.

If you are doing a club and the boat in one trip, the same outfit works for both. Our guide to Prague's jazz clubs has the addresses and start times.

How cold is a Prague river cruise at night?

Warm inside, cold outside. The cabins are heated year-round, but the open deck after dark can be freezing from October to March.

Reviews say it plainly. One guest on the 50-minute evening cruise in early November summed it up:

Not what I expected at all - a huge boat with table service for drinks ! Freezing cold but worth it for the views
Alannah, Nov 2026

On the Jazz Boat you spend most of the evening at your table near the band, so the cold only matters when you go out for photos. On a sightseeing boat you may want the upper deck for the whole hour. A hat and gloves in your coat pocket weigh nothing. In winter our post on river cruises in winter covers heated boats and the December sailings.

What shoes should I wear on a boat cruise?

Flat shoes with grip. You walk down embankment steps, across gangways and sometimes from one moored boat to the next.

Most Prague cruises board from the lower embankment by Čech Bridge, below the street level of Dvořákovo nábřeží. Gangways can be wet, and some departures board through another boat. A guest on the glass boat lunch cruise describes boarding at one pier and walking across to the boat moored beside it. Stilettos on a wet ramp are a bad idea; block heels, loafers or clean trainers are not.

Walking to the pier matters too. The Old Town streets are cobbled, and Prague Boats puts its main pier about 10 minutes on foot from Old Town Square, with the tram stop Právnická fakulta (lines 17 and 18) and the metro at Staroměstská nearby. If you need step-free boarding, Prague Boats names its wheelchair-accessible boats: Anna Carolina, Bella Bohemia, Marie d'Bohemia, Grand Bohemia, Bohemia Rhapsody and Agnes de Bohemia.

What if it rains on a Prague boat tour?

The cruises still sail. Every large boat has a covered, heated main deck, so bring a rain jacket for the deck and stay dry inside.

Prague Boats says its cruises run in any weather, behind panoramic windows on the covered main deck, and only extreme weather or high water on the Vltava moves or cancels a sailing (you are then offered another date). Prague Venice, which runs the small Čertovka boats, puts it more poetically on its service hours page: neither rain, heat, wind nor frost stops it leaving port. In winter its boats are closed and heated.

A small umbrella is fine for the walk to the pier. On deck, a hooded jacket beats it: umbrellas catch the wind on the water and block other people's view.

What not to bring on a boat in Prague?

Luggage and large bags. The dinner, glass boat, lunch and evening cruises all list them as not allowed, and most also exclude pets.

If you are cruising on your last evening, drop the suitcase at the hotel first. These are the restrictions printed on the GetYourGuide listings:

Three hours on the Vltava with a buffet, a welcome drink and live background music; bring an appetite, not a bag.

★ 4.3 · 3 hours · from $77

Explore the dinner cruise with live music → Tour details

Do Prague boats have toilets?

The large ones do. Prague Boats has toilets on all its large boats; its small Devil's Channel boats have none.

Prague Boats answers this on its cruise pages: toilets are on all large boats, and the wheelchair-accessible Grand Bohemia, Bohemia Rhapsody and Agnes de Bohemia also have an accessible toilet. The exceptions are the small boats that go into the Čertovka (Elvíra, Horymír, Mistr Jan Hus and Elektronemo), which have no toilet; that cruise lasts 50 minutes.

The Jazz Boat's own pages do not mention toilets, so ask the crew when you board or the operator when you book. Prague Venice does not say either, and its cruise is only 45 minutes, so go before you board. Our Prague Venice guide has the details.

Frequently asked questions