Are you hot in Prague? Head off for Žluté lázně. This unique complex in Prague – Podolí is more than a hundred year old and it offers more than just a cooling swimming pool and sand beaches. Families with children, sportsmen, fans of music and cultural events, and “pub layabouts” will find their own little paradise there.
Meeting place for the cream of society and “hoi polloi”
This unique recreational complex in the city centre with the capacity up to 9,000 visitors was opened to the public on 16 June 1910. Originally, Žluté lázně – a large outdoor swimming pool – was next to the more luxurious Modré lázně (Blue Spa) frequented by a richer clientele (both the places got their names because of the colour of their fencing). In 1949, both the river spas merged and the differences between the visitors and the offered services were balanced out quickly.
A sunny side of floods? The renewal of Žluté lázně
In the next decades, Žluté lázně was very popular with all inhabitants of Prague; however, a decline came when the temperature of the Vltava River dropped because of the new Slapy Dam. Since the 1960s until the devastating flood in 2002, the complex and the pools dilapidated. The flood was to the spa’s profit in the end, as well as to other sites in Prague. Thanks to the overall revitalisation of the 35,000m2 area and construction of a modern complex in 2005, the place came alive again. Today, Žluté lázně is one of the popular summer attractions in Prague.
Active and passive sports in Žluté lázně
Žluté lázně provides a suitable space for public events, including concerts and outdoor cinema. If the Czech football or hockey representation plays an important tournament, thousands of fans meet there to watch their team on huge screens and support them.
In Žluté lázně, you can rent a playground for beach volleyball or foot tennis with your friends. Smaller areas are used for table tennis or pétanque. Inside the spa, there are also many rental shops of sports equipment – bicycles, scooters, roller-skates, longboards or paddle boats. Classes of paddleboarding taught by professionals are a hit.
Children playrooms
The fully fenced children’s part of the complex includes smaller pools and paddling pools, several playrooms and outdoor playgrounds. Children can have a great romp there! Meanwhile, parents can have a drink in one of the bars or restaurants. Here, in water, sand and green grass, you will easily forget you are relaxing in the centre of Prague and not by the seaside.
How to get there?
To get to the complex in Podolí on the right bank of the Vltava River, take trams 3, 17 or 21 from the Dvorce tram stop. Given the opening hours of the spa, you might appreciate the line 52 which goes after midnight. Visitors of Žluté lázně can use the paid private carpark with the capacity of 80 vehicles. The whole complex and its facilities are wheelchair accessible.
