Elbe-Vltava Waterway

The Elbe-Vltava waterway is the most important waterway in the Czech Republic. It is the only waterway link between the Czech Republic and ports in the North Sea and the Baltic, and it is also part of the Trans-European Transport Network TEN-T.

• Navigability for freight ships: a coherent network that is connected to a foreign network of waterways with length of 315 km – Elbe from the border with Germany to Přelouč, Vltava from Melnik to the Trebenice – Slapy dam.

• Navigability for personal and leisure boats: In addition to isolated stretches of the river Vltava – from the Slapy dam to Tyn nad Vltavou.

In the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 free access of landlocked countries to the sea was enshrined, as politicians were aware of the importance of an independent connection to the international markets. Nowadays the Czech Republic has cost-free access to seaports. In the EU waterway network currently navigation is free from any country which is part of the EU.