Slav Island

This island is a sleepy, dog-eared sandbank with pleasant gardens, river views and several jetties where you can hire rowing boats. Its banks were reinforced with stone in 1784, and a spa and a dye works were built in the early part of the following century. Bohemia’s first train had a demonstration run here in 1841, roaring down the island at a rattling 11km/h. In 1925 the island was named after the Slav conventions that had taken place here since 1848. In the middle stands Žofín, a 19th-century cultural centre that has been restored and opened as a restaurant and social venue. At the southern end is Šitovská věž, a 15th-century water tower (once part of a mill) with an 18th-century onion-dome roof.