Kampa Island

An island under the Charles Bridge, with a mill wheel and a park

Area Malá Strana
Type Park
Time needed 45m

Kampa Island — Photograph: Chmee2 / CC BY-SA 3.0

Kampa is an island in the Vltava on the Malá Strana side, separated from the bank by the narrow Čertovka channel and passed directly under by Charles Bridge. Its northern end is a cobbled square and a mill race with a working wooden wheel; its southern half is a flat riverside park. It is a twenty-minute walk rather than an attraction, and one of the few quiet places within a minute of the bridge.

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Getting there

Take the steps down from Charles Bridge on the Malá Strana side, roughly halfway along, which land you straight on Na Kampe; most people walk past them without noticing. Trams 9, 12, 15, 20 and 22 stop at Újezd at the southern end of the park, fifteen minutes from the Old Town, and metro Malostranská on the A green line is about eight minutes north. The island is flat, but the stairs from the bridge are steep and narrow; for step-free access come in from Újezd or along Hroznová.

What you see

Na Kampe is a long cobbled square of painted house fronts with the bridge arch at its head. Follow Čertovka upstream to the wooden water wheel on the former Grand Prior's Mill, with the Malá Strana roofs behind it, and the footbridges over the channel that give the quarter its Venice comparison. South of the square the park opens out along the water, with the Charles Bridge towers and the Old Town skyline across the river and the best clear view of the bridge from below. Three large bronze babies by David Černý are planted on the grass here, the same figures that climb the Žižkov tower. At the park's edge stands the Kampa Museum, a converted mill holding Czech and Central European modern art, with Černý's yellow penguins in a row on the embankment outside it. High-water marks on walls around the square record how far the 2002 flood reached.

What to pair it with

The Lennon Wall is two minutes away across Velkopřevorské náměstí. Charles Bridge is overhead, and Malá Strana and the foot of Petřín at Újezd are both within ten minutes.

When to go

Early morning is the best time, when the bridge above is still thin of people and the mill wheel and the water are in shadow and quiet. The park fills with locals on warm weekend afternoons and stays busy into the evening. Autumn is the island's best season, with the trees along the water turning and the low light coming across the river onto the Old Town facades. Avoid after heavy rain, when parts of the park flood and are closed off.

What is hard about it

There is nothing to enter apart from the Kampa Museum, which charges admission, so this is a short free walk and no more. Na Kampe square is lined with cafes and restaurants pricing for their position under the bridge. The steps from Charles Bridge are awkward with luggage or a pushchair, and the park paths flood in high water. Visitors who come expecting a distinct sight rather than a riverbank often find twenty minutes is all it holds.

Common questions

How long do you need at Kampa?

Forty-five minutes covers the square, the mill wheel and a slow walk through the park to Újezd. Twenty minutes is enough if you only want the view of the bridge.

How do you get down from Charles Bridge?

There is a stairway in the middle of the bridge on the Malá Strana side leading down to Na Kampe. It is easy to miss and is steep at the bottom.

Is the Kampa Museum worth it?

If you have an interest in twentieth-century Czech and Central European art, yes; the building and its river terrace are part of the appeal. It is a specialist collection, not a general museum.