A private Blatná Water Castle tour from Prague takes you to one of the most unusual castles in the Czech Republic — a moated island residence still owned and lived in by the same family since 1798. Blatná is one of only three preserved water castles in the country, about 95 kilometres south of Prague, set on a rocky island in a pond fed by the Lomnice River. With its white Gothic tower mirrored on the water, it has been described as "a swan sitting on a lake" — a quiet, atmospheric alternative to Karlštejn and Konopiště castles.
Children remember Blatná for the deer. Just across the moat lies the 42-hectare English park, where a free-roaming herd of around sixty tame fallow deer comes right up to be fed by hand, with peacocks strutting between the old oaks. Visitors buy small bags of feed from a machine at the gate. Outside the autumn rut, the deer are unusually trusting — they will eat from a child's palm. The combination of a moated castle and a hand-feedable deer park makes Blatná especially memorable for families and photographers.
The story of the castle
The story begins in the marshes. Blatná takes its name from the Old Czech word blata, meaning "marshes," and the first written record dates to 1235, when a fortress stood on a small island in the wetlands. By the end of the 13th century the Bavors of Strakonice had turned the surrounding swamp into wide water defences and rebuilt the seat in stone — the form that makes Blatná a true vodní zámek, a water castle.
The castle's golden age came under the Lev of Rožmitál family in the 15th century. Jaroslav Lev of Rožmitál rose to become Lord Steward of the Kingdom of Bohemia and, between 1465 and 1467, led a famous diplomatic mission — a delegation of forty nobles and knights with fifty-two horses that set out from this very courtyard and travelled across Germany, England, France, Spain and Portugal to promote peace, an early vision of a united Europe. On the journey he became the first Czech ever awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece. His sister Johanna of Rožmitál married King George of Poděbrady and was crowned Queen of Bohemia in 1458. It was for this family that the royal architect Benedikt Rejt — the master of Prague Castle's Vladislav Hall — built Blatná's striking Renaissance palace wing.
After centuries that carried the estate through the Counts of Rozdražov and the Serényi family, Blatná was bought in 1798 by the Hildprandts, a noble house of Tyrolean origin. They created the great English park, and the famous scientist Jan Evangelista Purkyně tutored their children here. The communists confiscated the castle and forcibly evicted the family in 1952 — they eventually emigrated to Ethiopia under the protection of Emperor Haile Selassie. The family returned in 1992 and won the castle back in restitution, and a descendant runs it to this day.
What the tour includes
Your guide picks you up at your hotel in Prague and drives you door-to-door into the South Bohemian countryside. On the way we tell you the story of the families who shaped Blatná and the strange, beautiful history of Bohemia's water castles.
Private licensed guide
Private transport from your hotel in Prague (door-to-door)
Entrance tickets to castle interiors (optional, purchased on site by card or cash)
Lunch (not included; free time included to eat at a local restaurant)
Blatná is a water castle in the town of Blatná, in the South Bohemian Region, about 95 kilometres south of Prague — roughly a 1.5-hour drive. Your guide drives you door-to-door from your hotel, so there are no train changes or branch-line connections to worry about.
A water castle (vodní zámek) is built on an island or surrounded by water rather than on a hilltop. Blatná sits on a rock in a pond fed by the Lomnice River and is one of only three preserved water castles in the Czech Republic, with Švihov and Červená Lhota.
Yes — it's the highlight for most families. The English park is home to a free-roaming herd of around sixty tame fallow deer that come up to be fed by hand, along with peacocks. Deer feed is sold from a machine at the park entrance. The deer should be given space during the autumn rut, October to December.
The Hildprandt family, who first bought Blatná in 1798. The communists confiscated it and evicted the family in 1952, but they returned in 1992 and regained ownership in restitution. A family descendant still runs the castle and lives on the grounds, which makes Blatná a genuinely lived-in home rather than a museum.
If you want somewhere atmospheric and uncrowded, yes. Blatná is far quieter and more off-the-beaten-track than the famous castles near Prague, and the combination of a moated water castle and a hand-feedable deer park makes it especially memorable for families and photographers.
from 64 EUR per person
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At the castle you can join the interior tour through the original family rooms — period furniture, family portraits, the antler-lined hunting corridors, the dining room hung with Habsburg portraits, and the tower's 15th-century frescoed Green Chamber, a rare survival in the Czech lands. Then we cross to the park, where you can feed the fallow deer by hand, watch the peacocks, and wander the lawns and footbridges around the water.
There is time, too, for a coffee in the courtyard café and a relaxed lunch in the little town of Blatná before the drive home. The pace is unhurried and entirely yours — this is a private tour, just for your group.
Because Blatná sits in South Bohemia, it pairs beautifully with the region's headline castles — combine it with Hluboká Castle, often called the Czech Windsor, or extend south to Český Krumlov, the UNESCO medieval town. Prefer to stay closer to Prague? Konopiště Castle makes a natural castle pairing. Price for combined tours available on request. You can browse all our private Prague tours and day trips from Prague if you are planning more.