Run the Prague Half Marathon, then the river paths around it

The river is the thread through the whole weekend. In 2026 runners picked up their bibs in the exhibition halls at Výstaviště, shook out their legs under the mature trees of Stromovka, then lined up on the embankment in Holešovice and ran south past the Old Town Bridge Tower, the National Theatre and the Dancing House. The days either side of the race are just as good for running in Prague: flat paved paths along the Vltava in both directions, and parks big enough for a proper easy hour.

The 2027 Generali Prague Half Marathon runs on Saturday 3 April, starting at 10:00, over 21.097 km through the heart of historic Prague. The Prague race carries the World Athletics Elite Label and belongs to the SuperHalfs, a series of European half marathons that Prague joined in 2020. The half was first held in 1999. RunCzech runs it, the same organisation that holds the Prague Marathon in May, and the 27th edition is set for 17,000 runners. Every one of those places is already spoken for. The race has reached full capacity and the ballot has closed. A 2027 bib now comes in one of two ways: a registration code from one of RunCzech's travel agency partners, or a code from one of its charity partners. The charity partners sell their remaining entries during the autumn. Both routes are set out on the 2027 race page; use nothing else, since fraudulent resale of registrations is a known problem.

The Prague Half Marathon is a city loop, closed to traffic, that largely follows the Vltava and passes the great landmarks of the old centre. The 2027 map is not out yet, so the 2026 course is the best guide to what you will run.

The 2026 course started and finished beside the HolKa footbridge, the 20th bridge over the Vltava in Prague. It links Karlín, Štvanice and Holešovice. The first kilometres head for the old centre. The Metronome stands above the river at 2 km, where a giant Stalin monument stood until it was blown up in 1962. Then come the Rudolfinum concert hall and the Gothic Old Town Bridge Tower by 3 km.

After the National Theatre the route runs up the river to Císařská louka, an island at 7 km. It comes back past the Dancing House on Rašínovo nábřeží between 10 and 11 km and the old Výtoň customs house at 11 km. At 13 km it turns up Národní třída, the street where the Velvet Revolution began in November 1989. Every landmark is listed kilometre by kilometre in the 2026 course description. The 2026 GPX track sits on mapy.com, linked from the race page: log in, open the three dots at the top right and choose Export.

Fast enough for elite times. The course records stand at 58:16 for men, set by Rodrigue Kwizera in 2026, and 1:04:52 for women, set by Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2017, a world record at the time. Kenyan runners own the results: all but five of the men's winners have come from Kenya, and Kenya has also supplied over half the women's winners. Behind the elite field, the 2027 entry gives everyone the same closed roads, refreshment stations and medical support on the course. Pacers run for popular finish times, which makes a first half marathon here easier to judge.

A music festival plays along the course, a lift for the moment the legs start to complain, and a live TV broadcast or online stream lets friends at home follow the race.

You collect your bib in person at the Running Expo before the race, then walk to the start on the embankment for 10:00. The 2027 timetable is not out yet; the 2026 weekend ran like this.

In 2026 the Running Expo filled the Křižíkovy pavilony at Výstaviště, the exhibition grounds in Prague 7. It opened on Thursday 10:00 until 20:00, Friday 10:00 until 21:00 and race morning 6:30 until 8:00. Bibs and T-shirts were in Pavilion E. Bring photo ID or a passport. If you land late, a friend can collect for you once you authorise them online in your Runners ID account, up to the expo's closing time.

Check the number in your envelope straight away: a wrong one is swapped at the race office. The shakeout run, an easy group jog the day before a race, set off at 17:00 on Friday from Terasa 67, on the roof of Pavilion B. Arriving on Thursday or early Friday leaves time for the expo, the shakeout and a quiet evening off your feet. The full schedule is on the 2026 information for runners.

Race morning in 2026 ran to a tight clock. The technical area at Holešovická tržnice opened at 8:00, with baggage storage, toilets and changing rooms. The line-up on Bubenské nábřeží opened at 9:15 for the 10:00 start. The leading men were due back just before 11:00 and the last runners were welcomed at 13:00. Bibs did not double as public transport tickets in 2026, and there was no free travel for runners. Buy a ticket in the PID Lítačka app or at a metro ticket machine the day before.

Pin the bib on your chest with the safety pins in the envelope, and leave the timing chip on its back alone: no chip, no time. Then the reward: a massage after the finish is part of the entry, and the finish sits by the river where you started.

Pack for a cold start and a mild finish. In April Prague averages a high of 15.1 °C and a low of 4.3 °C, with 9.5 days of rain or snow of 1 mm or more; March averages 10.3 °C and 0.8 °C. The race on 3 April falls right between the two. A 10:00 start comes well before the warmest part of the day, so a light layer for the line-up and a dry top in your baggage bag make sense. April also opens the city's best months for running, which run until October. The table below shows each month's average high and low and its days of rain or snow, measured at Prague's centre point.

Stay within walking distance of Holešovice for the easiest race weekend. In 2026 the start and finish sat on Bubenské nábřeží in Holešovice and the expo was at Výstaviště. Stromovka stretches west from Holešovice towards the exhibition grounds, so the bib, the shakeout loop and the start line sat close together. The HolKa footbridge at the start crosses the river to Karlín, which puts Karlín on foot too.

Among theKlub's running-friendly hotels in Prague, The Julius Prague is the 5-star choice for a race weekend with some comfort in it. Guests rate it 9.8 out of 10 across 7,293 reviews.

THE MANES Boutique Hotel Prague and Hotel Residence Agnes both hold a perfect 10.0 from their guests, a good fit for a couple who want the best-reviewed rooms. Aparthotel City 5 suits a group of friends who want apartment-style rooms together. The 2-star University Hotel, rated 9.8, suits a runner who only needs a bed and a quiet night. See where each one sits on the map of running in Prague before you choose, and pick the one closest to Holešovice.

The Vltava embankments give you flat, paved running from the centre in both directions, and Stromovka sits right beside the 2026 expo. Away from the river, the old centre's cobblestones are uneven underfoot, so keep easy runs on the river paths and park loops and save the cobbles for sightseeing.

Start at the National Theatre and follow the river upstream along the Náplavka, the riverside promenade south of the theatre, then on through the tunnel under Vyšehrad. Turn at the Český Yacht Klub marina for 5 km there and back, at Žluté Lázně for 8 km, or at Barrandovský most for 10 km, all on one gentle out-and-back that a beginner can stop whenever they like.

For a loop, cross at the foot of Vyšehrad on the railway bridge walkway and come back along the Smíchov bank to Palackého most: 5 km of smooth asphalt, wider on the Náplavka side, narrower and shared with cyclists on the way back. Before 7:30 the embankment is close to empty, and you pass the Dancing House, the same building the race passes between 10 and 11 km. The full set of routes is in this guide to Prague running routes.

For the long easy run of your week, start at the Metronome in Letná park, drop to the riverside path and follow it under Štefánikův most and Hlávkův most. It runs along the Holešovice waterfront and past the Prague marina to the Troja bridge. That is 7 km one way and 14 km there and back, paved all the way. Cyclists share it, but it is wide enough that clashes are rare outside weekend afternoons.

The view turns from city skyline to wooded banks, and on the way back Prague Castle grows bigger with every kilometre. Letná's panoramic views over the city's bridges make the Metronome a good place to meet friends for a group run before race day. Across the river from the turn, the Troja château gardens are free to enter and a good place to stop for a minute.

Stromovka, once a royal game reserve, is the easiest place for a shakeout run, right beside the expo. The main path round the fishponds is a flat, shaded 2 km loop; run under the railway bridge into the northern part and it grows to 3.5 km. The paths are mostly packed gravel, firm enough for road shoes and kinder on the legs than asphalt, and a drinking fountain stands near the Governor's Summer House.

The northern edge joins the Troja path, so the Letná run can finish here. Save Petřín, the hill above Malá Strana that rises 130 m, for after the race: its steep paths and stone stairs are made for hill repeats, not for legs that still have 21 km to run.

Prague's half is a river race in a river city, and the weekend works best when you keep it that way: the expo, Stromovka and the start all within a short walk, the embankments for every easy run. If one big city race leads to another, the Running Boston guide covers that city's routes and group runs, and running holidays with theKlub gathers every place we know for a run. Get a code from one of the race's charity partners first, then book a bed close to Holešovice.