Dobříš consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):[2] The name was probably derived from the personal name Dobřech.

Notably, Huťský Pond is the location where muskrats, brought from North America, were first released in continental Europe.

[4] The first written mention of Dobříš is from 1252, when King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia signed a treaty with the Cistercian monastery of Plasy.

Temporarily held by the noble Rosenberg family, King John of Bohemia had a hunting lodge erected at Dobříš.

[5] After the Kingdom of Bohemia had passed to the Habsburg monarchy, Dobříš was given market town rights by King Ferdinand I in 1543, confirmed by his son and successor Emperor Maximilian II in 1569.

The town has a railway station located at the end of track from Prague via Vrané nad Vltavou.