It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague.

The Teplá Vltava originates in the territory of Kvilda in the Bohemian Forest at an elevation of 1,174 m (3,852 ft), on the slope of the Černá hora mountain.

[7][8] The Vltava River drains an area of 28,089.9 square kilometres (10,845.6 sq mi) in size, over half of Bohemia and about a third of the Czech Republic's entire territory.

[13] Upstream of České Budějovice, the river's section around Český Krumlov (specifically from Vyšší Brod to Boršov nad Vltavou) is a very popular destination for water tourism.

[19][20] In the classic narrative of the golem in Jewish folklore, the mystic Judah Loew ben Bezalel made the artificial giant "out of clay from the banks of the Vltava River and brought it to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations to defend the Prague ghetto from antisemitic attacks and pogroms.

"[21] One of the best-known works of classical music by a Czech composer is Bedřich Smetana's Vltava, sometimes called The Moldau in English.

An English version of it, by John Willett, features the lyrics Deep down in the Moldau the pebbles are shifting / In Prague three dead emperors moulder away.

[22] The Vltava River has been used as the setting for a number of films, including the 1942 Czech drama The Great Dam.

A minor planet, 2123 Vltava, discovered in 1973 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, is named after the river.