Karlovy Vary, colonnades, hot springs and a pool with a view.

Karlovy Vary is Bohemia's most famous spa town: a city of colourful hotels squeezed into the narrow valley of the River Teplá, with forests on the slopes and hot springs that bubble up beneath colonnades of stone, wood and iron. Since the nineteenth century aristocrats, writers and, today, visitors from half the world have come here to take the cure. Along with other European spa towns, it forms part of the World Heritage listing of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. From Prague you can do it in a day, but a night lets you bathe at leisure.

How do you get there from Prague?

By direct bus, about two hours from Florenc station and other stops in Prague: it is quicker than the train, which takes a roundabout route. Buy your ticket online in advance in summer.

By car, about 120 km along the D6 motorway, around an hour and three quarters. Parking in the centre of the spa is difficult and expensive: choose a hotel with parking.

What to do in Karlovy Vary

The colonnade walk. You stroll along the Teplá, from colonnade to colonnade: the Mill Colonnade, the largest, and the others, with numbered springs at different temperatures. The custom is to buy a porcelain spa cup, with a spout, and sip. At the end, the Hot Spring Colonnade: the Vřídlo, the hottest spring, shoots several metres into the air inside a glass pavilion.

Bathing. Thermal cures involve a doctor and several days, but anyone can swim in the outdoor pool at the Hotel Thermal, on the building's terrace: a 32 °C pool with 25-metre lanes and a smaller one with spring water at 38 °C, open every day from 9:00 to 23:00.

Crystal and liqueur. The Moser factory, outside the centre, demonstrates glassblowing Monday to Friday, by reservation. In the centre, the Becherovka Museum tells the story of the town's herbal liqueur and ends with a tasting.

The forest. The Diana funicular climbs in five minutes to the lookout tower; you walk back down along the forest paths to the colonnades.

When to go

Any month. In winter the contrast of hot water in the open air with the cold is the best moment for the pool; the springs run all year. Spring and autumn are quiet. In July, the international film festival fills the hotels: book far in advance or avoid those dates.

In a day or with a night?

In a day, from Prague: you leave early by bus, do the colonnade walk, have lunch, ride up the funicular and bathe for an hour before returning. With a night you add Moser in the morning and an evening swim, when the pool is at its calmest.

How much does it cost?

The colonnades and springs are free; the cup is bought from the stalls along the promenade. The Thermal pool costs from 699 CZK per hour per adult; the Moser visit, 370 CZK; Becherovka, from 290 CZK.