Although you may not have heard of Karlovy Vary, it really is one of the most picturesque destinations in the Czech Republic. Prague grabs the headlines, along with the bulk of the tourists, and the only people who seem to have heard of this spa town are the Germans, who know it as Karlsbad. ... Read review
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: /10 - Comfortable family pension. Interior is in czech ... more
style, mainly with warm light colours. Hotel is situated in green part of center. 5 minutes walking by foot to main spring Vrjidlo and Colonnade. Near the hotel there is famouse residence Imperial with beautiful park.
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: 5,41/10 - Hotel Derby is located in the vicinity of the ... more
Elisabeth Spa and the spa park. It provides its guests with comfortable accommodation in the elegantly and stylishly fitted rooms and apartments All the rooms equipped with TV/SAT, direct-dial telephone, access to the Internet, refrigerator and safety deposit box. The apartments are suitable especially for long stays incl. the spa treatment.
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: /10 - Hotel Mozart, superbly refurbished building, where ... more
J.W. Goethe during used to live in 18. century is a great place for the rest, treatment or active holiday. The Hotel is located on the left shore of the river Tepla, near to the Spring colonnade. This amenity ( 1000 m far from main colonnade ) is ideal for all of the tourists of Karlovy Vary.
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: /10 - Hotel Heluan is located in the heart of the spa area ... more
of Karlovy Vary, in the opposite of Castle colonade and about 100 m from Spring colonade and Market colonade. Hotel Heluan offers the accommodation in spacious, tasteful furnished rooms, decorated with beautiful stucco ceilings. A few of rooms are equipped with cachled stove or balcony with view of the town. Each room has bathroom and WC, hair-dryer, colour satellite TV with satelite programs, phone, minibar and safe. Historic Centre of the City, Castle Loket, Outlook - Tower, Diana, Chateau Becov, singing fontaine (Marienbad), Cloister Tepla, Spa Frantzisbad.
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: 5,99/10 - This comfortable hotel is located in the quiet and ... more
attractive setting of the Karlovy Vary green belt - Brezova u Karlovych Varu, at a distance of 10 min. drive from the centre of the town Karlovy Vary Shopping centre- 8 kmColonnade with curative springs - 8 km
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: 5,54/10 - The pleasant tourist hotel is situated in a quiet ... more
villa district of Horni Drahovice and it is 10-minute walking far from the spa and the shopping centre of the town. Newly refurbished Hotel Marttel is situated in a quiet villa district of Horni Drahovice and it is only 10-minute walking far from the spa and the shopping centre of the town. The hotel location is ideal for holding exercise or training stays of sportsmen - in direct vicinity of Hotel Marttel, there is a sports site with a football playground, sports hall, rehabilitation centre and a bowling hall.
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: /10 - Our romantic hotel came into being through the ... more
renovation of two valuables buildings dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. It stands in the very heart of the spa centre in the neighbourhood of healing springs, the symbol of the town the Sprudel and the market and Castle Colonnades. All rooms are different, in spite of it; they have a lot in common. In all of them there is a bathroom, WC, SAT TV, minibar, safe and telephone with direct dialling, internet WIFI. Part of the hotel is the Aquilla Wellness Club and an underground car park. The Hotel Promenáda Karlovy Vary... an unique experience, quality and kindness and, in addition to it, a kind of nobility without formal etiquette this all is our aim. Our guests will experience a relaxed atmosphere and the obliging staff will fulfil all wishes which they can read from your eyes. While walking in beautiful spa woods, you will forget the worries of weekdays. Sport-loving visitors will find lots of opportunities here. Some golf courses, a race course, tennis courts, bike or horse rides all this invites you to exercise. An evening visit to the theatre or concert can be a pleasant end of the day.
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: /10 - Homely spa hotel, with more than a hundred years ... more
history. It lies in the very heart of the Karlovy Vary spa zone, just a few steps from the Collonades. Outskirts: Becov castle, Loket castle, Kynzvart castle, Krusne hory mountains.
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Advantages: Easy to get to, cheap, and fabulous scenery, plus the spring water is good for you! Disadvantages: The newer parts of town are not very welcoming
...may not have heard of Karlovy Vary, it really is one of the most picturesque destinations in the Czech Republic. Prague grabs the headlines, along with the bulk of the tourists, and the only people who seem to have heard of this spa town are the Germans, who know it as Karlsbad. This is because it was founded by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles (Karl) IV in 1358, but the many Teutonic tourists are also drawn to this town to take the waters, and see ... ...
Karlovy Vary is just 50km from the German border, and is very easy to reach – cross over at Cheb/Eger and just follow the signs! As you cross the border, be prepared for a bit of a wait, as this is just a dual carriageway and there is normally a long queue of lorries waiting to cross over, which can lead to delays. When you enter the Czech Republic, you are immediately confronted with signs informing you that you need to purchase a ... more
Although you may not have heard of Karlovy Vary, it really is one of the most picturesque destinations in the Czech Republic. Prague grabs the headlines, along with the bulk of the tourists, and the only people who seem to have heard of this spa town are the Germans, who know it as Karlsbad. This is because it was founded by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles (Karl) IV in 1358, but the many Teutonic tourists are also drawn to this town to take the waters, and see the places that Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven and others frequented.
Karlovy Vary is just 50km from the German border, and is very easy to reach – cross over at Cheb/Eger and just follow the signs! As you cross the border, be prepared for a bit of a wait, as this is just a dual carriageway and there is normally a long queue of lorries waiting to cross over, which can lead to delays. When you enter the Czech Republic, you are immediately confronted with signs informing you that you need to purchase a motorway pass, but if you are just heading to Karlovy Vary you don’t need one of these, as the new stretch of motorway only lasts for about a mile before you turn off onto the A-roads again. That said, a pass that is valid for a week only costs about 2 pounds, so it’s hardly going to break the bank.
If this is your first experience of Czech roads, don’t let it put you off! It might be a bit of a bumpy ride (and you’ll probably be distracted by the prostitutes who wait for trade in each lay-by), and you have a good chance of getting stuck behind a lorry belching out clouds of smoke, but things have improved over the last few years. Still, when you do arrive in Karlovy Vary, you won’t be overly impressed. It is fairly typical of many towns that have tried to shed the evidence of years of Communist rule – a sprawling mass of old tower blocks and rundown buildings, interspersed with modern industrial developments and McDonalds adverts.
Unless you have already booked a room in one of the town’s many hotels, your first port of call should be the main station (nadrazi), which is easily found on the south bank of the river. The station houses the central tourist information office, and the staff here proved to be fluent in English and German, which always helps, seeing as my grasp of basic Czech doesn’t extend much further than ordering a beer (surprise, surprise!). You can stay in one of the relatively expensive spa hotels, or take the plunge and go for a B&B – our one cost just 450 crowns a head, it was only a 10-minute walk from the town centre, and the landlady was extremely helpful in recommending places to see, plus she brought breakfast to the room. Not bad for 9 quid each!
The old town is just a short walk from the station, and all the sights are concentrated on the one street that runs alongside the River Tepla - once you get past the towering new hotel that dominates the centre of town, you can see that the old buildings, which endured years of neglect and decay under the Communists, are gradually being restored to former splendours. The stucco facades are being repainted in vivid colours, and the ground floors of many are now given over to restaurants, souvenir shops and haute couture outlets as consumerism makes its mark. Prices have not been adversely affected though, and you can still get a good meal and a few drinks for a tenner – this is probably due to the fact that there are so many cafes to choose from that no one owner can afford to raise prices to rip-off levels. Some cafes supplement their income by offering guests a cigarettes and booze menu at the table as well, so that you can take your cheap spirits and Marlboro Lights back to the hotel, without having anything to do with the tiresome business of shopping!
While in Karlovy Vary, it would be positively rude not to try a glass or two of the local speciality, a herbal liqueur called Becherovka, which is apparently good for the digestion. It’s similar in taste to that very German spirit, Jägermeister, and is best enjoyed chilled – it’s an acquired taste, but you can now also get hold of a new variety, Becherovka Limet, which is flavoured with citrus juices and is a little easier on the tongue if you’ve never tried this stuff before!
There are about 60 springs in Karlovy Vary, which vary in temperature from 34 to 73 degrees Centigrade, and there is one particularly picturesque spot, where the hot spring waters flow into the river, staining the rocks red with iron deposits and sending great clouds of steam up into the street. The main attraction, a geyser that shoots water 40 feet into the air, is housed in a pretty ugly glass and steel structure called the Yuri Gagarin Colonnade, but you can wander around in here and sample the various spring waters. It’s just a shame that such an obviously ‘modern’ structure has been planted so incongruously in the midst of such beautiful surroundings.
One thing you really shouldn’t miss out on is a trip up the funicular railway to the Diana observation tower on the hills to the west of the river. The journey lasts about 5 minutes each way, and you can stop halfway up if you fancy walking on to the tower, but you have to mention this to the driver before leaving the bottom station! Entry to the tower costs just 10 crowns (20 pence), and the view from the top is fantastic. There are markers on the supporting columns, pointing the way to Prague, Cheb and the Erzgebirge in Germany, and you can see the whole of Karlovy Vary spread out before you, surrounded by wooded hills and with the river winding through the town centre. A fabulous view, and as far as I’m concerned, the journey there was worth it for this view alone! If you’re in the Czech Republic, go and see Karlovy Vary, before everyone else finds out about it...
Advantages: Attractive setting,spectacular hot springs. Disadvantages: Expensive.
Karlovy vary is about an hour from Prague by bus.
Bus transport is cheap in the Czech republic so a day trip is posssible if somewhat exhausting.
The things you must see are the hot springs that spurt up to 100 feet in the air, the old hotel pup that serves a very civilised afternoon tea. and the communist era hotel in the newer part of the town centre.This builing is awfull in its appearance externally, but so amazingly retro internally that you ... ...Enterprise.
Prices for accomodation in Karlovy Vary are comparable and can be higher than Prague.The hotels above the centre are set in attractive grounds but their customer service doesnt seem to be on a par.We were questioned rudely by a hotel manager after a jaccuzi bath overflowed.The expectation seeming to be that we would pay for the cost of cleaning up. ...
canIdo 04.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic)
Advantages: Old town with nice buildings, cheap Disadvantages: Small town, parking
...which is very close to Karlovy Vary. The old name of this city is Carlsbad, and it has a great history. You can see that if you walk around the centre of the city. You find nice buildings with great historic view. In the centre there s a swimming pool in a big old building. Besides swimming, you can go to a turkish bath and get a massage. in the park all kind of artists try to paint you or make a sillhouet with scissors. You canget on the top of ...
jthesing 05.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic)