Karlovy Vary, Czechia (November, 2023, Part I).

The positive: there are almost zero tourists in Karlovy Vary in early November.  The negative: the weather is mostly overcast, occasionally rainy, with temperatures in the mid-40s° F (about 7° C).  In hindsight perhaps we should have visited Karlovy Vary prior to our stay in Prague.  I bet the weather would have been much nicer in early October.  Oh well.

Karlovy Vary caught our interest as a potential destination in Czechia based on its location (near Prague), geography (mountains and thermal springs), and reputation (luxury spa town).  The fact that it hosts an International Film Festival and was one of the filming locations for Casino Royale (my favorite James Bond movie) is a bonus.

We took a Regiojet bus from Prague’s ÚAN Florenc station to Karlovy Vary’s Tržnice station.  The bus was pretty nice, with wi-fi, comfortable seats, a footrest, and small folding table.  Also available were a coffee machine and bathroom.  We brought a couple of Cokes with us to drink during the two hour ride.

The only real negative on the bus was the tiny overhead space.  A small purse or backpack will fit, as do coats and jackets.  Medium sized or larger purses and backpacks will not fit, nor will they fit under the seat in front of you. Stephanie was fortunate as we were able, just barely, to cram her backpack overhead.  My backpack was relegated to the floor space between my feet, which was not ideal.

Ordinarily we prefer to travel by train, but the Regiojet bus route had two major advantages.  First, on arriving in Karlovy Vary we could exit at the Tržnice station, a five minute walk from our apartment.  Otherwise, we’d have had to take an Uber from the train station.  Second, on the return, the bus stops at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport, which is perfect as that is our destination.

Karlovy Vary’s city center is near the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá Rivers.  Most of it is a pedestrian zone.  Come to think of it, we rarely had to walk on a street with vehicles during our time here.  The city’s famous thermal springs are found along the Teplá River as it slowly winds through a valley.  If you can see the Teplá River, you’re in a tourist zone. 

Along the Teplá River the city built five colonnades, Hot Spring Colonnade (Vřídelní Kolonáda), Mill Colonnade (Mlýnská Kolonáda), Park Colonnade (Sadová Kolonáda), Market Colonnade (Tržní Kolonáda), and Castle Colonnade (Zámecká Kolonáda).  Each showcases a thermal spring.  The Hot Spring Colonnade features a geyser that shoots up to 30 feet into the air and is quite a sight.  The other four colonnades basically house fancy water fountains.

The touristy thing to do is buy a small mug and drink water from each of the springs.  You can’t walk 30 feet without coming across a place that sells these little mugs.  Tradition states that the warm spring water has healing powers and is good for your health.  One of my friends told us that the springs taste like dirty bath water.  We didn’t want to buy a cheap tourist trinket mug to find out.  No healing water for us.

We have four full days in Karlovy Vary, which is plenty of time to see the major attractions.  After researching things to do and places to go, we elected to purchase two day Karlovy Vary Region Cards, a/k/a the tourist card.  In fact, the first thing we did after dropping off our luggage in our apartment was walk to the Infocentrum (the tourist information center) to buy the cards.

Region Cards are offered in two, four, or seven day varieties.  We chose two day cards costing 450 Kč (about $20) each.  The major benefit of the Region Card is free admission to several activities that are otherwise fairly pricey.  Comparing the cost of what we wanted to do in Karlovy Vary, both with and without the Region Card, made it a no-brainer purchase.  If you go to any two or three of the popular attractions in the area, then you will almost certainly save money with the Region Card.

Karlovy Vary Region Cards can be purchased online, but we chose to get physical cards because the Infocentrum sells discounted bus tickets if you purchase a card there.  Most of the attractions in Karlovy Vary are within walking distance of the center of town, but Moser is an exception.  We knew that we had at least one bus trip to take.  So we each bought a one day bus pass at half price. 

About a week prior to arriving in Karlovy Vary we booked tours – via email – at Imperial Spa (historical baths), Moser (luxury glass manufacturer), and Becherovka (Czech herbal liqueur distiller).  Advance booking of tours in Karlovy Vary is sometimes required, highly recommended year-round, and absolutely necessary at least several weeks in advance during the tourist season.  Decide which tours you want to do before you arrive, book them, and plan the rest of your visit accordingly.

Císařské Lázné (the Imperial Spa – Spa I) dates to 1895, when it was luxury apartments for the aristocracy.  (Ed. note: this is not the Hotel Imperial.) A century later, in the 1980s, spa operations were discontinued and the building spiraled into decay.  In 2010 the Czech government declared the building to be a national public monument, paving the way for its later renovation.

In 2023 the Imperial Spa reopened to the public as a concert venue.  As a national public monument, the building could not be altered.  However, it had a massive central atrium in which a freestanding concert stage and seating were literally dropped in through the roof and built.

We took a one hour tour of the building, in Czech (200 Kč each, or free with a Region Card).  According to the website, tours in several languages are offered.  However, I suspect that only applies during the summer tourist season.  We walked along with our English language pamphlet not understanding a word our guide said.

Truly the highlight of the tour was seeing the concert venue.  The rest of the building was nice, but nothing super spectacular.  If possible, go see a concert performance here.  It would be much better than taking a tour.

After the Spa tour we walked down the street to the Diana Funicular (150 Kč round trip each, or free with a Region Card).  After a short ride, we were at the top of a mountain next to Rozhledna Diana (the observation tower).  It offers some of the best views over the town and surrounding mountains.  Having only 150 wide steps, it is an easy up and down.

From there we walked over to Papilonia (the butterfly house, 120 Kč each, or free with a Region Card).  We were expecting a greenhouse with butterflies.  Nope, it’s a large, hot, humid room in the basement of a building decorated as a hobbit village.  That being said, it is still pretty interesting.  The butterflies are not shy about landing on people, and you have to walk carefully to avoid stepping on them.

Instead of returning to town on the funicular, we walked the trails.  The leisurely walk down took us an hour or so as we stopped at several lookouts offering different views of Karlovy Vary.  Our favorite is the Peter the Great Lookout (Vyhlídka Petra Velikého, and the nearby Mayerův Gloriet).

Thankfully we had just enough cell phone coverage to use Google Maps to follow the trails.  While the trails aren’t perfectly marked on Google Maps, it was close enough.  We managed to walk down the hill in the correct direction.  The tourist map given out at Infocentrum actually shows the walking trails really well, but we did not have it with us at the time.

Fortunately the afternoon we chose to walk the trails was the one afternoon when we had really good weather.  By sheer luck, our upcoming tours were booked on the worst weather days.

Garrett and Stephanie

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