Karlovy Vary

The town of spas, mineral springs and relaxation

Karlovy Vary is the most famous and biggest spa town in the Czech Republic. Karlovy Vary was founded around 1350 by the Holy Roman Emperor and Czech king Charles IV. Besides the town's spa tradition, which goes back at least  600 years, Karlovy Vary can also boast a good mix of architectural styles ranging from the Baroque to Art Nouveau. The city center is situated along the narrow valley of the Tepla River and is overlooked by high green hills. The colonnade and pedestrian zone are lined with breathtaking architecture of spa hotels. The most famous is the Grand Hotel Pupp featured in the movie Last Holiday; another well known hotel is the Hotel Thermal, which hosts the world-famous Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Karlovy Vary acquired international fame, thanks to the healing powers of the local mineral springs, of which there are around a hundred, going down to various depths with their temperatures varying from 30 to 73 degrees Celsius.  Today water from twelve of these springs is consumed in the treatment of various ailments.  The water serves mainly to treat disorders of the digestive system, metabolic disorders and disorders of the muscular-skeletal system.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the spa town was a popular place of stay for the nobility as well as poets, writers, and musicians. Goethe sought the healing powers of the mineral springs thirteen times, Russian Tsar Peter the Great visited the town twice as well as Gogol, Bach, Paganini, Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Brahms, Liszt and others.

Karlovy Vary is also home to a world famous product from Bohemia known as Moser Glass, porcelain, the delicious Carlsbad wafers, and of course a world-famous herbal Becherovka liqueur known as the 'thirteenth spring'.

A trip to Karlovy Vary can be combined with a visit to the medieval Loket Castle, founded in the 13th century, with its rich stone architecture and used as a backdrop in the 2006 James Bond movie Casino Royale. The castle is located 15 km from Karlovy Vary. Another tour that can be added to the basic Karlovy Vary trip is a visit of the Moser glass factory.