Please sign in to post.

a day trip to KARLOVY VARY from Prague

Hello all. I have not seen a lot of information on this board regarding Karlovy Vary. We are thinking of doing a day trip from Prague with a rental car or private car. I figure we will be there for 6 to 8 hrs. Anybody visited KV before. Any help on the 'to do' will be appreciated. I was thinking walk around for a while, have lunch, visit spa, eat again (see the pattern :) ) and then head back to Prague. Thank you in advance.

Posted by
4637 posts

There is a lot of information about it on google. We were there for 3 days at the beginning of January. We visited all 12 mineral hot springs and tasted them all. Then we bought so called 13th spring which is called Becherovka and it is herbal liquor. Good for digestion. We also saw thermal swimming pool close to hotel Thermal, Grandhotel Pupp (part of James Bond Casino Royal was made there), took the funicular up to the view tower (gorgeous views) and hunting lodge Diana. Go an see the geyser (it's enclosed). We ate among others in hotel Embassy (they have pictures of famous persons who ate there). A lot of American actors. Also there is a Russian church worth seeing in Karlovy Vary. The most tourists and a lot of residents are Russians.

Posted by
11 posts

Thank you for the information Ilja. As we only going to be there for 6-8 hrs, what would you recommend we do. I am thinking part of our visit would be a visit to a spa. That should take 2 - 3 hrs. I figure 1 hrs to eat lunch. That means we will have 3 - 4 hrs for sightseeing. What where your top 3 favorites?

Posted by
4637 posts

Actually Gene, you don't have to bother with expensive renting of a car. There is Student Agency Express bus also called Yellow Bus going every hour from Central Station Florenc in Prague to Karlovy Vary. The first one goes at 6:30 am, arrives to K.V. at 8:40 am. The last one leaves K.V. at 8 pm arriving in Prague at 10:15 pm. It's a luxurious bus with service and bathroom. Price 140 czk (substantially less than a car). Also remember: driver would not be able to taste famous Becherovka liquor (zero tolerance for alcohol behind the wheel in the Czech Republic). There is a nice walk by the river Tepla (warm) from hotel Thermal to Grandhotel Pupp. You will walk by Mlynska kolonada with a lot of springs of hot mineral water, then by Trzni kolonada- more springs. On the other side of the river is Vridelni kolonada- that's where the famous Geyser is. From there you will see Grandhotel Pupp ahead. Next to it there is a funicular station. I would recommend to take the train and go up for views. You will still have time for Russian church. It's about 20 minutes walk uphill from Trzni kolonada or you can take a trolleybus #4 from Lazensky most (Spa Bridge). It is close to Mlynska kolonada. We had one of the best massages in hotel Palatin where we stayed. Google: spa procedures in Karlovy Vary. You will find a lot of information there.

Posted by
11 posts

Ilja thank you for your advice. Looks like we are all set for a nice visit to KV. Regards, Eugene.

Posted by
11 posts

Ilja thank you for your advice. Looks like we are all set for a nice visit to KV. Regards, Eugene.

Posted by
813 posts

When we go to Karlovy Vary it's for buying chandeliers and garnet jewelry, we actually skip the spa part.