Karlovy Vary

KARLOVY VARY is the most important Czech spa with a 600-year-long tradition. It has 12 springs used for balneological purposes. The best-known among them is called Vridlo (Geyser) with a temperature of 72.2°Celsius. This fashionable health resort is also attractive due to its historic architecture, beautiful colonnades and sanatoria. Most of its houses were built in the Empire style in the 19th century.

The spa has hosted many famous visitors throughout the centuries, including Tsar Peter I, writers Kafka, Schiller and Goethe, as well as composers Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Dvorak and others. The town saw the first European performance of Antonin Dvorak's Symphony from the New World in 1894. Famous visitors are commemorated by numerous statues and plaques. Traffic is excluded from the spa quarter. The town's theatre, galleries and casinos offer a busy cultural and social life, including music and film festivals. There is an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts and 120 km of hiking trails. Karlovy Vary is also well-known for its glass and china production. Moreover, for almost two centuries, the town has enjoyed fame as the producer of the Karlovarska Becherovka liqueur, the popular Mattoni mineral water and the original Karlovy Vary wafers.