Tips for trips

Mariánské Lázně

The town itself and the spa centre offer a number of walk routes in a pleasant environment of spa parks, which have already been praised by J.W. Goethe in 1820. Among the most important monuments of the spa centre belongs baroque revival colonnade. If you as are an admirer of architecture, you would be taken also by other buildings – the spa hotel Nové Lázně, the cultural and conference building Casino or the spa hotel Hvězda - Skalník.

Also pavilions where rise the springs are solved in an interesting way and they belong to popular walk destinations.

Natural reserves in surroundings of Mariánské Lázně

If you are interested in trips to the surrounding woods, you can choose one of the natural trails. You can experience an interesting introduction to the utflows of carbon dioxide in moffettes on the mini natural trail 'Smraďoch'.

There are a number of natural reserves in the neighbourhood of Mariánské Lázně. Kladská moors, which is situated 10 – 13 km north-west of Mariánské Lázně, contains very valuable mountain moors. These moors are a water reservoir for spa springs.

Nearby Kladského rybníka Prince Otto Schönburg-Waldenburg built a hunting manor in the style of Swiss hunting lodges, in 1877 - 78. The manor is a simple building with a wooden floor. At the turn of the century a further five log-cabins rose in the neighbourhood. The whole area of log-cabin development in the Swiss-Tyrolean style is protected as a cultural monument.

Other reservation are Planý hill, Vlček, Křížky, Domin’s rock or Svatošské rocks.

There are many fascinating views on these trails, which have gradually been renovated since 1998. Many famous personalities, for example a famous Czech writer Vladimír Páral, participate in the project of renovation of places with monuments in Mariánské Lázně woods.

The Kynžvart Chateau

An older baroque building from the end of the 17th century was rebuilt in 1820 - 1833 for the Chancellor Klement Václav Lothar, prince von Metternich-Winneburg.

The chateau is a unique example of a country representative residence in the style of Viennese classicism and empire, sensitively embedded in a vast natural-landscape park. During the life of the prince Metternich, a large number of pieces of art were concentrated there, collections of coins, medals, curiosities, china, weapons and a library with unique manuscripts and incunabulums.

The Teplá Monastery

The history of premostrate canony in Teplá dates back to 1193, when the Czech courtier Hroznata founded it.

Hroznata was declared blessed at the end of the 19th century. In the history of monastery periods of prosperity and failure have often changed hands. At the turn of the 17th and 18th century the monastery was rebuilt into baroque style by a German architect, Christopher Dientzenhofer. Like many other Czech and Moravian monasteries, the Teplá monastery was devastated after the expulsion of monks in 1950. In 1990 premonstrates returned to the monastery and since then it has been slowly renovated.

Nowadays the monastery lives a rich religious life and it is open the whole year round to visitors. A library in the monastery is, by its extent (about 100 thousand volumes), the second biggest in the Czech Republic. There are valuable manuscripts, incunabula and books in all European languages. The abbatial church of Annunciation of Virgin Mary is a valued example of the transition to Romance style in Gothic. The baroque interior conceals valuable pieces of art from the 18th century.

Františkovy Lázně

The town of Františkovy Lázně was founded in 1793 and it is famous for curing blood circulation and gynaecologic illnesses. The basis of the cure is created by 24 springs, sources of sulphur-ferrous peat and the outflow of natural gas with a high content of carbon dioxide.

It is the smallest spa town in the West Bohemia and thanks to the uniform classicist architecture of the spa buildings and spring pavilions, Františkovy Lázně has kept the charm and atmosphere of a spa place from the turn of 19th century.

Karlovy Vary

One of the biggest and the oldest spa towns in the Czech Republic, gained considerable privilege from King Charles IV in 1370.

The biggest boom Karlovy Vary had was in the 18th century, when the gothic style of the spa town was gradually changing into more modern one. Especially crucial to the importance of the development of balneology in Karlovy Vary was Dr. David Becher, whose family stood beside others with the origin of the famous herbal liqueur Becherovka.

There are 13 mineral springs used for drinking cures and mineral baths in Karlovy Vary. The most famous is Vřídlo – a spring of a of temperature 73 ºC, which shoots jets very high into the air. Every year Karlovy Vary is also a meeting place for film stars and film lovers who come to the International Film Festival.

Loket castle

Nearby Mariánské Lázně is located a medieval fortress with a slim cylindrical tower.

Loket castle served as a military fortress as early as during the reign of Přemysl Otakar II and during the reign of the Lucemburks it was a site of various international meetings. Nowadays there is a museum with a historical exposition within the castle’s premises. Loket was visited by many famous personalities, among them also by Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

Bečov castle

The most significant historical monument in the neighbourhood of Mariánské Lázně is Bečov castle.

It is a medieval castle connected to a baroque chateau, which was founded at the end of the 13th century. It was gradually modernised in the 18th and 19th century. Because of this there is a mixture of gothic and baroque styles in the architecture. An abundant amount of stonework details of gothic portals and windows have been preserved and together with parts of renaissance paintings in the residential tower.

Cheb

The town of Cheb belongs to the oldest towns in the Czech Republic and it is a place sought after by tourists.

It has a preserved historical centre, which is the city conservation area. A symbol of the square is a well-known Špalíček - a bizarre complex of 11 houses divided by the Kramářská lane, which was built in the 13th century. One of the most beautiful medieval Romanic middle European monuments is Cheb castle, with its Black tower and two-floor chapel. The town’s history is displayed to visitors in an abundant exhibition in Cheb museum, and art lovers can visit one of Cheb’s several galleries.

Prague

The capital of the Czech Republic is situated on both banks of the river Vltava. Prague is the economical, political and cultural centre of the country and the seat of the President.

It has developed into its present appearance during 11 centuries. Nowadays it spreads out over 496 km2, where altogether 1 187 000 inhabitants live. Nearly 3 million visit tourists Prague every year. The historical town centre with the unique skyline of Prague castle, is the city conservation area of UNESCO.