Cheb
A thousand years of history around one market square: the timbered Špalíček houses, an imperial castle with a rare Romanesque double chapel, and the place where Wallenstein was assassinated. A direct train ride from Marienbad.
Photo: VitVit · CC BY-SA 4.0At a glance
Drive time
~30 min by car
Distance
~27 km
Time on site
2–4 h
Effort
easy
Good for
About the place
Cheb Castle is the only imperial palatinate on Bohemian soil — begun under Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century, it preserves a rare Romanesque double chapel and the Black Tower of dark volcanic stone. A few steps away stands the Špalíček, a bizarre double block of timbered merchant houses with roots in the 13th century — the town's emblem.
Cheb entered European history on 25 February 1634: in a house on the square, Albrecht von Wallenstein, generalissimo of the imperial armies, was assassinated — today a museum on the very spot tells the story. Add galleries, the Retromuseum of socialist-era design and the Ohře riverside; from Marienbad the direct train takes half an hour.
