A land where the earth breathes
Marienbad's healing springs are no accident: western Bohemia sits on faults in the earth's crust where volcanism died out long ago, yet the depths still breathe. The carbon dioxide that puts the sparkle in the local waters escapes elsewhere too — in mofettes, peat bogs and by extinct craters. Five trips for anyone who wants to see the region's healing force with their own eyes.
1. Soos — the Bohemian Yellowstone
By car: 45 minutes | Time on site: 1–2 hours
The Soos National Nature Reserve is Bohemia's most striking volcanic spectacle: boardwalks cross the floor of a dried-up mineral lake, mud volcanoes called mofettes bubble on all sides, gas vents hiss, and the ground shimmers with mineral crusts. A landscape you would expect in Iceland — yet it lies just beyond Františkovy Lázně.
2. Komorní hůrka — the volcano Goethe investigated
By car: 35 minutes | Time on site: 30–90 minutes
Bohemia's youngest volcano last erupted hundreds of thousands of years ago, but it entered the history of science in the 19th century: Johann Wolfgang Goethe hoped to settle the great scholarly dispute over the origin of volcanoes with an exploratory adit dug here at his instigation. Today the crater hill near Cheb is a gentle walk, with panels recalling the famous experiment.
3. Smraďoch — sulphur ten minutes from the spa
By car: 10 minutes | Time on site: 30–60 minutes
The nearest volcanic experience of all: a peat bog where hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide bubble up through the ground. A short boardwalk takes you right over the steaming, gurgling pools — and you will understand the reserve's nickname, "the Stinker", before you even see them. A perfect stop on the way to Kladská.
4. Podhorní vrch — the spa's extinct guardian
By car: 15 minutes + a short climb | Time on site: 1–2 hours
The highest point around Marienbad (847 m) is the remnant of a Tertiary volcano — and Goethe, true to his geological passion, climbed it personally in 1822. The summit rocks open onto a full panorama of the Slavkov Forest, the Bohemian Forest and the Teplá uplands. Basalt from the quarry below the summit once paved Marienbad's streets.
5. Parkstein — Europe's most beautiful basalt
By car: 50 minutes | Time on site: 1–2 hours
Alexander von Humboldt declared the Hoher Parkstein "the most beautiful basalt cone in Europe" — and facing its thirty-metre wall of perfectly stacked basalt columns, you will agree. A pilgrimage chapel crowns the old vent, and the Bavarian village below houses a modern volcano museum where children can set off an eruption of their own.
The volcanic trail back home
When you return, taste one of the springs by the colonnade: the carbon dioxide sparkling in the water is the last echo of the same deep forces that created Soos and Parkstein. Find all the volcanic destinations in the "Nature" category of our day-trips catalogue.
Cover photo: Lubor Ferenc, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
