Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně — UNESCO-listed spa towns where you drink the water, not bathe in it.
West Bohemia holds the finest collection of 19th-century spa architecture in Europe, built when Karlovy Vary was where the continent’s aristocracy, composers and novelists went to take the cure. The three main towns were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021 as part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe.
Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad)
The largest and grandest, in a steep river valley two hours west of Prague. Colonnades, pastel facades, twelve hot mineral springs and a geyser that fires 12 metres up. Goethe, Beethoven, Chopin and Peter the Great all came. The town also produces Becherovka and hosts an international film festival each July.
Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad)
Greener, quieter and more forested. Around forty cold springs, an elegant cast-iron colonnade and a musical fountain. Chopin, Wagner and Edward VII were regulars; Goethe fell in love here at 72.
Františkovy Lázně
The smallest and most uniform — a neat neoclassical town of yellow buildings, known historically for treating infertility and still visited chiefly for that reputation.
How the cure actually works
This is a drinking cure more than a bathing one. Visitors buy a lázeňský pohárek — a porcelain cup with a spout in the handle — and walk the colonnades sipping warm mineral water at prescribed intervals. It tastes strongly of iron and sulphur, and it is an acquired taste that most people never acquire.
Oplatky
The thin round spa wafers sold everywhere — originally invented to take the taste of the water away. They are excellent warm.
Visiting
Karlovy Vary is about two hours from Prague by bus, Mariánské Lázně roughly three by train. Both work as a long day trip; an overnight is better if you want to use the actual spa facilities, which require booking.
经常问的问题
Do I need to book a spa treatment?
For the colonnades and the drinking cure, no — just walk in and buy a cup. Actual treatments at spa hotels need booking.
Is the spa water drinkable?
Yes, and that is the point. It is strongly mineral and takes getting used to.
Which spa town should I choose?
Karlovy Vary for grandeur, Mariánské Lázně for greenery and calm.
Read more: spa hotels, day trips from Prague 和 spa centres.
Last reviewed in August 2026.
