My day in Karlovy Vary

After Prague, we took a two hour bus ride to a small town on the outskirts of the Czech Republic called Karlovy Vary.

The intention was to go since it was a spa town with thermal springs. We didn’t look tremendously hard, but that did not seem to be the case. It, rather seemed like there were many expensive hotels you could stay had spas, maybe thermal baths, and things like massages.

We ended up in an Airbnb, so didn’t get the hotel experience. Instead, we went to a public spa called Spa5 that looked like it must have been beautiful and renowned many years ago, but it was not the case anymore. Not terrible, but was a bit dumpy, and there weren’t many other options.

The city was established by Charles IV a long time ago and has been a popular travel spot for many years. They also hold one of the largest film festivals in Europe each summer.

It was a quaint, and pretty place. Although, I think that the colors in the fall, spring or summer would have been more beautiful. We walked around a bit, and ended up being too late to take the lift up that gave an overview of the city.

There were tons of big department stores and a nice walking area around a body of water, but it was pretty empty. Maybe because they get many more visitors during the summer.

Probably the coolest part was visiting the Grandhotel Pupp, that was this massive, famous hotel. Many famous people have stayed there in the past and it was very extravagant.

It felt empty as well, though.

Most everything in the town closed up by about 7 pm. It was a relaxing place and laid back, but not somewhere I’d recommend along the journeys. We were able to catch a train out and into Germany, but had a few train switches in the middle.