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Karlovy Vary

Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), or simply 'Vary' to Czechs, has stepped up its game in recent years, thanks largely to a property boom spurred by wealthy Russian investors. Indeed, the first thing you'll notice is the high number of Russian visitors, all following in the footsteps of Tsar Peter the Great, who stayed here for treatments in the early 18th century. Day trippers come to admire the grand 19th-century spa architecture and to stroll the impressive colonnades, sipping on the supposedly health-restoring sulphurous waters from spouted ceramic drinking cups.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Hot Spring Colonnade
Karlovy Vary
The Hot Spring Colonnade is in an incongruous concrete-and-glass functionalist structure built in 1975 and once dedicated to Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin…
Mill Colonnade
Karlovy Vary
The most impressive piece of architecture in Karlovy Vary is the neo-Renaissance Mill Colonnade (built 1871–81), with five different springs, rooftop…
Church of Mary Magdalene
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary's most important Catholic church and one of its grandest baroque buildings, this imposing, twin-steepled structure in the heart of the spa…
Park Colonnade
Karlovy Vary
Also known as the Garden Colonnade, this elegant wrought-iron structure dates from 1880 and is the first of the main colonnades that you reach as you…
Market Colonnade
Karlovy Vary
The only one of the town's colonnades to be crafted from wood, this beautiful neoclassical structure dates from the 1880s and was the work of the fabled…
Moser Glass Museum
Karlovy Vary
The Moser Glass Museum on the western edge of town has more than 2000 items on display. Tours in English of the adjacent glassworks are also available…
Jan Becher Museum
Karlovy Vary
This museum deals with all things Becherovka, the town's famed herbal liqueur. Entry is by guided tour only, which must be booked in advance at the museum…
Diana Funicular Railway
Karlovy Vary
Just beside (to the north of) the Grandhotel Pupp, a narrow alley leads to the bottom station of the Diana Funicular Railway, which climbs 166m to great…

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