Things to do in Karlovy Vary & the Spa Towns

In Karlovy Vary, walk the spa town's colonnades, from the stone Mill Colonnade with its five springs past the carved wooden Market Colonnade and the cast-iron Park Colonnade to the Hot Spring, whose geyser shoots up to 12 metres, then watch master glassmakers blow and shape glass on a tour of the Moser Glassworks & Museum. Nearby, Loket Castle stands on a rock in a loop of the Ohře river with medieval prison cells, the Black Tower and an armour and weapons exhibition that includes the Loket meteorite, while Mariánské Lázně, one of the eleven UNESCO-listed Great Spa Towns of Europe, centres on a 180-metre colonnade, the longest in Czechia, with spa parks around the neoclassical Ferdinand Spring colonnade and the Writers' Trail. In Plzeň, climb nearly 300 steps up the 102-metre tower of St. Bartholomew's Cathedral, the tallest church tower in Czechia, and visit the Moorish-Romanesque Great Synagogue, the largest synagogue in the country. Families can spend a rainy day among the 14 interactive exhibitions and 3D planetarium of Techmania Science Center, or meet giraffes, rhinos and moving life-size dinosaur models at Pilsen Zoo & DinoPark; in Advent, the Plzeň Christmas Market fills Republic Square with a carved nativity scene and folk craft demonstrations.

Good to knowBring a cup to sample the mineral water from the spring spouts along the Karlovy Vary colonnades. The Moser glassworks runs on weekdays and tours require a reservation, Techmania is closed on Mondays, and the Great Synagogue in Plzeň is closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Pilsen Zoo is open all year with shorter winter hours, and a discounted combined ticket also covers the neighbouring DinoPark.