EXCURSION D’UNE JOURNÉE À KARLOVY VARY AVEC VISITE D’UNE MAISON THERMALE

Karlovy Vary is a spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. It is named after Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Bohemia, who founded the city.

Karlovy Vary is the site of numerous hot springs (13 main springs, about 300 smaller springs, and the warm-water Teplá River), and is the most visited spa town in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre with the spa cultural landscape is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. It is the largest spa complex in Europe. In 2021, the city became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe" because of its spas and architecture from the 18th through 20th centuries.

Karlovy Vary is located about 106 kilometres west of Prague.

The city lies at the confluence of the Ohře with the Teplá and Rolava rivers. There are several small bodies of water in the northern half of the Karlovy Vary territory. The most notable is the natural reservoir Rolava, which is located right in the centre of the city. It is used for recreational purposes.

Diana Observation Tower. Monumental brick observation tower with a roofed wooden gallery.

The elegant Diana Lookout Tower has offered a panoramic view of Karlovy Vary and its surroundings of a distance of up to 70 km away for over 100 years already. You will see not only the historical town centre from above, but also the spa forests, the Ore Mountains, and the German borderlands.

Admission to the lookout tower is completely free, and a lift will take you up to the lookout gallery, or you can go up the 150 steps.

Enjoy the view here, because as they say, “He who has not been to Diana has not seen Karlovy Vary“

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe's leading film event.

The Karlovy Vary IFF first held an international film competition in 1948. Since 1951, an international jury has evaluated the films. The Karlovy Vary competition quickly found a place among other developing festivals and by 1956 FIAPF had already classified Karlovy Vary as a category A festival. Given the creation of the Moscow Film Festival and the political decision to organize only one "A" festival for all socialist countries, Karlovy Vary was forced to alternate year by year with Moscow IFF between 1959 and 1993.

The social and political changes that took place after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 pushed concerns about organizing the Karlovy Vary IFF to the background. The program for 1990 was saved by the release of a collection of Czechoslovak films that had been locked up for years in a storage vault. And the appearance of a number of international guests such as Miloš Forman, Lindsay Anderson, Annette Bening and Robert De Niro helped as well. Future festivals were in doubt. Financial problems and a lack of interest on the part of the government, organizers and viewers almost ended the festival's long tradition in 1992.

In 1994, the 29th Karlovy Vary IFF inaugurated an entirely new tradition. After nearly forty years of alternating with the Moscow IFF, the festival began once again to take place every year. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation was set up in 1993 co-created by the Ministry of Culture, The City of Karlovy Vary, and the Grand Hotel Pupp.

Don't forget to check out our other day trips. TOURS OUT OF PRAGUE