dhoffman

My wife and I arrive in Prague on May 12th but I have two days before I have to be in Prague itself. We were thinking about going out to Karlovy Vary. Should we rent a car or get into the city and take a train. I would like to see some of the countryside around Karlovy Vary - so a car maybe better.

Is it better to stay in Karlovy Vary or can we get better rates outside the area. My wife and I like B&Bs. Thank you for your responses.

tomboy

can't tell you about train-we always prefer auto
IF you rent car, avoid central prague (nightmare to drive)
to respond to ?, don't know where you've traveled in usa; ever been to/thru french lick, IN or berkley springs WV? KV reminded me of that---sort of a time travel back to a previous era. Nice grounds, interesting bldgs., but I think going to spas is something best appreciated by a central european, not yank
tat said, we enjoyed it because it was different than usa
we stayedthat night in a b&b ($30?)in domazlice (known for lace & handicrafts), perhaps 50 mi SW of KV--not like an american b8b, but nice room, good bfst, nice folks
if u drove, you could see karlstein castle on the way, as well as a stop at the Krusovice brewery (for all you hear about Pilsner Urquell & Budvar, Krusovice is head and shoulders better, if not more)
in sum, i advise drive, look up lots of b8b's on websites (look for the "non-commerciaal sites---not hotel.com type)to get better choice (naive us, we thought so clise to germany, there'd be b&b /pension signs out front---they aren't there yet). or stop in tourist info office in town squares
hope u could read this ok
broke wrist 10 days ago

dhoffman

Thank you for your reply. I have reserved a car to the trip to Karlovy Vary at the airport. We like staying at B&B's or small hotels rather than the large facilites. Did you have a website that would list B&B's in the area. When we travelled to Germany several years ago we did see the 'zimmer' signs and made it easier to find a place to stay.

Marc_David_Miller

There's a listing of hotels at

http://www.karlovyvary.cz/contact.as...=5&LocId=1

I stayed at the Dvorak two years ago and really enjoyed both the hotel and the town. Personally I think the main reason to go to Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) is to relax and stroll in between treatments and dining, so I would stay in the center. The Astoria was very inexpensive and has fine facilities if rates are an issue.

Note that if you drive into the old part of Karlovy Vary you will need a copy of your hotel reservation to show to the police (if you are stopped), as traffic is restricted (but you could park outside this area and walk into the center).

Richard

We visited Karlovy Vary about 8 years ago, via auto. We stayed at a B&B above a restaurant, just fine for us. We had a fantastic dinner at the Hotel Pupp, 8 courses for about $50.00 for 2. We didn't take the waters but we did sample them, buying one of the little pitchers and filling them at the fountain in front of the baths. As an aperitif or a digestif, try some Becherovska.

tomboy

Try this site:
http://www.prazdninynavenkove.cz/index.php?lang=en
PS- we skipped the water; smelling sulphurous water is bad enough, we should pay to drink it?
we accumulated a list of probably 8 lodging sites in CzR, plus lots more touristy sites, in preparation for our CR trip 2 yrs ago; finding them is 1/2 the fun
a tip ---- we're in our 60's,wondered how we'd communicate. did best by looking for people under 25, particularly if they appeared like they might know how to send an e-mail (schooled, alert, leading-edge as opposed to trailing-edge), if you know what I mean
wrist feels better today