The season of spa resorts is still ongoing. For this weekend I decided to stay in the nearby town of Karlovy Vary, which I am visiting very often, and you can find my numerous stories about this cute city in my blog, for example, here or here. But usually I go there in Summer. And now I will test it in Winter time.
I go to Karlovy Vary by bus, from the Florence station, located in the centre of Prague. The trip is only 2 hours. There is also a connection by train, but buses are much more comfortable and they are running almost every hour.
Usual ideal plan for me is having a night in some nice hotel in the centre of the town and visiting some spa place. And very often I go to the Thermal hotel where they have outdoor pool with hot mineral water and complex of saunas Saunia (which is quite popular and widespread brand in Prague).
Recently renovated hotel Rudolf II. They offered a nice price for staying in their hotel, maybe because they are attracting more people after reopening. It cost me 78 euro, with breakfast included.
I wondered, who is Rudolf II, after whom they called the hotel. Actually, he was the Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612) and a prominent member of the House of Habsburg. It is not documented that he has ever visited Karlovy Vary, but he significantly promoted this town as a leading European spa town. He also granted Karlovy Vary the exclusive right to sell its thermal spring salt throughout the monarchy, which boosted the town's prosperity and fame.
The hotel looks like a museum, but at the same time, you feel that it is after a recent renovation. For example, in my room I still have the smell of fresh paint and new furniture. The room is small, but cozy.
Still, I am not going to stay at the hotel for a long time. Main purpose of my arrival to Karlovy Vary is the Thermal complex, which I can see across the street from my room window. If you look into the next photo, you will see the steam from the outdoor pool with mineral water. Actually, I am going to relax there very soon.
But before going to spa, I should make some steps around the city.
The city is already decorated for celebrating Christmas. They have the stalls with mulled wine, the fir tree and lots of festive mood. The only thing missing here is snow. According to the forecast we expect in Czechia White Christmas, and very soon we will see if the forecast is accurate.
In the city centre I could not but visit the famous mineral geyser, known as Vridlo, which erupts to a height of up to 12 meters and has the temperature up to 73.4C.
While I was drinking my evening coffee in a local cafe, the dusk came to the town. And I hurried to the Thermal to enjoy the rest of the day in the hot bath.
Unfortunately, I did not make any photos in Thermal. But believe me, it is as good as always. With numerous saunas and mineral water in the outdoor pool. The new experience for me was swimming in the hot water while outside was only 0. The whole day admission price is around 40 euro (31 euro for 3 hours).
Before returning to the hotel I had a short walking around the night city. The city is already in a sleeping mode at 9pm.
Tomorrow I am going back to Prague. I would say, it was enough for my Karlovy Vary experience in Winter. Moreover, in two weeks I have already planned visiting of
another spa resort. But it will be a different story.
No comments:
Post a Comment