Karlovy Vary and Pilsen were the last stops of our July 2025 trip around the Czech Republic. We started it with two days in Prague, then spent four days on the trails of Bohemian Switzerland, and at the end two towns in western Bohemia were left. We spent the second-to-last day, 25 July, in Karlovy Vary and the next one in Pilsen, mostly in the famous Pilsner Urquell brewery.
Of the whole group only four of us were left: Artur, Mateusz, Oliwia and me. We did not have much time – just one night in Karlovy Vary – but we made good use of it, despite a downpour that at one point turned the streets into raging torrents.
Table of contents
- Karlovy Vary – a spa town with colonnades
- The Church of Saints Peter and Paul
- Goethe Tower, the Three Crosses and the Camera Obscura
- A downpour, Becherovka and porcelain
- Pilsen – a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery
- The cellars and unfiltered Urquell straight from the barrel
- Pilsen’s centre and St Bartholomew’s Cathedral
- Practical information
Karlovy Vary – a spa town with colonnades
Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) is a spa town with exceptional architecture. It is famous for its porcelain, the herbal liqueur Becherovka and the International Film Festival, and you can tell from the streets that it attracts wealthier tourists. To me it is a beautiful town – smaller than Prague, but just as impressive.
The most distinctive features here are the colonnades – covered promenades by the mineral springs. The white wooden Market Colonnade stands right below the castle tower.
A little further on stretches the stone Mill Colonnade, with a row of columns and statues on the roof.
The Teplá river flows through the middle of the town, and its banks are lined with colourful, richly decorated townhouses, hotels and sanatoriums.
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul
The Orthodox Church of Saints Peter and Paul with its golden domes is hugely impressive. Unfortunately we could only admire it from the outside.
Its golden domes are also easy to spot from the surrounding hills – they stand out against the greenery and the roofs of the villas.
Goethe Tower, the Three Crosses and the Camera Obscura
The town lies in a valley surrounded by wooded hills with plenty of viewpoints. Right after reaching our apartment we headed straight for the Goethe Tower, and then to the Three Crosses and Camera Obscura viewpoints.
It was a great decision. In the rain you can still manage a walk around town with an umbrella or a poncho, but hiking up a muddy hill would be much harder. From above you can see the whole of Karlovy Vary spread out along the valley.
All around there are forests, with more towers and viewing pavilions poking out here and there.
A downpour, Becherovka and porcelain
The weather did not let us forget about it. When we were back in town, the rain came down so hard that the streets turned into raging torrents and we had to shelter in a pub for a while.
Even so, we saw most of the sights – we only skipped one hill, which would have been too muddy. On the way we also looked into bars and shop windows full of local specialities – Becherovka and porcelain.
Next time we would probably also try the hot springs Karlovy Vary is famous for – this time there simply was no time for them.
Pilsen – a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery
The last stop of our trip around the Czech Republic was Pilsen (Plzeň). Our visit on the day before leaving, 26 July, was above all about touring the Plzeňský Prazdroj brewery, where Pilsner Urquell is brewed. You enter through an imposing jubilee gate bearing the dates 1842 and 1892.
In 1842 the first golden lager was created here – Pilsner Urquell, the beer that changed the history of brewing and became the model for 70% of breweries worldwide. On the tour we learned the brewery’s history: Pilsen used to have many small places where beer was brewed, but they decided to join forces and create one larger brewery.
The route leads from the historic brewing kettles, through the modern brewhouse, to the production lines.
The numbers are impressive. In 2024 12.8 million hectolitres of beer were brewed here – about 2.5 billion half-litre glasses. The production lines can turn out a million beers in just 5 hours. The bottling plant has two parallel lines each – separate ones for bottles and for cans.
Besides Urquell, other Czech classics belong to the same group: Gambrinus, Kozel, Radegast and the alcohol-free Birell.
The cellars and unfiltered Urquell straight from the barrel
The most enjoyable part of the tour is going down into the cool stone cellars, where rows of oak barrels stretch along long corridors.
There are also open wooden fermentation vats, and at the end you can taste unfiltered Urquell straight from the barrel.
Brilliant – we really recommend the brewery tour.
Pilsen’s centre and St Bartholomew’s Cathedral
Apart from the brewery we did not have much time left, so we limited ourselves to a short walk around the historic centre around Republic Square (Náměstí Republiky). In the middle of the square stands the Gothic St Bartholomew’s Cathedral.
We also looked inside – the interior with its tall, slender pillars and stained-glass windows is very impressive.
The square is also home to the Renaissance town hall with its sgraffito-covered façade, and on our way through the centre we passed the distinctive domes of the Great Synagogue.
In the evening we went back to Prague, and the next day it was time for the train journey home to Poland.
Practical information
- How much time – one day each for Karlovy Vary (with one night) and for Pilsen is enough for the main sights, and from Pilsen you can get back to Prague in the evening.
- Karlovy Vary – if the forecast is uncertain, start with the hills and viewpoints and leave the town for later: after rain the paths quickly get muddy, while the promenades are fine with an umbrella.
- Hot springs – they are what Karlovy Vary is most famous for. With only one night we did not manage to try them, so it is worth planning more time.
- Pilsner Urquell brewery – a full-price ticket cost about €15 and a reduced one about €12 (converted, as of July 2025). The tour took about 2 hours, and guided tours were available in Czech, English and German.
- Pilsen – the historic centre around Republic Square with St Bartholomew’s Cathedral can be covered in a short walk after the brewery tour.
- More about the Czech Republic – we started the whole trip in Prague, and spent the longest time in Bohemian Switzerland. Each of these places has its own post.
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