Karlovy Vary is a popular spa town found in western Czech Republic. Also known as Karlowe Wary or Karlsbad, this scenic Czechia town is home to many thermal spas and mineral springs. Karlovy Vary is the largest and best-known spa town in the western Czech Republic. Despite being a resort town known for relaxation, there are many fun things to do in Karlovy Vary with kids.
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3 Day Karlovy Vary Itinerary with Kids
Day 1
Dvorakovy Sady Park
We arrived in Karlovy Vary in the morning after spending in 3 days in Český Krumlov with kids, one of the most fun places to visit with kids in Czechia. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we threw the kids in their carriers and walked towards the Dvorakovy Sady riverside park.
The walk to Dvorakovy Sady was on a nice, wide, pedestrian-only pathway alongside the river. The buildings lining the river are tall, elegant and colorful. Karlovy Vary honestly has one of the nicest waterfronts I’ve seen anywhere in the world.
The first bridge we crossed had a large group of people huddled along the handrails. It turns out this is a popular place to feed the ducks and fish in the river below. There were a handful of ducks, but there were literally hundreds of fish hanging out below the bridge. I’ve never seen so many fish in a ‘natural’ environment before!
Dvorakovy Sady park turned out to be small, but nice with an attractive little pond near the river. There was a gazebo at the far end of the park, which turned out to be our first “Colonnade“.
Karlovy Vary has lots of colonnades around town, which are fancy structures housing taps of mineral water – each with a different composition and temperature. This particular colonnade was slightly warm and had some CO₂ in it.
We kept on walking alongside the river and kept trying the water from different colonnade taps. Some were actually quite hot, with temperatures as high as 140°F / 60°C, so we had to watch our kids carefully.
The riverfront walk was a lot of fun for everyone. There was plenty of room for the kids to run, giggle and play, while we enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and the unique charm of this town.
Day 2
Hiking Karlovy Vary to Loket with Kids
No matter where we travel, we love hiking with our kids. In fact, the main reason we decided to visit Karlovy Vary with kids was to do the hike to Loket. When we were researching destinations for our family trip to the Czech Republic, we stumbled across this hike and it looked so beautiful, we wanted to do it ourselves.
The Karlovy Vary to Loket hike was really beautiful and did not disappoint. It winds its way through a forest, running parallel to the Ohre River the whole way, with steep moss-covered rocks on the other side of the path. The sounds of birds are everywhere and non-stop.
It was a longer family hike than we’d expected. We hike both direction for a total of 15 miles (24 km) – a new family record!
If you don’t feel like hiking back from Loket, it’s easy to return to Karlovy Vary by public transport. Regional trains run from Loket’s tiny station to Karlovy Vary in about 25 minutes, and there are also local buses to Karlovy Vary’s main terminal. Check current timetables before you go, since schedules can change.
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We loved this family hike. Get all the details on this beautiful hike in our post about the Karlovy Vary to Loket hike.
Day 3
Diana Lookout
The following day, we woke to a cloudy day with light rain. We never let a little rain ruin a family travel day, so we threw on our rain gear and headed out for a morning of fun.
We walked through our residential neighborhood of Drahovice down to the spot in the river where we left off on the first afternoon. It’s amazing – there are no ugly buildings anywhere in Karlovy Vary! Everywhere we walked, every building was beautiful and immaculate.
From here, we continued to walk upstream. The stores became very high-end at this point and the kids (and their mother) loved looking at all the fancy jewelry and porcelain figurines in the windows.
Our plan was to take the funicular up to the Diana Lookout Tower. We don’t normally take funiculars up anywhere as we always prefer to hike up, but given we hiked 15 miles the day before, we felt our legs would want a break.
When we got to the lower funicular station, we looked at each other and went, “Nah, let’s walk up instead!”, and we’re so glad we did! Hiking in the rain meant we had the entire trail to ourselves, which is always a bonus!
At the top, there are a variety of activities. We started to walk up the 150 stairs to the top of the Diana Lookout Tower, when the elevator door magically opened. In a moment of weakness, we hopped in and took the easy way to the top.
The views from the top of the Diana Lookout Tower are quite nice, but it was a cloudy, dreary day so we couldn’t really see that much. It was free, so there’s no reason to complain!
Butterfly House
Still up at the Diana Lookout Tower, the kids then found a nice playground next to the restaurant, so we let them stop and play for a bit.
Next we visited the Butterfly House, which was right next door to the playground. The butterflies are in a single room, which has been transformed into a small tropical garden. You certainly get your money’s worth in terms of butterflies – there are lots of them.
Everywhere you look you see butterflies in all shapes and sizes. They even had my favorite butterfly, the Blue Morpho, which we first saw in the Amazon. The room also houses a few small tropical birds, a fish pond and a turtle.
Our Trip to the Czech Republic with Kids
It was a short stay in Karlovy Vary with kids, but we are so glad we added it to our Czech Republic itinerary. Next up on our family trip to the Czech Republic, we enjoyed some amazing easy hikes in Bohemian Switzerland!
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