West Bohemia - Westböhmen

West Bohemia is the part Bohemia, which stretches along the Czech border in the Western Ore Mountains and the Upper Palatinate Forest.

Regions

• West Bohemian spa triangle - with its famous baths
• Bohemian Elster Mountains - this region is located in the far west of the entire country; surrounded by the German federal states Saxony and Bavaria.
• Bohemian Ore Mountains - the bohemian part of the Ore Mountains extends along the German-Czech border from Elster Mountains in the southwest to the Bohemian Switzerland in the Northeast.
• Pilsen region
• More northerly Bohemian forest

places

• Cheb (Eger) with the imperial castle.
• Domažlice (Taus) - a small town worth seeing between the Upper Palatinate and Bohemian Forest.
• Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad) - a small West Bohemian spa.
• Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) - world-famous spa town
• Loket - the entire historic old town is under monument protection and it is often referred to as the Bohemian Rothenburg.
• Marianske Lazne (Marienbad) - the second largest spa in West Bohemia.
• Plzeň (Pilsen) - European Capital of Culture 2015.
• Sokolov - the city lies between Eger and Karlovy Vary, to the north there is a brown coal opencast mining area; Memorial plaque for Karl May; Sokolov Castle.

language

In the tourism sector, English and often even German is widely understood. Restaurants in tourist areas usually have bilingual menus.

getting there

By plane

The airport in Karlovy Vary receives mainly seasonal holiday charters from Russia; for scheduled flights is the Prague airport the better choice. For destinations in the far west of the Czech Republic, on the border with Germany, Nuremberg Airport can also be considered.

By train

Important railway hubs are Karlsbad and Pilsen.

The ALEX departs every two hours Munich above regensburg to Domažlice, Holýšov and Pilsen (Munich – Pilsen: a good four hours; Regensburg – Pilsen: a good 2½ hours). A regional express also leaves every two hours Nuremberg above Marktredwitz to Cheb (total travel time 1:45 hours). The Upper Palatinate Railway runs every two hours on the Marktredwitz – Cheb – Franzensbad – Aš– linecourt (or vice versa). It takes 25 minutes to drive from Marktredwitz to Cheb, and just over an hour from Hof ​​to Franzensbad.

The Vogtlandbahn leaves every two hours Zwickau above Plauen, Bad Elster and Franzensbad to Cheb (2:15 hours in total); as well as from Zwickau over Auerbach (Vogtland) to Sokolov (2:15 hours), where there is a connection to Karlovy Vary. Out Johanngeorgenstadt In the Western Ore Mountains a regional train (Os) of the Czech railways runs four times a day to Karlsbad (1:15 hours).

Express trains (Ex) depart every two hours within the Czech Republic Prague to Pilsen (1:25 hours) and Cheb (2:55 hours) as well as express trains (R) from Prague via Ústí nad Labem to Karlsbad (3:10 hours). The latter connection can also be used to travel from Dresden and Berlin (change in Ústí).

In the street

From the direction of Nuremberg or Regensburg you can quickly get to Pilsen via the A 6 motorway (on the Czech side, D 5, and also the E50 European route). Other international routes that cross western Bohemia are European routes 48 (Bamberg – Cheb – Karlsbad – Prague) and 49 (Vienna – Budweis – Pilsen – Karlsbad). The B 92 (Plauen – Cheb) or B95 (Chemnitz – Annaberg-Buchholz – Karlsbad) lead from Saxony to western Bohemia.

From Prague you can take the D 5 motorway (to Pilsen) or trunk road 6 (to Karlovy Vary), depending on your destination.

mobility

Express trains run every two hours on the Pilsen – Marienbad – Cheb and Pilsen – Domažlice lines. Apart from these lines, there are somewhat slower express trains (R) and regional trains (Os). The latter only run a few times a day on some lines (e.g. the line through the Upper Palatinate Forest between Tachov and Domažlice).

The subordinate streets are not on the level we know from Germany. In many places there are no beacons at the roadside and the winter service only works superficially at high altitudes. The trunk roads, however, are of international standard.

Tourist Attractions

• The medieval one Marketplace in Cheb
• The boulevard Ruská in Franzensbad
• The Hot spring colonnade in Carlsbad
• The Castle Loket
• The Music fountain in the evening in Marienbad
• brewery beer in Pilsen
• historic city center of the small town Domažlice
• late Gothic Castle Rabí - the largest castle ruin in the Czech Republic

activities

There are some important ones at the heights of the Ore Mountains Winter sports resorts with ski lifts. These would be Jáchymov at the foot of the Keilberg, Pernink South from Johanngeorgenstadt and Kraslice in the valley of the Zwota opposite Klingenthal.

kitchen

• A mixed drink with Becherovka from Karlovy Vary is the so-called concrete, consisting of Becherovka and volumeic water

nightlife

The Czech Republic is a country of early risers. That is why there is nothing going on in smaller towns during the week. The only exception to this is Pilsen.

security

climate

Western Bohemia is climatically comparable to a large part of Central Europe, somewhat cooler in the mountain and forest regions, somewhat milder in the basin areas.

literature

Web links

• Official tourism portal of the Ministry of Regional Development