Tourist Attractions

As you walk through this part of the Slavkovský Forest, you may wonder what that rotten smell is. It comes from small rifts which host no life. Bleached skulls of field mice and forest birds, together with a myriad of insects grimly complete the picture.

This is a natural pine growth area on the southeast slope of Planý Hill with exposed serpentinite rock formations, partly interrupted by a small extinct rock quarry covered by a rare botanical community.

'Goethe's Retreat' is a sandstone obelisk and two stone resting places on the side of Hamelika Hill. Goethe used to sit here on a bench, sometimes with Ulrika von Levetzow, or alone, spending many hours in contemplation here. The obelisk was built in August 1848 to recall Goethe's three sojourns in Mariánské Lázně between 1821 and 1823.

The shallow basin between the Vonšovský and Sooský Creeks (at the Nový Drahov train station, 6 km from Františkové Lázně) is divided by a mound of silicious sand into two parts.

This dominant lookout point is located on the top of Žižka Hill. The location was named in honour of Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV who laid the foundation stone of the altar in the town's Evangelical Church in June 1857.

Pístov Meadow is formed by a small meadow enclave on the edge of the forest in a slightly kerfed valley 1 km southeast of Pístov.

The director of the local theatre Julius Laska had this chapel built in 1909 in memory of his mother. It is a small, pretty, neo-Gothic building set against a forest backdrop.

The park at the Forest Spring is located in the northern part of the town off Třebízského street. Here you'll find a pavilion containing the Forest Spring, the Goethe and Muse sculpture by German sculptor Heindrich Drake, a memorial stone for the writer Vaclav Václav Beneš Třebízský and a sculpture of three muses by O. Zoubek. Nearby you'll also find a music pavilion used in summer as a cafe and a venue for musical performances.

The first known theatre performance in Mariánské Lázně was played in a provisional wooden pavilion in the open air, said to be performed on 14th June in 1820. In 1868 F. Zickler built the original theatre building in the Neo-Renaissance style and a festive opening took place on 8th August.

The name comes from a distinguished visitor to the town, the Bavarian Queen Karola. This is a lookout pavilion built in 1875 on the hillside between the Forest Spring and the local cemetery (above today's car park).

In 2010 the cinema Slavia underwent a large technical modernization. This upgrade included acquiring new equipment for both audio and video including 3D technology. This was the first single auditorium cinema in the Czech Republic to instal the most up to date Dolby Surround 7.1 audio system. The interior of the cinema was totally renovated.

The Moučné Pytle natural monument is located on Jelení Hill (644 meters high) on the green marked trail from Karlovy Vary to Horní Slavkov, about 1 km from the Bor gamekeeper’s lodge.