London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 01, 2025

Europe's Hidden Highlights: Bohemia

Europe's Hidden Highlights: Bohemia

Fionn Davenport joined Anton Savage on the Hard Shoulder another episode of Europe’s Hidden Hig...
Fionn Davenport joined Anton Savage on the Hard Shoulder another episode of Europe’s Hidden Highlights, this week he visits Bohemia.

Just beyond the suburbs of Prague the landscape changes - a land of rolling hills, rich farmland and thick forests dotted with castles, chateaux and picturesque towns.This is Bohemia: rural, rustic yet surprisingly elegant too. Within two or three hours’ drive of the capital is a region that has for centuries provided an escape for generations of city-dwellers, and attracted the European elites.

The day I flew to Prague, I saw on Twitter that it had been 20 years since former Czech football star Patrick Berger scored an impressive hat-trick for Liverpool against Chelsea. I watched the YouTube link and remembered what a good footballer he had been.

By the time I landed, however, I’d forgotten about the vague coincidence. I was on a golf junket to an unlikely golfing destination, a country more associated with beer and gothic architecture than with a good walk spoilt. My first stop was Albatross Golf Club, a short drive from the airport and the Czech Republic’s top-ranked course.

Sitting in the fancy clubhouse, enjoying a sandwich and a coffee, I notice the guy sitting at the table next to me. Older, a little greyer but instantly recognisable. Handsome and athletic - a more mature-looking Jamie Dornan. I stood up and walked over, not even trying to hide my smile. “Patrick Berger?”

I explained the coincidence. “A nice hat trick,” he says with smile. “Reminds me I could play a bit.” I fawn a bit more, he counters with charming false modesty and then I ask him about his golf game. “Ah, not so good as my football,” he replies as we stand for the inevitable selfie. “my handicap is stuck at 7. Golf is hard!”

As a long-time golfer who has never managed to get below 12, my heart bleeds for you, Patrick.

Plzeň (Pilsen in German) is famed among beer-heads worldwide as the mother lode of all lagers, the fountain of eternal froth. Pilsner lager was invented here in 1842. It;’s an hour from Prague It’s the home of Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský prazdroj), the world’s first and arguably best lager beer –‘Urquell’ (in German; prazdroj in Czech) means ‘original source’ – and beer drinkers from around the world flock to worship at the Pilsner Urquell brewery.

The city is close enough to Prague to see the sights in a long day trip – but you could easily spend the night. There’s an amazing science centre too. Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary, about a 90-minute drive west of Prague Airport, deep in the forested valleys of western Bohemia – known locally as Vary, but better known in history as Karlsbad.

For a couple of hundred years this was Europe’s most famous spa town, the place where Casanova, Beethoven, Mozart and the It Crowd of old would strut their stuff and take cures in the therapeuticmineral springs that bubble away beneath the ground.

The town slumbered after World War II and the drawing of the Iron Curtain, when most of the visitors were retirees and Eastern bloc workers on state-sponsored stays. Thankfully, communism didn’t sacrifice form over function so apart from a couple of brutalist-style buildings from the 1970s, it’s still
quite a looker.

Rows of colourful art nouveau buildings hug a wooded valley split by the slow-flowing Teplá River,along which run the pedestrianised streets of the old town. This is where the sick, the sexy and the sophisticated would amble, past the grand cafes, elegant shops and beautiful colonnades that housed
the mineral springs from whence the town’s fame sprung.

Hotel Pupp – for decades it was the Russian-flavoured Grand Hotel Moskva, one of the preferred lodgings of the upper echelons of Eastern Europe’s communist parties. It covers nearly the whole of the spa's southern end and oozes old-world glamour. It was featured in the James Bond film Casino Royale and inspired Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel. These days it's a budget-blower, but worth the splurge if you can snag one of the rooms in period style (you haveto ask).

Hotel Imperial Karlovy Vary (spa-hotel-imperial.cz) has doubles from €75 Cihelny Golf & Spa Resort, 18 hilly holes designed by Gary Player just outside Karlovy Vary. At first glance, the course seems a bit cramped and squeezed into the hills, but it’s a brilliant test of golf, even if some holes are a real test of your cardiac fitness and errant drives will be severely punished – just as the fitness-mad and exacting Gary Player would have liked.

A little more Bond….Montenegro is doubled as Loket, 14km from Karlovy Vary A cluster of houses in sweet-shop pinks, greens and blues huddled around a fairy-tale castle, this tiny village stands on a loop in the river Ohře so extreme it almost makes an island (loket means 'elbow' in Czech, a reference to the river bend). In fact, ‘JW Goethe’s favourite town’ (as the tourist bumph likes to describe it) is so pretty, if you saw it in a film you’d think it was a painted backdrop. Mariánské Lázně (better known abroad as Marienbad) is smaller and greener than Karlovy Vary, making it feel more like a classic spa destination (but also meaning there's even less to do in the evening). In its heyday, Mariánské Lázně attracted celebrities such as Goethe, Thomas Edison,Britain's King Edward VII and even American author Mark Twain. These days, most of the visitors are German day trippers.Besides the colonnades, the town is ringed by deep forests that make for great walks.

Golf: Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně,This is the Czech Republic’s oldest course, founded in 1905 for the sporting amusement of wealthy visitors to Marienbad.

Český Krumlov, in Bohemia’s deep south, is one of the most picturesque towns in Europe. It’s a little like Prague – a Unesco World Heritage Site with a stunning castle above the Vltava River, an old town square, Renaissance and baroque architecture, and hordes of tourists milling through the streets
– but all on a smaller scale; you can walk from one side of town to the other in 20 minutes. There are plenty of lively bars and riverside picnic spots. In summer it’s a popular hang-out for backpackers, and in winter, when the crowds are gone and the castle is blanketed in snow, it's a magical place.

The 13th century castle is fab; as is the private museum dedicated to the works of Viennese painter Egon Schiele (his mother was born in the town). The centre of the Old Town is defined by náměstí Svornosti, with its 16th-century Town Hall and 18 th -century Marian Plague Column.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
×