I’m writing this on the platform of the Františkovy Lázně-Aquaforum station, waiting for the tiny shuttle train to take me to neighbouring Cheb, whence I will travel to Karlovy Vary. It’s partly to keep me busy while I wait and partly because I want to get started while it’s fresh in my mind. It looks … More “Sedate” Františkovy Lázně feels like an open-air hospital
After you’ve sampled all Mariánské Lázně’s natural health-giving spring waters, you have to soak in the stuff and, quite frankly, there’s only one place in town to do that. Well, lots of the spa hotels have pools and some may even have mineral pools (which might only be available on prescription because spa in Czechia … More Taking a Roman bath in Mariánské Lázně
I’ve just got back from a week discovering Czechia’s contribution to the UNESCO list of Great European Spa Towns, which is three towns up in the top left corner known by the tourist title, the West Bohemian Spa Triangle. Even as I was on my way round, I was already excited about transforming all this … More Half a day in Mariánské Lázně
By the time this is published, I’ll be on my way back from my latest train adventure/book research trip in which I’m spending a week visiting Czechia’s three UNESCO Great European Spa Towns. I’ll tell you all about it in at least nine blog posts over the next month, depending on how many spas I … More What I packed in my personal item for a week in West Bohemia in April
In my last post, I told you all about my time at Thermes de Spa, the original spa – well, the current spa in the town Spa that gave all spas their name. I wish I could get three or four posts out of this weekend but it’s not really worth doing an itinerary post … More Spa by train
If you’re writing a book about hot baths, thermal water, steam rooms and bathing culture, sooner or later you’re going to find yourself in eastern Belgium in Spa, the town with natural thermal mineral water that gave its name to many towns with natural hot water and all places where you go to get properly … More A spa day at Spa, the spa that named all spas
I’ve discovered that I’ve missed quite a few sets of film photos but I like them and I think they show a slightly different perspective on places and on travel, especially with the fact that you don’t get to find out whether they even worked until a good few weeks later. They’ll never replace the … More The Eras Train Tour on film
You know the drill by now. I like 35mm film and I often take a film camera with me when I travel and then come back with a selection of 90s-style photos of dubious quality which I just really enjoy. But on this trip, I had something even more fun. You see, back in 2003, … More Great German Spa Towns on film
The last stop on my adventure around the UNESCO Great German Spa Towns was Bad Ems, which is only a short train trip from Koblenz (when the line is open, which it wasn’t when I was there). Unfortunately, I was coming from Bad Kissingen and that meant five trains and a rail replacement bus, taking … More Bad Ems is lovely but it’s very quiet in winter
When I booked my UNESCO Great European Spa Towns of Germany trip, I didn’t really know anything about any of the towns I was visiting. If UNESCO thought they were great, that was good enough for me. I made my lists of their spas, I found somewhere to stay, I figured out how to get … More Leisure in Bad Kissingen
I Am A Polar Bear 