The nature of the Karlovy Vary Region has its own unique charm in every season.

In the blossoming spring, you will be delighted by flowering spa parks and the banks of the Ohře River filled with fresh greenery. In autumn, the spa forests and mountain slopes turn colours that even famous painters might envy. In winter, the landscape is covered by a blanket of snow, creating icy beauty in nature. What should you definitely see when visiting the Karlovy Vary Region? Choose from more than one hundred nature reserves and natural monuments.

One of the best-known sites of exceptional importance is the Soos National Nature Reserve, nicknamed the Czech Yellowstone thanks to its numerous peat bogs and mud flats, mineral spring outlets and bubbling carbon dioxide in the so-called mofettes – mud volcanoes. The Kladská Peat Bogs National Nature Reserve, home to endangered species of plants and animals, is also worth visiting; an educational trail on wooden walkways will guide you through it. From May onwards, you can admire rare meadow plants at the blooming Globe-flower Meadow, while nearby you will find the magical Three Crosses site close to Mariánské Lázně. Near Karlovy Vary, on the way to Loket, you will come across the Svatoš Rocks, a rock formation resembling a petrified wedding procession. In the past, it was a favourite destination of many famous figures, including J. W. Goethe.

Near Františkovy Lázně, the third spa town of the West Bohemian Spa Triangle, you can admire not only the Soos National Nature Reserve but also Komorní hůrka, the youngest volcano in the Czech Republic. It is a remnant of volcanic activity, and in the corridors of Goethe’s Adit, descending to a depth of seventeen metres, you can see real ash and lava. The Amerika Forest Park, with its pond and freely accessible birdwatching hide, is also located near Františkovy Lázně. From there, you can observe birdlife at the nesting site on an island in the middle of the pond.

The Ore Mountains landscape was shaped by mining activity for centuries. It is characterised by a horizon lined with mining towers and forests full of steep sinkholes. One site recalling this mining history is the protected natural monument Wolf Pits, where a special climatic regime prevails in deep fissures, making it possible to see snow even in the middle of a hot summer. Other well-known sites include the Johannes Adit near Boží Dar and the Mauritius Mine near Abertamy. Thanks to the mining phenomenon that shaped the local landscape, the Ore Mountains Mining Landscape is now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Admire the beauty of the Ore Mountains along countless hiking and cycling routes. Among the best-known places are the Boží Dar Peat Bogs, the largest in the region. You can also head to Jelení vrch, the dominant feature of the nature park, or the Přebuz Heathland, which was created as a result of peat extraction.

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