Karlovy Vary was the first stop on my two-week trip around Europe. The cheapest tickets I found were to Karlovy Vary, and from there I was able to build an interesting route: Karlovy Vary – Prague – Budapest – Milan. I will write about the trip budget and each of the cities in more detail separately; today, though, it is all about where to stay in Karlovy Vary and my experience of booking an apartment.
In this fairly touristy town, most visitors come for rest and treatment, and many hotels have their own treatment centres, sanatorium facilities and medical staff, so most hotels are on the expensive side. At the time of my trip (October 2019) that applied even in the low season (autumn to early spring). If you do not need treatment (or want to reduce its cost – I will explain how in one of my next articles), it works out better value to stay in an apartment.
Apartments also give you more space, so a family or a larger group will be more comfortable in a flat. If you are travelling over the Christmas holidays, buy your groceries in advance: on 24 December large shops are only open until 12:00, and on 25–26 December and 1 January they are closed by law (this does not apply to small shops under 200 m², petrol stations and pharmacies).
1. General information about the apartment
I chose the apartment on Airbnb – I like this service for finding flats in Europe. You can immediately see genuine reviews, photos and the location, and check for Wi-Fi or a hairdryer, washing machine or fridge. The flats here are usually let by local residents, so you can find something interesting and unusual – anything from a room to a villa or a tree house.
In 2019, Airbnb prices for apartments rose sharply in summer compared with the low season. When choosing a flat, pay attention to the rating and to the number of people who have stayed there. There should be relatively recent reviews, as the quality of the accommodation can change over time.
I found an inexpensive apartment in an outlying district of Karlovy Vary, and it turned out to be excellent. Karlovy Vary is a small town (50,000 residents) with buses running all over it, so you can get anywhere either on foot or by city bus: as of October 2026 a 20-minute ticket costs 25 CZK and a 60-minute ticket 30 CZK; bought from the driver it is more expensive at 50 CZK.
The apartment’s rating at the time of my booking (October 2019) was high – 4.87 out of 5, based on votes from 158 people who had stayed there. The flat has excellent hosts, everything you need and a decent renovation. There is a small hallway, a kitchen-diner, a room and a separate bathroom and toilet. You can also relax in the inner courtyard and cook something on the grill.
I booked this apartment through Airbnb in October 2019.
1.1. Location and how to get there
The apartment is located some way from the city centre, but an ordinary city bus goes there; the stop is five minutes away, bearing in mind that from the stop you have to climb steps to the top of the hill where the house stands.
The neighbourhood is very quiet and peaceful, and only local residents live here – pretty houses, everything very cosy. There are several flats in the house, which has two floors. The owners live in the same house, so they are easy to find if you need anything.
Address: Na Výšině 123/1, Karlovy Vary.
Location on the map:
To get there from the airport, you first take bus 8 to the terminus (Tržnice), then bus No. 5 towards Bohatice to the Orlov stop. Bear in mind that bus 8 only reaches the airport terminal a few times a day, and the last service from the terminal is at 18:05; check the current timetable on the carrier’s website, dpkv.cz. Tip: the bus takes about 25 minutes from the airport to Tržnice, so a 20-minute ticket (25 CZK) will not be enough – buy the 60-minute ticket for 30 CZK: within the hour you can change to bus 5 as well. From the driver, the 60-minute ticket costs more – 50 CZK. You can pay by contactless bank card directly on the bus (DPKV fares as of October 2026).
Please note: in Karlovy Vary you have to let the driver know about stops in advance! If you are on the bus, press the special button so the driver knows to stop. Stops are request-only! If you are standing at a stop waiting for the bus, be sure to wave as soon as you see it, otherwise the bus may simply drive past (as happened to me).
The street name, Na Výšině (“on the heights”), matches the house’s location:
To get from the apartment to the centre, you go down the stairs:
The stop for buses into town (you will see it as soon as you come down from the house) is across the road:
From there you take bus 5 or 17 to the centre. It runs fairly infrequently, so arrive at the stop early.
1.2. Cost
The cost of the apartment depends on the season. I stayed in October 2019 and paid a low nightly rate for Karlovy Vary; the total for two nights already included Airbnb’s service fee and the cleaning charge.
Bear in mind that if you plan to stay in a hotel, you need to add the tourist tax to the price. Here there was nothing extra to pay – the amount was final.
1.3. Local amenities
The apartment is in a residential district, so there are no entertainment venues or shops nearby – either way, you will have to get to the centre first.
This is what the district looks like from the bus stop:
2. Photos of the apartment
Let’s take a look at the entrance and the apartment itself before moving on to the detailed pros and cons of this place.
The house has two floors; we go up to the first floor, and the stairwell is very clean:
There are paintings on the walls:
The flat we need is on the right:
All the doors look the same and differ only in the signs; this is the right one:
We enter the apartment and straight away there is a small hallway with furniture – very convenient (strangely enough, not all homes have such a cloakroom corner for outdoor clothing):
The kitchen-diner, with a corner of the room visible:
A room with a comfortable bed and furniture:
Amusingly, the cupboard stores decorative wooden tableware:
And this is the view from the window of the street and Karlovy Vary:
3. What the apartment has
Despite the apartment’s small size, it has everything needed for a longer stay for one or two people.
There is a detailed list of all the amenities on Airbnb; here are the main ones:
- The Wi-Fi works well – photos uploaded fine and the connection was excellent on Skype;
- The kitchen has everything for cooking;
- The room is cool; in winter it will probably be cold (unless the extra heaters are turned on);
- There is a simply huge wardrobe for clothes and a very comfortable armchair;
- Taking a shower in the bathroom is a chilly business – as soon as you stop running hot water over yourself, you freeze (but that is the case all over Europe).
3.1. Kitchen
The kitchen here is a proper one (unlike, for example, the apartment in Milan, where a small kitchenette stood in for a kitchen) – with space for cooking and eating, while the room is separate.
There are all the appliances, cookware, a cooker with an oven, a small fridge, a dishwasher, a drip coffee maker (filter packs and the coffee itself provided) and a kettle. Tap water in Karlovy Vary is drinkable, so it can be used for cooking too.
Space in the kitchen:
It was nice that the owners left a little plate of fruit:
You can drink fresh coffee every day (a big plus for coffee lovers!) The kitchen window looks out onto the inner courtyard:
Tea and coffee, spices:
There is even a dishwasher, which is rare for budget accommodation:
3.2. The room and sleeping area
The room is small; it has a comfortable bed, a huge wardrobe with hangers, an armchair, an old-fashioned wall unit and a television.
The room has good lighting in the evening:
There are curtains and roller shutters on the windows, lots of paintings, and the room is generally cosy:
3.3. Bathroom and toilet
The bathroom had good liquid soap (usually you get the cheapest kind), shower accessories and a (basic) hairdryer. There is plenty of light and the water pressure is excellent.
The sink corner:
And the bathroom – well, taking a shower here is certainly cold. It is awkward that there is no shower screen, so water can splash straight onto the floor. I was pleased that everything was very clean, and the bath was new and white:
The toilet, however, had an unpleasant smell (something had apparently broken and the smell was coming from the drains). The little black spots on the floor are not dirt – that is the pattern on the tiles:
Oddly, both the bathroom and the toilet have windows – perhaps this is a local building feature. The air in the town is very humid and mould forms quickly (which is why it is better not to rent flats on the lower floors or in basements).
3.4. Inner courtyard
I had very little time, so I did not use the inner courtyard. You can see it from the kitchen window; you can have breakfast or dinner there or simply spend time in the fresh air – a pleasant addition to the apartment:
4. Pros and cons
So what were the pros and cons of this apartment in the end?
Pros of the apartment:
- a good location in a quiet district, with a transport stop close by;
- the low price;
- kind, friendly owners;
- good Wi-Fi;
- plenty of light;
- everything for comfort (kitchen, comfortable furniture).
Cons:
- again, the location. If you are planning nights out, you cannot get back to the flat by public transport at night, and taxis in Karlovy Vary are expensive;
- no large shops or cafés nearby;
- the house is on a hill – not everyone will enjoy climbing the stairs up the hill every day;
- the shower is cold;
- a bad smell in the toilet.
5. Conclusions and overall impressions
Next time I would probably pay extra and stay closer to the centre. But in every other respect the apartment is excellent. For this price you certainly will not find accommodation of a similar standard in the centre.
I spent only two nights in the apartment, but on the whole I liked it. As I later realised, I was very lucky with the cleanliness! Most local residents do not bother much with cleaning after each guest, whereas here it was perfectly clean.
If you rent a car, this apartment is an ideal option: spend the day driving around the surroundings and the centre, then come back in the evening to a cosy nest, relax with a glass of wine in the courtyard, cook your own food from local produce and enjoy the peace and quiet.
I especially want to highlight how responsive and reasonable the hosts were. With Airbnb apartments you never know what you will get, so it was pleasant that in this case the owners were always in touch and answered all questions quickly.
Tell me in the comments: have you been to Karlovy Vary? Where did you stay – a hotel or a rented apartment? What can you recommend to other readers? And of course, share the article with friends, subscribe for updates and ask questions!
If you are planning to stay in a hotel after all (or simply want to compare prices), take a look at a hotel price-comparison site, where you can check available hotels and apartments with prices for your dates.
