Spas

[Roger Hicks]

Can anyone recommend spas in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia? I'm looking for the sort of place where the idea is a day out for the family, not an overpriced 'cure' based on 18th century medical theory.

I've shot a good deal at half a dozen spas in Hungary -- my favourite, though using a Leica when standing in waist-deep water requires a certain coolness of nerve -- and elsewhere: Llo and St. Thomas in the Pyrenees, Ptuj in Slovenia, and a few other places. Among those I haven't shot yet are one in the (former East) Germany, and another in Austria.

Any other spa addicts out there?

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[Ondrej1]

Roger,

not a spa addict myself I have just two remarks concerning Czech spas. We have pretty much everything, from big spas with super hotels and lots of night life (Karlovy Vary comes on my mind), to lost-village-in-the-mountains (Karlova Studánka). As a starting point for your exploration I would suggest http://www.czechtourism.com/index.php?show=000001&lang=3 with more info than I can give you.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Ondrej,

Thanks. Last time I looked I could find very little on that site, with no indication of what was expensive, what was just fun. Must try Harder, I guess. Karlovy Vary left me VERY unimpressed (expensive/pretentious) but I'll certainly look for Karlova Studanka.

Thanks again,

Cheers,

Roger

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Roger - try the Lonely Planet guides- I picked up one about Prague a little while ago and it gave a fairly comprehensive listing of places in the region, some of which might be of interest to you.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear TheFlyingCamera,

Excellent idea -- thanks. I'd gone off LP because their accommodation/restaurant recommendations are so often so bad, but for spas, they should be ideal. I'll try Guide Routard as well (The French equivalent of LP but in my limited experience better).

Cheers,

Roger

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Dear TheFlyingCamera,

Excellent idea -- thanks. I'd gone off LP because their accommodation/restaurant recommendations are so often so bad, but for spas, they should be ideal. I'll try Guide Routard as well (The French equivalent of LP but in my limited experience better).

Cheers,

Roger

Maybe I've been fortunate with LP, but I've not had too bad luck with them. They did pretty ok for me in Spain. I favored the Rough Guides for a while, but they tend to cater heavily to the backpacker set, who has a different agenda and a different budget. They were also extremely negative in their appraisals of several cities I visited that I found far more charming and appealing than Rough Guide gave them credit for (Torino, Italy being a prime example).

-Scott Davis

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Scott,

I started using LP some 25 years ago for India and have seen them go from hippie/backpacker to affluent middle age, often without updating their research as much as they should. The first really bad one I encountered was Mexico some 15 years ago.

Also, curiously, I find them to be very negative and off-putting for some places, just as you find the Rough Guides, but to make up for this, they are sometimes wildly over-generous to other places. I used LP for maybe 20 years but have now switched to Routard which (as I say, on very limited acquaintance -- basically just China) I find much better.

Visually I love Insight and for historical background the Blue Guides are even better but there's not much on-the-ground information in either. What other guidebooks do you favour?

Incidentally I tried the 'Travel and Adventure Tours' on your site and there was no link. My browser or your site?

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Dear Scott,

I started using LP some 25 years ago for India and have seen them go from hippie/backpacker to affluent middle age, often without updating their research as much as they should. The first really bad one I encountered was Mexico some 15 years ago.

Also, curiously, I find them to be very negative and off-putting for some places, just as you find the Rough Guides, but to make up for this, they are sometimes wildly over-generous to other places. I used LP for maybe 20 years but have now switched to Routard which (as I say, on very limited acquaintance -- basically just China) I find much better.

Visually I love Insight and for historical background the Blue Guides are even better but there's not much on-the-ground information in either. What other guidebooks do you favour?

Incidentally I tried the 'Travel and Adventure Tours' on your site and there was no link. My browser or your site?

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

Roger- the link is down until I revise that portion of the site. I have packages to the desert southwest and to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I can also do very small groups (individuals, couples, etc) on a flexible schedule. The tours I arrange have photo educational programs as well as behind-the-scenes cultural education components - the Angkor trip I have access to one of the archaeologists doing restoration work on the temples who comes and talks to the group. For the desert southwest, I do a tour to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, which is one of the less-travelled parks in the system. Park rangers give personalized presentations to the group about the social history, anthropology, and geology of the region.

For guidebooks, I've found another nice series from Odyssey, and if I'm going somewhere that I'm not as familiar with from my own background research, I also like the Knopf guides if they have one - they do a very nice job with presenting the art, architecture, food and culture of a place, and I've been pretty much in agreement with their assessments of hotels for quality and location.

 

[Ondrej1]

Roger,

now I see your french address. Contact directly French branch of CzechTourism

Office national tchèque du tourisme - CzechTourism
18, rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
FRANCE
E-mail : info-fr@czechtourism.com
Tél: 01 53 73 00 32
Fax: 01 53 73 00 33

they should be able to send yoyou morenfo.

Another useful links
http://www.spas.cz/indexen.php

You mentioned 18th century, following link is from early 19th century
http://www.priessnitz.cz/en/index.php?id=priessnitz

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Scott, Dear Ondrej,

Thanks,

Cheers,

Roger