The Colonnades

The spa proper starts at Poštovní bridge, where rows of late-19th- and early-20th-century mansions face off against the blockish communist-era (1976) Hotel Thermal sanatorium across the river.

The 13th spring is the most famous but there are 15 springs housed in or near five colonnades (kolonády) along the Teplá.

The first is the whitewashed and wrought-iron Park spring colonnade.

Further on is the biggest and most popular, the neo-Renaissance Mill colonnade, with five different springs, rooftop statues depicting the months of the year and a small bandstand. Petra Restaurant, opposite, is the spot (but not the original building) where Peter the Great allegedly stayed in 1711.

Across the road is the Market colonnade with its delicate, white 1883 woodwork; one of its two springs, pramen Karla IV, is the spa's oldest. Behind this is the Castle colonnade (Zámecká kolonáda) and a castle tower, the Zámecká věž, erected in place of Charles IV's hunting lodge after it was destroyed by fire in 1604.

The steam billowing from the direction of the river comes from the incongruous, modern, 1975 building around the Hot spring colonnade. Inside is the spa's biggest, hottest spring, pramen Vřídlo (Sprudel to Germans), belching 15m into the air. People lounge in the geyser room for the vapours, or sample the waters from a line of progressively cooler taps in the next room.