Svatos Rocks

Svatosske skaly stand along the right bank of the Ohre a few kilometres downstream of Karlovy Vary: granite towers and pillars up to about fifty metres high, weathered out along joints in the rock and separated into columns, forming a wall above the river. They are a national nature monument and a well-used climbing area with a couple of hundred routes. The legend attached to them, recorded since the eighteenth century and retold by Goethe, who visited, says that a young man named Jan Svatos promised himself to a water nymph, went through with a wedding to a human bride instead, and the nymph turned the entire wedding party to stone; the individual pillars carry names accordingly - the Bride, the Groom, the Priest, the Musicians, the Witnesses. The riverside path from Karlovy Vary is level and about an hour on foot, and boats run in summer.

What you actually see

• Granite pillars to fifty metres - weathered out along joints above the river.
• Named formations - Bride, Groom, Priest and Musicians from the legend.
• A climbing area - a couple of hundred routes on the towers.
• A level riverside path - about an hour on foot from Karlovy Vary.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The path is popular with cyclists and busy at weekends. Boats are seasonal. The rocks are viewed from below unless you climb. There is a restaurant at the base and little else.

Nearby

Karlovy Vary and its colonnades are five kilometres upstream.