Goethe fell in love here when he was already in his seventies. In the summer of 1821 and the years that followed, the poet spent his holidays in Marienbad, the spa town now known as Mariánské Lázně, and fell for Ulrike von Levetzow, a young woman of nineteen; his proposal was declined, and on the journey home he wrote the Marienbad Elegy, one of his most moving poems. The town was then at the height of its fame as one of the great spas of Europe, visited by kings, emperors and artists, from Edward VII of Britain to Chopin and Kafka.
Mariánské Lázně lies in a valley in western Bohemia, surrounded by forested hills, and the town is built around a park, with grand hotels, villas and spa buildings in elegant styles. The centrepiece is the Colonnade, a long cast-iron gallery built in the 1880s, where guests walk while sipping the mineral water from the springs. In front of it, the Singing Fountain dances to music several times a day. The town is one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe, listed by UNESCO in 2021, along with Karlovy Vary and Františkovy Lázně nearby.
For riders, western Bohemia offers good, varied riding. The roads through the Slavkov Forest, a protected landscape of forests, meadows and peat bogs between Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary, are winding and quiet, with good surfaces. To the east, the Teplá monastery, a large Premonstratensian abbey, is worth a visit. To the north, the road to Karlovy Vary leads through the forest to another famous spa town, and beyond, the Ore Mountains, on the border with Germany, offer more winding roads through forests and mining towns.
Motorways in the Czech Republic require an electronic vignette for cars, but motorcycles are exempt. Speed limits are enforced, and police checks are common, especially near the German border.
Mariánské Lázně, a town of over fourteen thousand people, has fuel, shops and restaurants. Try the spa wafers, oplatky, large, thin wafers filled with sweet cream, sold warm from stands in the town, and a glass of Becherovka, the herbal liqueur from Karlovy Vary. For a meal, try roast duck with red cabbage and dumplings, a classic Bohemian dish. And take a sip of the mineral water at the Colonnade, as Goethe did, though you may find the taste an acquired one.