Stay Atlas · Types
Spa accommodation
Spa · Health insurance · Wellness
Czechia has dozens of officially designated spa towns providing spa care. But staying at a spa does not only mean being treated. Here is how to find your way around the system.
Four types of stay
| Type | Who pays | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive spa care (komplexní lázeňská péče) | the insurer: examinations, treatments, accommodation and meals at the standard level | a doctor’s proposal approved by the health insurer |
| Contributory spa care (příspěvková lázeňská péče) | the insurer: examinations and treatments; you pay for accommodation, meals and travel | a doctor’s proposal approved by the health insurer |
| Self-paying treatment stay | you | nothing, just a booking |
| Wellness stay | you | nothing, just a booking |
The standard accommodation for care covered by Czech health insurance is a double room – in category A with its own bathroom, in category B with shared facilities in the corridor. A single room, a TV or a fridge are extras you pay for.
With care covered by health insurance you must stay at the spa establishment – it counts as follow-up inpatient care. Treatment at the spa while sleeping elsewhere is not possible.
Spa or wellness?
- A spa (lázně) has a natural healing resource (mineral water, gas, peat, peloid), doctors and a treatment plan.
- A wellness hotel offers a pool, saunas and treatments, but without medical supervision.
Most spas today also sell short wellness stays: treatments using the natural resource with no need for a doctor’s proposal.
Spa towns
The Ministry of Health keeps a list of spa towns. Places with spa-town status and spa care include Třeboň, Karlovy Vary, Mariánské and Františkovy Lázně, Jáchymov, Luhačovice, Poděbrady, Teplice, Jeseník, Lipová-lázně, Karlova Studánka, Janské Lázně and Lázně Bělohrad.
Three of them – Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně – have been part of the UNESCO site The Great Spa Towns of Europe since 2021.
What to check
- Is it a treatment stay or a wellness stay? Is an initial medical examination included?
- How many treatments a day are included?
- Are the pool and sauna included, or extra?
- What is the minimum length of stay?
- Is the tourist tax (poplatek z pobytu) paid separately?
Whether treatments are suitable for you is for a doctor to decide. This page is not medical advice.
On the map
Select a point on the map or in the list.
Open guideBorders: Natural Earth 1:10m (public domain). Regions and routes are schematic. Sources for each layer: how the atlas is made.
Read on
Sources (4) checked on
- List of spa towns in Czechia – Ministry of Health (in Czech)
- Types of payment for spa care – VZP ČR (in Czech)
- Payment for spa care – VZP ČR (in Czech)
- The Great Spa Towns of Europe – Wikipedia (in Czech)
Where a source is only in Czech, it says so. How we pick sources and fix errors: About the atlas.