Špindlerův Mlýn

The two main ski areas are Svatý Petr and Medvědín, linked by a free ski bus. To start, it is best to take the chairlift up to Pláň. Since 2015 it has been served by the newest lift, the resort's only 6-seater chairlift. The “Turistická” piste (no. 2) that starts here is a beautiful run of almost three kilometres through the forest, with views of the town and the mountains around it. After that you can move on to Hromovka, where the pistes are a little harder. For the best and fittest skiers, the challenge is the black slalom piste on Stoh. Medvědín is a slightly smaller ski area but a higher and more demanding mountain. It has one blue piste, mostly following a gently sloping mountain road, but the red pistes running parallel to the chairlift are more beautiful. In good weather the summit of Medvědín gives you an experience you will not find at any other ski resort in the Czech Republic. There is also a third area, Labská, which you can ski down to from Medvědín, but getting back out is hard and you have to take the ski bus. Špindlerův Mlýn shows that a ski resort can be laid out so that you get the most enjoyment out of skiing. It is not a place that dazzles with modernity: the lifts are new, but they are far from the technological fireworks of Slovakia's Jasná. Yet everything works as it should: by day you ski hard on slopes that are not overcrowded, and in the evening you can enjoy the many restaurants, pubs and the aquapark, go for a walk or retreat to your hotel or private room without feeling that you are in the middle of a tourist anthill. The centre of Špindlerův Mlýn, strung out along the Elbe, is small but very picturesque; most of the buildings have character and have been little spoilt by the big hotel developments of the 1970s and 1980s. It has its own style and charm, but also a wide range of entertainment and places to eat: 52 restaurants, 17 wine bars and discos, tennis, squash, swimming pools, fitness centres and every attraction of that kind. On top of that there is a very large and varied range of accommodation. It is also worth adding that besides the pistes there is a beautiful sledging run, and for cross-country fans more than 70 km of trails have been prepared in the area, which also link up with the trails along the highest parts of the Krkonoše, more than 130 km long across the whole region.