4 reasons to visit Slovakia this year
1) Visit Kosice with a beautiful historic center, Gothic cathedral, and interesting cafes.
Kosice is second largest city in Slovakia, which will impress you with its architecture. It is as a Pearl found in the sea.
There is majestic Gothic cathedral of St. Elizabeth, in front of which there is a small cosy park with beautiful trees and white gravel paths.
Only a few hundred meters from the Gothic cathedral is located the city theatre – similar to Lviv Opera in Ukraine. Or you can walk the nearby narrow streets with colourful houses.
Near St. Elizabeth’s Cathedral there is a café, which should be definitely visited – Republika Vychodu. Sit at a table outside enjoying the views of the park and the cathedral or go inside and admire the interior details. It harmoniously combines different styles of design, creating such comfort, that you can spend a long time here, drinking delicious coffee.
We would so much like to discover more of Kosice but it was raining heavily that day and we were passing the city on the way to another location.
Of what we managed to see we conclude that Kosice is a great place to go for the weekend. If we have such opportunity, we will definitely go there again.
Another cool place we wanted to visit was Smelly cat cafe. Unfortunately it is closed on Sunday, and we wanted so much to immerse ourselves into the atmosphere of FRIENDS series.
Another stop on the trip to Slovakia is in the town of Martin. In the grey faceless surrounding there is a beautiful modern cafe, which is quite large and interesting Čáry-Máry.
2) To see the Fairy-tale castles of Slovakia
Over 170 km from Bratislava in the town of Bojnice there is the eponymous castle of incredible beauty.
This is a real castle for a princess, like in cartoons. It is a magic building with the blue peaks and windows just to let your long hair down. There is a lake below on the one side and the walls surround the castle. Near the castle there is a park with paths you can walk and look around the place.
If you come on Monday the castle itself is closed, but you can walk around anytime, because the park is always open. The entrance fee is 10 euro.
Tourist infrastructure has been built around the castle (a lot of restaurants and souvenirs), which has certainly spoilt the atmosphere, but only on the one side. Now it can be seen that this is a popular place. And there is a zoo nearby.
The price for parking near the castle is 4-5 euros/day. But if you drive around a bit, you may find a free place on a small street Podzamocka right near the hotel and its paid parking.
Another interesting place on the way to Bratislava is Beckov castle standing on a steep hill like Meteora in Greece.
Today it is mostly ruins and not a proper fortress, but it is worth coming up and looking up at the castle. From below it has a mighty and high look.
3) VISIT BRATISLAVA – THE CAPITAL WITH ITS HITORIC CENTER, CASTLE ON THE HILL AND THE UFO TOWER.
Bratislava is a relatively small capital with well-preserved old part, restored castle in the city centre and eccentric tower on the bridge called UFO.
There also are interesting modern areas often abounding with glass facades. Sometimes the streets look quite nice, but mostly they look typically for the post-soviet countries. Nevertheless almost all panel houses are insulated and look neat.
Snow-white Castle – Bratislava Castle has quadrilateral shape with towers at each corner, from a distance it looks like a crown when viewed at an angle. From the territory of the castle a very good view of the whole capital can be enjoyed. You can see the old part on the one side, and behind it there are new areas with the high buildings, on the other side there is the bridge with the UFO tower and residential areas. And on the right the Austrian territory can be seen, which is only 3 km away from Bratislava, where there are wind turbines and a large forest. This place is certainly worth seeing.
UFO bridge and restaurant. The residents of Bratislava are very proud of their bridge, where a small tower with a restaurant are situated known all around the world. And it is also the viewing platform opening the wonderful 360 degrees view of the old town with a castle and river Danube.
Having parked the car near AUPARK for free, you will have to walk under the bridge, where there is situated the box office to the lift that raises you to a height of 95 m (a little less because there is restaurant below, and then you have to walk several steps on foot). The price of the ticket is 6.5 euros per person, but if you go to the restaurant you do not need to buy the ticket. However the restaurant bill will be much higher than the price for the ticket. You may look at the menu and order already at the box office and then you will be allowed to enter the lift for free.
The view from the UFO is awesome but the area is open and on top of the spacecraft, so in rainy or windy weather it is not so nice to be there.
From Bratislava castle, overlooking the city from a hill, you can go down the park to historic centre of the city. The area of the old part of the city is quite large. There are several Gothic cathedrals and towers that are very beautiful.
More and more often you can see red public transport in the city.
There practically are no bicycle paths. There were some half-meter paths on the side of the road, but they looked absolutely uncomfortable to ride on.
But also there are an old trams.
There are nice shopping centres, such as, AUPARK, digital glass parks, broad avenues. However, there are streets with the territory around quite empty, with houses demolished, apparently for new construction.
The Main Square or in Slovakian Hlavne namieste is quite neat and unpretentious with a fountain and the town hall.
In the old town there is a tower with a beautiful dome dissimilar to others. Michalska Brana is the main gate with the entrance to the old town, which opens the way to the main street. You can climb up Michalska tower to see the beautiful view of the old town and to look at the castle on the hill, which is clearly visible.
The tower is open from 10:00. Inside sits a sweet lady, who may give you cheaper student tickets without any proof (if you’re lucky as we were).
No wonder the restaurant on the bridge was named after an alien flying saucer. It looks as if it has just landed on the tower of the bridge.
Nearby Michalska tower there is probably the narrowest street.
Also in the old town you may see golden crowns in the pavement. They indicate which way went the solemn procession of crowned person with the retinue. For several hundred years Bratislava was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and here happened very important events of the kingdom.
On many streets there are numerous restaurants and cafes, some are more beautiful for the young, but mostly they are ordinary with nice tables outside.
We chose the place for breakfast with our favourite style in interior design.
URBAN HOUSE.This place is very cool. Lots of space, different zones. Since opening at 9:00 am, the majority of seats are quickly taken by the visitors. Some came to work, and some to drink really delicious coffee, which they also sell in beans.
We liked the open kitchen without doors. Beautiful dishes and cutlery, and other things and details.
As for the prices they might be a bit higher than in other cafes, but the coffee is better too.
In general, Bratislava is beautiful and worth visiting, so you may go for it for the weekend.
4) VISIT ANOTHER COUNTRY – AUSTRIA AND ITS CAPITAL – VIENNA, WHICH IS ONLY 60 KM OF BRATISLAVA.
Less than in an hour you can get into one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe with magnificent architecture, incredible palaces and parks, the capital of opera and Gothic cathedrals. And all this near Bratislava!
What to see in Vienna
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