I traveled to Europe in 2004 for the first time; thus wanted to see everything. After finishing my summer work in Poland, I took a train to Presov, Slovakia to visit a Slovakian friend. We met the year before in California while working at a summer camp in King Canyon National Park. After Presov, I needed to go to Bratislava to catch a flight to London. She took me Kosice, a bigger and more important city in eastern Slovakia for a day trip and to take a train out from here to Bratislava. The Kosice-Bratislava train ride was the first beautiful train landscape I’d witnessed during my three months in Europe which also the first beautiful train ride I’d ever taken in Europe.
– Bratislava Castle, a guardian angel on a hill. It was once a Roman frontier post and has been sitting here since the 9th century to watch over the city. If you walk to the castle from the Old Town, you will be on your way to St. Martin’s Cathedral, one of the oldest and largest church in Bratislava. Several Hungarian kings were crowned here. From there, follow the road uphill, past a pretty yellow-white House of the Good Shepherd, now a clock museum.
– Primatial Palace – located in the center of Old town. Here you find many oil portraits of the Hapsburg Royal family including Marie Therese at her coronation in 1742. The Hall of Mirrors is also very nice.
– A must-see sight in Bratislava is St. Elizabeth’s Church (nicknamed the “Blue Church”), only a short walk away from the main square on Bezrucova street. The church is said to be one of the most beautiful pieces of Art Nouveau architecture in the world.
– My favorite sight is a quirky statue of a mischievous-looking construction worker deep down under a sewer with only his face sticking out to watch passerby. On top of him is the sign “Men at work.” Maybe it is a coincidence, but I thought the idea of the statue has something to do with the band Men at Work and their song Down Under. (below)
– Bored with historical and cultural information? Take bus 80, 83 or 93 to Aulandia Aqua and Spa Paradise. Buses depart from Zochova across the New Bridge and go only one stop to AuPark.
– Explore the outdoor at Koliba. There is always something to do such as skiing in the winter, hiking in the summer, sliding the toboggan or riding the ponies. Climb the Devinska Kobyla for a view at the top.
Slovak cuisine is similar its neighbor Czech, neither special nor great. Potatoes, onions, garlic, beef, sheep cheese and wheat flour are the bases of traditional Slovak food.
Visit this link to find and book cheap hotels in Bratislava and Slovakia.
– Bratislava Milan Rastislav Štefánik airport is the home base of Danube Wings. Bus no. 61 takes you directly to the main train station. Another option is fly from/to the airport in Vienna, which is only one hour away. (Vienna and Bratislava are the closest European capitals).
– Trains to other popular destinations like Vienna (1 hour), Budapest (3 hours) and Prague (4-5 hours) depart several times a day.
– The main train station (Bratislava hlavná stanica) is also the hub for many public bus and tram lines going directly to the city center. Tram no. 13 is current the best connection. (Walking takes only 10 minutes.)
– Coaches connecting Bratislava with the rest of Slovakia, cities in the Czech Republic and other destinations in Europe as far as London and Paris. The Central Coach Terminal (Autobusová stanica) is at Mlynské nivy, the eastern border of the city center. To get to/from the main railway station (Hlavná stanica), take trolleybus 210.
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My name is Cindy, also rhymes with travel junkie. A friend said I was probably a gipsy in my previous life. One of my many secret missions in life is to convert you to run off every once in awhile.
