Travel Tips: Bratislava - Slovakia

Arriving from Vienna, the small Bratislava train station hosts a few platforms and a short walk outside and downstairs, are the trams that take you to the Old Town as it’s quite a walk. The train station is old but has its charm in exactly that. The trams in contrast are brand new and shiny. Your day ticket return bought in Vienna gives you an option for the all day public transport card in Bratislava which you won't really need if you’re extremely young and energetic but I was grateful for it after the castle climb and having walked to the Danube needing to get back to centre of town. Having a ticket also saves hassle of needing change and fiddling with the machine. A return from Vienna is just 16 euro.  If you get off tram 1 at the town entry, walk to the small square with two churches and three massive statues on top of the small hill. There are two lovely cafes with a nice view and you can study the town map before you set off. Even on the map, Bratislava is small, quaint and cute.  

 The square before heading to the Blue Church

I decided to do the Blue Church first as it's outside the old town and it's a super introduction to this lovely little city. Completely in blue, the doors, the outside buildings, the entree and decor, it really is a pretty site to admire.  As it was Easter Sunday there was a service on and alas, only two hours before had been the Srilankan attacks, so there where two armed military on the watch. This has been the case with Milano’s Duomo, Pisa and Florence cathedral for a while. I was glad to see the Slovakian authorities taking all necessary preventative precautions. Signs for the blue church are easy to follow and the streets are lined with trees and some pretty architecture. 

  

Thereafter, you can head towards the Danube embankment to view the outskirts  of the old town and a lovely bridge, taking tram 4 back to get back to the centre. Walking the old town is easy enough, you can’t get lost and there are some charming twists and turns with mini squares, parks, arches and statues. As it was Easter there were eggs tied in trees with ribbons everywhere and a little market with local delicacies. 

 

One of the bridges over the Danube 

 

One entrance to the Old Town  

 

 

Easter market and ribbons

 

A side street leading into the Old Town  

  

The centre is compact, charming and full of interesting places. The main square is Hlavne Namestie and includes the old town hall courtyard Stara Radnica. Other places worth seeing are the national theatre and St. Martin’s Cathedral which is at the foot of the walk to the castle. Bratislavan streets have quaint monumental buildings and a few churches in a small vicinity. Plenty of cafes and restaurants to choose from in the small inner streets but it’s even nicer on the main promenade. 

  

Local handcraft soaps  

 Promenade parallel to the Danube towards the castle

 

Main square fountain

From the fountain if you follow the broad promenade you can get to one of the castle routes. The wide avenue is pedestrian, lined with trees, benches, a man-made mini canal and a few modest market stalls. You can also amble towards the castle taking a few side streets back into the old centre main road, weaving in and out back to the promenade to see the most. 

 

The castle in view from the Old Town streets

The castle might not be huge but it’s absolutely worth seeing and it’s gardens are spectacular. There’s a lovely restaurant at the top where you can take a break as you're two thirds of the way up, and have lunch, enjoying the view over the city. I had a delicious  grilled salmon on an avocado salad. The walk is not long or steep but there are quite a few stairs. From the restaurant and park garden you can walk up some extra stairways for higher views and afterwards view the gardens. 

 

Entrance to castle walk from the Old city 

 

Outer ring road where castle walk begins to incline

 

Four fifths of the way up

 

Beautiful pink clematis climb the wall trellises  

 Castle Gardens

The walk down to town again is easy and do take a different route to enjoy diverse views. You'll pass the famous bridge which looks like a UFO and is so called. You also get a better view of St Michael Church steep and tower than from below.

 

The UFO bridge across the Danube

 

 

The Danube view from the castle 

  

The Slavs drink a customary jug of lemonade or other juice with water which saves having to order multiple glasses of soda. The words for yes seems to be 'dubre' in Slovakian as opposed to the common 'dubro' and thanks is 'hvala.'  I preferred Bratislava to Llubljana as it’s bigger, there’s more to see and it also has a variety in churches and buildings. It's a mini-Budapest but older.  Speaking to travelers from Singapore who had arrived by a Danube cruise, I heard Romanian’s Bucharest is not that nice compared to Bratislava, however I believe  the Romanian countryside is lovely. So next Eastern Europe travels will either be a city trip to St Petersburg in Russia or a summer tour of Romania in its natural environment. That’s all folks, happy travels.