Slovakia
In May last year we went to Slovakia for the bank holiday weekend. For those who are unaware, Slovakia is situated in the heart of Europe, bordered by the Czech Repulic, Hungary, Poland, Austria and Ukraine. We had never really paid that much attention to this small Eastern European country until we saw a programme featuring it. We were amazed by the scenery, particularly the alp-like regions, and decided we had to go! It was with great anticipation that we packed our bags into the car and headed off to Stansted airport from North London, which in retrospect was a mistake, as we got caught in one of those great congested traffic jams and ended up missing our flight! We ended up staying the first night of our holiday at a B&B in Little Dunmow, a town near Stansted Airport. As disappointing as it was, it did n
ot deter us and we were on our way to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) very early the following morning.
On arrival at Bratislava Airport, we bought bus tickets from the tourist information desk and caught the bus to the main train station in town where we left our luggage (safely in a 'left luggage' deposit place). We only had a brief time to spend in Bratislava as we had to get a train to Zilina (another large town toward the west) that same afternoon. After a taxi ride into the centre of Bratislava we walked about the old quarter, toward the Danube, and found it to be quite enjoyable and pleasing to the eye, with an abundance of cafes and restaurants (which, unfortunately, we did not have the time to sample).
Train travel in Slovakia is really efficient and cheap. We travelled from Bratislava to Zilina and enjoyed the scenery out of our first class window! The restaurant section on the train catered for our food and drink needs, although the choice for vegetarians is limited - not only on the train, but in most parts of the country. I was amused to see that under their vegetarian option on the train m
enu, they had "fried cheese with ham".
Zilina is a gateway to more hilly and mountainous regions of Slovakia, something we wish to explore in the future. For our time there, we stayed in the town itself, and walked about the town squares also adorned with open air cafes/bars/restaurants. We couldn't quite believe how cheap the meals and drinks were (compared to Western European prices) and therefore made the most of it. We stayed in Hotel Grand, and despite initially giving us the wrong room, it was a pleasant stay. The bar attached to the hotel serves a variety of cocktails, and we enjoyed listening to jazz and drinking gin martinis for just over £1 each. Far from expensive London prices.
The next day we travelled to Poprad, toward the east of the country, as we wanted to venture into the High Tatras mountains. We had booked on the Internet, through Octopus Travel, to stay in Hotel Poprad and on our arrival we were met with dismay as we had not printed our hotel 'voucher' despite having our booking reference number. Eventually we managed to get to our room. It was sparse and clean, but nothing special at all. In future, if we were to go back to Poprad itself, we would probably stay at the other hotel nearby which seemed to be friendlier and more welcoming, Hotel Satel.
Poprad is a good base from which to explore the Tatras, but the city itself does not have much to offer. We therefore took the electrical train from Poprad's main station to Stary Smokovec, the geographical centre of the High Tatras. It is a pretty town, situated in the mountains, largely comprised of hotels and restaurants catering for the many skiers that frequent the slopes. The Hotel Grand (another one) is worth a visit if looking for a good place to relax and eat. From Smokovec we also went to Tatranska Lomnica, another tourist resort, but unfortunately the cable car to the highest peak in the Tatras, Lomnicky Stit, wasn't running. Next time! The Tatras are not only well-known for skiing, but there are also numerous hikes and walks to be found.
We didn't want to, but we had to depart back to the UK the next day, and we therefore took an InterCity (IC) train all the way from Poprad to Bratislava where we caught our flight. Again, we went first class in the train, and it was very comfortable. It took over four hours for the journey, but despite a few delays, there were no problems.
I can recommend Slovakia as an interesting and enjoyable tourist destination, with friendly and helpful locals. If it's only city life you're after, you might be disappointed (although Bratislava seems to have a lot to offer). If you enjoy beautiful scenery and the outdoors then Slovakia is an ideal country to visit.
Comments
I have visited Slovakia many times during 2006, because of business, so I know the country fairly well.
First of all there is not much to see, apart from the old centre of Bratislava (you can see that in 1 hour); in any case is nothing compared to Prague or Budapest. The other cities (Kosice, Nitra, Zilina etc). are rather gloomy and miserable.
People in general tend to be very cold, and in some cases even rude. They are not bad, they just don’t know how to be friendly.
Of course a lot of people have nice experiences in Slovakia and they will say how excellent the country is; normally they like Slovakia because food and beer in general are very cheap, and girls usually are very good looking.
In any case I have been basically anywhere, the country is not nice. Anyone saying Slovakia is a beautiful country with pleasant people is just joking or is probably a Slovakian.
However the main problem has always been, at least for me, driving around with a foreign plate number: no matter what, the police was always stopping me and here I give some examples:
- near the border with Hungary (just around Bratislava, the capital) I had to pay about 50 euros to a policeman (JOSEP VASKO, number 10098 – a real jerk).
- inside the parking lot of a big supermarket (in Bratislava) I was chased and stopped to have an alcohol test (at 2 PM) and because my test was negative the 2 cops (number 11125 and 11920) wanted to fine me because I had no seat belt. When I pointed out that we were in a supermarket and nobody had it, the answer was: we can’t stop everybody, so they had to stop me???. In any case I told them I had no money, so finally they let me go.
- near a roundabout (in Nitra) I was stopped because, according to the police, I did not have the indicator on time????. They asked me: "get inside our car because it is raining"????. When I refused and told them we could go together to the police station, they decided to let me go.
And I have more and more of stories like these, so my suggestion is: go to Slovakia unless you have some very important business there (only with a rented car with Slovakian numbers), if not don't waste your time there.
By the way, if you have any problem don’t even try to contact the police or any tourist organization, they simply won’t answer you.
I live in Slovakia and I do not agree with you.
Did you live 40 years in communist system? This is our bad heritage.
If you would like to feel in Slovakia like in your country, please forget it. Every country has own differents and good and bad things together.
Try to compare your salary with mine and the paradox can be that that people with lower salary are happier. In my eyes you look like consume man without feeling who can be happy just on your own field.
J.C.
Kosice