Bratislava Top 5

11/26/2019

Bratislava… what can I say about this capital city of Slovakia.  I read enough about Bratislava and thought it might be cool to check out.  I also met some people in Prague (who were expats from Bratislava) who said, I’d get bored after 2 days.  They were right.  However, I’m going to try to give you a top 5 of the city.

Top 5

Old Town

St. Michaels Tower

The historic center of Bratislava.  Everything is around Stare Mesto and definitely walking distance.  This area is full of restaurants, pubs and souvenir shops.  The cobblestone alleyways leads into various squares and at the center, km marker, 0 – St. Michael’s Tower.

Bratislava Castle

What was once Pressburg Castle was built in the 9th century and still remains as one of the most popular landmarks of Bratislava.  Sits up an isolated rocky hill of the little Carpathians above the Danube River.  First Hungarian King, Stephen I, 11th Century ruled from this Castle.

UFO Tower

Really looks like something out of ‘War of the Worlds’.  This modern looking tower at the end of the New Bridge has a windy outdoor observation deck and of course a restaurant with panoramic views of the city, the castle and the Danube below.

Man at Work

I guess the only reason I have this on the list is because I took a picture of it and it’s insanely popular with tourists, in fact – all statues in Bratislava are.  Is that because they were out of things to go see?  This is located in Old Town as well.  Also called Cumil (the Watcher), it’s told he’s your typical communist era worker who is totally content with the work he’s doing.

Blue Church

A beautiful blue church painted like the clear blue sky on a sunny day in an art nouveau style.  It wasn’t open when I was there and couldn’t wait for it to open as I had to catch my bus to Budapest.

Some people will add the Promenade along the Danube to the list but I really wasn’t impressed.  At night it doesn’t shine like Budapest and it’s really dark even with some nice restaurants.  Just seems like they need to do more.  If you want to show off the waterfront, show us why this promenade is worth it.   Light it up at night.

Maybe due to the fact I was there in Autumn and the weather was starting to cool, the sun gave way to the clouds and mist – but there’s definite a sense of old communist world and the modern world.  Walking past the palace and over by the government buildings it seems you’re in the world of Bourne Identity or old time Russia.  Not that I’ve been there but strictly basing this on movies. 🙂

Tips:

• What I didn’t realize at first is Slovakia uses the Euro.  Seems like common sense right, but if you take a look at majority of the countries that surround it, only one uses the Euro, everyone elses uses their own currency so I thought a country this small might still use their own.
• It’s a tiny capital and by tiny I mean…. I checked into my apartment it was 5pm, I took a shower, got ready and headed out – by 9pm, I saw I’d say 80-90% of the city.
• You shouldn’t make a trip around Bratislava, but if you’re in Vienna (which is 1 hour away) or somewhere nearby, it might be worth a shot for the day.
• Stay in Old Town, like I said it’s a super easy walk to everything.  I stayed in an apartment right behind St. Michaels Tower.