This post is about Slovakia, a little country, for some in Central and others Eastern Europe. Many people don’t know Slovakia or if they do, it’s not much. Let me teach you something more about this little country. As a Slovak citizen that lived there most of my life, here is my unbiased opinion.
Basic information
| Currency: euro | Language: Slovak |
| European Union | Schengen zone |
| Capital: Bratislava |
So what is Slovakia known for? Our Eastern European culture, history, castles, nature, politics… Slovaks are typical Eastern Europeans, with emotionless faces but big hearts. They like to drink strong alcohol and eat a lot of heavy food.
Slovakia has a very rich history. On its ground there was the Roman Empire, the Great Moravia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, for a long time it was part of Hungary, later Czechoslovakia was formed and it was part of both WW1 and WW2.
Because of this rich history, Slovakia has the highest number of castles per capita. You can find beautiful well maintained castles, châteaux and many many ruins.
Nature is stunning. Slovakia offers lakes, rivers, forests, meadows and many caves opened to visitors. It also got the better side of Tatras (Slovakia shares Tatra mountains with Poland), its highest mountains. There are many national parks, protected areas and UNESCO sights.
Sadly, Slovakia might be known also for its politicians and the nonsense they are trying to enforce.
There are many famous people with Slovak roots, to mention some: Andy Warhol, Paul Newman, David Dobrik or Juraj Slafkovský.
Places to visit
Bratislava
The capital of Slovakia. It’s famous for the lovely Old town with historical buildings and cobblestone streets. It offers two castles, the Bratislava castle and Devín castle. It’s divided by river Danube where you can go for a boat ride. Bratislava is the only capital lying on the border of three states. Vienna is only 60 km away.
Other than castles, you can visit St Martin’s Cathedral, the Blue Church, Slovak National Theatre or the Presidential Palace. Interesting place to see is the Slovak UFO, it’s a restaurant standing over the New bridge. There are also many squares, memorials, shopping malls or a lake called Golden Sands where you can do many water sports or just relax on the beach.
Košice
It’s the second biggest city in Slovakia. Košice is a beautiful historical city. Definitely the most famous place you have to visit is the St Elizabeth’s Cathedral. You can also visit the State theatre, have a coffee in a Slavia cafe, walk in the old town, visit the zoo, the Craft Lane or try Slovak beer.
Tatra mountains
These are the biggest most famous mountains in Slovakia. The highest peak is Gerlachovský štít. Tatras are divided into Low and High Tatras. There are many peaks and lakes, most famous ones Kriváň peak or lake Štrbské Pleso. These lakes are mostly formed from melted glaciers, besides Štrbské Pleso there are also Popradské pleso, Zelené pleso, Veľké Hincovo pleso, Skalnaté pleso and Modré pleso. You can also visit waterfalls, the most famous one is called Skok.
Tatras are part of several National parks with protected fauna and flora and are listed in UNESCO sights. There is a lot of biodiversity, also endangered species live there.
These mountains offer so many activities. You can go hiking, do winter sports, stay in resorts and spas, visit national parks, aqua parks, go for a walk between the top of the trees, have a ride in a cable car, visit caves and castles or find fun activities like bobsleigh track or Tricklandia.
Nitra
Nitra is another very historical city and one of the oldest cities. It had a big part in the Great Moravian Empire. There is a castle with St. Emmeram’s Cathedral which was the bishop’s residence.
Nitra is now a city of students, offering many high schools and some of Slovakia’s biggest universities.
Besides the castle, Nitra offers a walk next to Nitra river, pedestrian walk with the Svätopluk square where many events are organised and the theatre of Andrej Bagar is standing. There is a beautiful park with activities for the little ones, like the mini zoo. You can also visit Agrokomplex, it’s a place for exhibitions of any kind. Events or exhibitions are taking place here all year around, you just need to check their calendar and find what you like.
You can also have a hike on the Zobor hill, visit some museums or bars in Mostná street.
Orava
Orava is a region in the North of Slovakia. The landmark of this region is the Orava castle. This castle is one of the most famous and beautiful castles of Slovakia. It is in a very good condition, allowing tourists to visit its museum. This castle also played a role in many movies.
Under the castle there is a river Orava. On this river you can go rafting on oldschool rafts, it’s a very special and original experience.
In this region you can find many other museums, go to the Orava dam for a swim or a boat ride, go hiking or do winter sports… It’s just up to you and your preferences.
Bojnice
This Disney-like castle is the most beautiful castle of Slovakia. It’s opened to visitors and it has a big museum where you can learn the history of the castle. There are also many events. From actors in renaissance costumes to scary nights on the castle, falconers and many more.
Bojnice is not just a castle, it is actually a city that offers a lot more. Straight next to the castle is one of Slovakia’s most famous zoos. Besides that you can also find there a spa and a lookout tower. If you look for more fun, you can try some traditional cuisine, escape rooms and the House of Illusion.
Banská Štiavnica
A well kept treasure of Slovakia. This city is known for its mines and mining history. There are many mining museums, natural and mineral museums and even mines opened to visitors. It’s a very unique experience.
Besides the mines, Banská Štiavnica also offers two castles, the old and the new castle. There are also many historical buildings and the square, you can climb on a hill to see a chapel or wander around in the forest and between several lakes. It’s a small city but there are many things worth seeing.
Čičmany and Vlkolínec
Both of these places are open air museums. They are very special and beautiful places you should have on your list.
Vlkolínec is also in the UNESCO list. It’s an open air museum with little wooden houses showing the traditional way of life in the past. There is also a church, cemetery and farming buildings with museums. There are still 20 locals living in this little lovely village.
Čičmany is very similar to Vlkolínec. It is very famous because the wooden houses are painted with white ornaments making it look like a fairytale.
Caves
There are thousands of caves in Slovakia but only between 10 to 20 are opened to visitors. Slovakia has many different types of caves but all of them are beautiful. There are ice, aragonite and many other caves. In cave Domica you can also go for a boat ride. There are caves that help with health issues. Many of these caves have a big number of different species of bat living in them, they are also important archeological sites.
I recommend visiting caves Domica, Dobšinská ice cave, Ochtinská aragonite cave, Demänovská cave of liberty and Gombasecká cave.
National parks
Slovakia has 9 national parks, all of them offering the stunning nature of Slovakia. In my opinion the most beautiful one is the national park Slovak paradise. This national park offers many interesting routes through the forests, canyons, waterfalls or caves.
The most popular national park is Tatra national park, part of which are the Tatra mountains.
In national park Pieniny you can go on a raft ride on river Dunajec.
National park Muránska planina is special because of the number of protected species of animals and plants. Tourists can find here and ride a special breed of horse called Hucula.
Pick your tour here:
People and culture
Slovaks are quite closed and might have the face of a killer but the truth is that under that hard cover there are very interesting, often nice and loving people. They might look mean but you have to give them a chance and get to know them.
The truth is that Slovaks are often very nationalistic and protective of their culture. This might bring out some negative traits. They can be racist and homophobic, these traits are lately stronger between the older generations tho. People can be quite negative and we could say that if complaining would be a sport, Slovaks would get the golden medal.
Despite these negative traits, Slovak people are very hard working and handy. Family is for them a priority and they appreciate traditions.
Slovakia is very rich in culture. Folklore is a big part of our lives. From folk stories to dances, songs and dresses, Slovakia has a lot to offer. There are several folklore festivals where you can see the traditional ways of living and dressing, try some traditional Slovak dishes and see how they are made, watch performances and listen to music, dance and sing with the performers or random people and buy many many souvenirs. It’s a really authentic and original experience that Slovaks are proud of and enjoy.
Slovak traditions
I think the craziest tradition Slovakia has is during Easter. On Easter Monday young boys and men take buckets of water and handmade whips and go to young girl houses. The girls get whipped and soaked into water. The tradition was to throw them into the stream if there was one, that’s a bit brutal so these days they use buckets of water or a shower. It’s supposed to bring health and beauty to the girls and they pay the boys with money, painted eggs or food and spirits.
Everyone knows Valentine’s day, in Slovakia there is a tradition of putting up Maypoles. This happens in May and it means that a boy builds a tall decorated tree in his girlfriend’s garden, meaning she is taken. This tradition may differ in different regions, the poles might have different meanings based on the way how they are decorated. The point of this tradition is celebrating love.
Slovaks don’t celebrate Halloween, they celebrate All saints day. They honor their deceased loved ones by going to the cemeteries and lighting a candle for each one of them.
St Nicholas’ day is celebrated at the beginning of December. It’s mostly popular among kids. The tradition in Slovakia is that Santa Claus, for us St Nicholas, brings sweets to the good kids and coal to the bad ones. The kids have to clean their boots and put them in their window, during the night St Nicholas brings them a package. He is often accompanied by an angel and the devil.
For Christmas baby Jesus brings the presents. The 24th of December is dedicated to cooking and preparations for the dinner. The whole day is forbidden to eat until the dinner that should take place when the sun sets. The dinner consists of cabbage soup, fried carp and potato salad, fruit salad and traditional Christmas wafers. After the dinner we eat cakes and maybe exchange presents or leave it for the next morning. Some people have a tradition to put money or fish scales under the tablecloth to attract money.
An interesting tradition is St Lucia’s day. The legend says that she was a witch and this day is the day of witches. It’s believed that if you build a small stool only from wood, no metal can be used, and cut out a small circle in the top, you can see the witches through that circle. This day is also connected with love magic. Girls write 12 names of men on 12 papers and leave one empty. Every day they burn one paper until they are left with the last one, that one they are supposed to marry. If they are left with the empty paper, they are not supposed to marry for the next year.
Traditional food
Slovakia as other Slavic countries offers a big variety of heavy food. Bread, meat and potatoes are the main ingredients of most of the traditional recipes. Thanks to the large number of farmers in the past, different types of meat, lentils, vegetables, fruits and dairy products were used in the kitchen.
The national and most famous dish is Bryndzové halušky. This dish is potato dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon.
You should try garlic soup served in bread, it’s special and delicious. Cabbage soup is also very popular in Slovakia. Many people love the potato pancakes often served with duck meat.
Slovak people also like cakes a lot. Sourdough cakes are popular and were very popular in the past.
The important part is the drinks and spirits. Slovak people don’t say no to any type of alcohol. The traditional homemade alcohol is usually very strong and it is made out of plums, but it can be made from almost any fruit. Another national drink is Tatra tea, a herbal alcoholic drink. Slovakia also produces many vines and beers.
From nonalcoholic drinks you have to try Kofola, it’s like Coca Cola but less sweet and there are many different types with added tastes.
What are the problems of Slovakia?
Besides racism and homophobia, Slovak people lack open mindedness. Slovakia is kinda stuck and it’s missing development. The salaries are too low while the cost of living is getting higher and higher. This is driving many young people to leave and work in Western countries. It is stagnating in education, health care, economy and transport. For most of these issues we can thank the Slovak government.
The Slovak government is very unstable and it attracts bad people. They lead the country to corruption and financial issues. The more liberal politicians were often terrorized to the point where they decided to give up on politics.
This also sadly leads to stagnation in tourism and transport. It’s difficult to get anywhere in Slovakia with only public transport. People mostly don’t speak English and they are not prepared for tourism from foreign countries. It’s a shame because Slovakia has so much to offer.
Why should you give Slovakia a chance?
Despite the problems listed above Slovakia is a very interesting country. It offers plenty of activities, anything you can imagine. Nature, museums, history and culture, aqua parks, theme parks, festivals, and even tho there’s no sea, you can still find some beaches.
It’s not an overcrowded country. Many people don’t know anything about Slovakia and therefore they decide to skip it. The positive of that is that it’s less crowded and more enjoyable.
Activities are so much cheaper. Transport tickets, museums, parks or caves, all of it is a lot cheaper than in Western Europe and it is a lot richer in culture.
If you travel by a car, Slovakia is a perfect destination for a road trip. With a car you can get to all of the interesting and unique places this country offers, and there’s a lot.
It’s an original destination. Not many people can say that they experienced Slovakia. People often visit Bratislava, but the real experience is behind the capital. There are plenty of interesting places that wouldn’t even fit in one post.
Some might say Slovakia is a country with bad politics, alcohol issues or low salaries. The truth is that Slovakia is so much more. It might not be a rich country in the economical aspect, but it’s a rich country in culture, traditions and activities. Even tho we have many downs, I believe in a better future for Slovakia.
Have you ever visited Slovakia? What is your experience?
Credit for some photos goes to my friend @matus.varga.50