Travel

Slovakia

Slovakia is a peaceful country, with beautiful scenery, inexpensive shopping and tourism and hospitable people.
Slovakia is becoming one of Europe’s focal points for travel and tourism. “Slovensko” in the native language of Slovak, officially named the Slovak Republic, the country enjoys moderate weather and a prime map location, bridging east and west.
Slovakia’s capital city Bratislava is a growing hub of culture, as well as the national seat of politics and business. Its thousand year history offers a great deal to visitors. The second-largest city of Kosice is a centre of heavy industry, but also of architecture and multiculturalism.

Slovakia Accommodation
The accommodation in Slovakia is provided by hotels, guest houses, chalets or you can take advantage of services offered by car camps. All above mentioned accommodation facilities are situated in cities, mountains, spas or nearby water reservoirs. Most of them are very well equipped and offer high quality services. Slovakia hotels and guest houses usually provide a wide range of services as for example catering offered by their restaurants. If you like to prepare your meals yourself, you can take advantage of lodging in chalets usually equipped with kitchens.

Slovakia Transportation
Getting to Slovakia
In middle of Europe, there are many easy ways of getting here, and it gets easier every year.Air travel connections have almost doubled almost every year recently. International flights to Bratislava airport now travel regularly all year from cities in many parts of western and eastern Europe and to the Middle East, with extra scheduled summer service to Croatia. There are also regular connections to the Tatras, to Kosice and to central Slovakia. The budget airline Sky Europe offers the most connections, but other airlines, including the Czech national carrier CSA, the Slovak national carrier Slovak Airlines, and others have been increasing service as well.
An alternative is to fly to Vienna, one of Europe’s busiest airports, and travel the one hour by shuttle bus to Bratislava. Buses run every two to four hours from early morning until late evening.
There are good connections by train between most Slovak cities and all major European cities. Most European national carriers include Slovakia train stations in their searchable databases. One of the best is the German national railway, which also has good links to the rest of Europe
Bus and coach lines also exist, but unless the traveller has a strong preference for bus travel it is probably easier to find a connection, more comfortable and possibly cheaper to take a train into the country. If you do want to travel by bus from another country, check the official website (in English) for international bus travel to Bratislava (only the main connections are listed)
By car, international car rental agencies still sometimes restrict travel into Slovakia, due to high rates of car theft. There is no legal restriction at the border to driving a car into Slovakia, and with an international driver’s license you may drive your car in the country for visits of up to several weeks. (Some travellers prefer to come to Slovakia by other means, and rent a car inside the country - the car therefore has Slovak license plates, and so is less of a target for potential car thieves and burglars.)
Transportation inside Slovakia
Train travel remains very good and frequent, especially to areas most visited by tourists and other foreign visitors. It has certain drawbacks, including somewhat older trains, but is maintained very well, with a safety record far exceeding those in most western countries.
Towns and villages which are not on train lines have at least some kind of intercity bus or coach connections. Buses make required rest stops approximately every two hours.
Air travel may be best for travel in a hurry between Slovakia’s regions. Flights from Bratislava to Kosice take an hour, while driving takes four to five hours, trains five or six, and buses (not recommended for such a long trip) considerably longer.
If you plan to travel by car, Slovak law requires of visiting drivers an international driver’s license. There are a number of car rental agencies in different cities, but for short-term rentals the widest selection is in Bratislava. Some agencies will deliver the car to you anywhere in Slovakia.

Places to visit in Slovakia
Bratislava,Bratislava is the capital and the largest city of Slovakia. Set between the hills of the Small Carpathian Mountains and on the tip of the Danube River, this city is considered to be at the centre of Europe. It is hardly a few minutes drive from Austria and Hungary, and is the world’s only capital city to be bordering two nations. Vienna (the capital of Austria) and Bratislava are just 50 km apart. Bus and train services are easily available between the two capitals.
The city is typified by a mild climate. With average temperatures around 10°C, it receives about 5.4 hours of sunlight in a day.
Košice,The city of Košice is Slovakia’s second largest city and is situated in the eastern part of the country in the valley of the river Hornád in the Košice Basin. This beautiful city is surrounded by the Čierna Hora Mountains in the north and the Volovské vrchy hills in the west.
Košice lies at a height of 208 m above sea level. The climate is mild with average temperatures of about 27°C in summers and -3°C in winters.
Košice has a population of approximately 250,000 people. The majority of the inhabitants are Slovaks, although there are also a large number of Hungarians, Czechs, Ukrainians and Germans.
Pieštany, is a small spa town of approximately 31,000 residents, situated in a valley in the west of Slovakia, near the lower stream of the Váh, the country’s longest river. The town is also the seat of government for the district of Pieštany, which incorporates 27 nearby villages. The town’s position ensures that it is protected from the worst of Slovakia’s winter, with a partially cloudy, dry, and mildly windy climate.

Slovak food
Traditional Slovak eating and drinking habits date back to the old Slavic period influenced later by Austrian, German and Hungarian cooking. Slovak food is based on many different kinds of soups, gruels, boiled and stewed vegetables, roast and smoked meats and dairy products. The style of cooking varies from region to region. Slovak specialties include both sweet and savoury dishes made with flour, including dumplings.
Popular drinks include Slovak beer, wine and mineral waters. Wine from the Tokaj region and sparkling wine from the Bratislava region are particular specialties.Restaurants and other catering establishments are many and varied, including cafes, buffets, snack bars, inns, ale houses and wine taverns. All restaurants are graded according to quality. The main meal of the day is usually lunch, comprising soup, a main dish, and dessert.

Shopping in Slovakia
Souvenirs include pottery, porcelain, wooden carvings, hand-embroidered clothing and food items. There are a number of excellent shops specialising in glass and crystal, while various associations of regional artists and crafts people run their own retail outlets. Some of the most famous brands are Modra and Tatran, which have an international reputation for craftsmanship.
Other special purchases include folk ceramics from all regions of the Slovak Republic and woodcarvings from the eastern and central parts of Slovakia (Spissk Bel, Michalovce and Kyjatice). Shopping hours: 0900-1800 Monday to Friday. 0900-1200 Saturday.