There are several options for taking a day trip out of Budapest, Hungary, some within the country and some to neighboring countries. One of the most popular is to Vienna, Austria, which is about 3 hours from Budapest, but since we have been to Vienna previously, we decided to go to Bratislava in Slovakia. Located about 2 hours outside of Budapest, Bratislava is an interesting city with a rich history. It is the largest city in Slovakia as well as the capital of the country. In addition to getting to visit the city of Bratislava, it also gave us an opportunity to see the Hungarian countryside.
The history of Slovakia is somewhat complex as it was part of Hungary for centuries until Hungary was broken up into Nation States and the country of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918. Then, in 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia split and Bratislava became the capital of the new nation. As one can imagine, with a history that spans back centuries, but with their independence being relatively young, their is a true sense of national pride. Although there is some mistrust of Hungary due to the fact that Hungary retook the region during WWII, it seems that recently they have come to appreciate the relationship and the tourism that comes from Budapest.
Our tour started by visiting the Slavin War Memorial, which honors the 6,845 Soviet Union soldiers who died freeing the country from German occupation. The highlight of visiting the memorial are the amazing views of the city, the Bratislava Castle, and the modern bridge with the UFO restaurant suspended above it. From the views of the city, it is clear that Bratislava is a city that is growing and many modern skyscrapers are starting to dominate the skyline. Obviously, our tour was focused on the historic areas of the city.
Following the memorial, we stopped at the Bratislava Castle. Although you can’t enter the castle as it is now the home of government offices, walking the grounds is quite beautiful with its gardens and fortress walls. The original castle was destroyed and the current castle was rebuilt in the 1950’s, although a few of the original features remain. There have also been recent renovations to the castle, including the adding of a statue of King Svatopluk I, who was a Moravian ruler.
Finally, we spent time in the old town area of Bratislava. St Martin’s Cathedral is certainly the focal point of the area and was actually where the kings of Hungary were crowned for over 300 years. The tower of the church is modeled after the Hungarian crown and is another example of the complex history of the area. As with most cities in Europe that were once surrounded by medieval walls, the walls were taken down centuries ago to allow the cities to grow, but one of the gates, Michael’s Gate, still remains and is one of the most interesting features in the city. There are also many historic mansions that were built by the wealthy aristocrats in the region that have now been converted into stores, restaurants, and hotels.
We had originally scheduled our tour for earlier in the week, but the weather forecast for the day of our tour called for rain and cold temperatures, so we rescheduled it to later in the week. We were definitely happy with that decision since the weather was decidedly better, although still cool and overcast. Bratislava is definitely worth visiting if you have the opportunity and we are glad that we decided to add it to our itinerary.
I loved Bratislava when I visited from Prague ๐ So glad you got to see it and enjoy it!
BTW, I’m headed to Colorado in July and would love to have your recommendations of some great but not so touristy places and no more than 3 hours from Denver ๐ Thanks!
We had a great time! Are you staying in Denver?
We have at least one night planned for Denver. We have four days in Colorado. I think Estes Park will definitely be one day.
If you head to go to Estes Park, Boulder is a good place to stop to grab a bite to eat. Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs is stunning and has a lot of history. In Denver, you could go to a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Outside of Evergreen (just outside of Denver) there is Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave on Lookout Mountain. 16th Street Mall in Denver can be fun. A lot of things to do and restaurants. There are the Botanic Gardens, and they have some good brewery tours. The Museum of National History is very good. Pikes Peak is a great place to go hiking. We will keep thinking ๐
Oooh, all those sound good. We’re looking at doing a loop from Denver to Colorado Springs, picking up Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods and then on to Aspen back up to Boulder and Estes Park. My mom’s ear damage came from our Royal Gorge visit, so we’re ruling that out now. Thanks for all the tips ๐
Sounds like a great trip. If you have time when you are in Colorado Springs, shoot us an email. Maybe we get meet you for a beer ๐
dquinlan64@live.com
I’ll definitely drop you a line. We’re looking at the week after the 4th!
Nice Article…I love these countries epecially Austria, Hungary, Norway, Denmark..Will plan in near future..
On my list forever, looks like I really do need to get there.
We didn’t initially plan to take a day there, but are very glad we did.
I have always been in two minds about visiting Bratislava, but youโve really shone a light on how interesting a capital it is. Thank you!
Nice post! I loved it, it was a unique place.
It is very unique. We weren’t originally going to do a day trip there, but glad we did.
I’d love to go there some time! Thanks for the photo journal.
We are glad you enjoyed it ๐