Why You Should Visit Bratislava, Slovakia

Updated: November 2022

Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia and located right on the Danube River. It’s likely you haven’t heard of it so you know very little of this city or country. With this blog post you’ll know a bit more about this city and have reasons why you should visit Bratislava. A few reasons to start you off:

• Architecture
• Food
• Views
• Castles
• Museums

This city really has a little bit for everyone. And because you won’t find huge skyscrapers, a Starbucks on every corner or loads of tourist attractions, you also won’t find tourists occupying every street. This means you’re able to actually experience the city with its people living their day to day lives. Honestly, you really should go visit before other people find this out. And before it turns into another “must see” spot on people’s upcoming Euro trip. 

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Many people decide to add Bratislava to their list when visiting Vienna. If you’re looking for a unique way to get between the cities that isn’t a bus or train, try this! A catamaran is a much more fun way of traveling around. Please keep in mind that this is only available during April though September. There are limited times during March and October, so make sure you look it up beforehand.

Small City, Less Tourists

The lack of tourists contributes to lower costs. Since Slovakia is in Central Europe bordering the Eastern side, it is more affordable than other Central and Western European countries. The budget you’ll need for this capital city is far less than what you’ll need in other capital cities. I spent three days here total and spent 140€ ($160)* and I did everything I wanted to do from ordering more food than I could eat, a pub crawl, and sunset pano views from a tower overlooking the city. Bratislava is affordable. 

Less tourists means you don’t have to wait your turn to take photos with impressive backgrounds or shove your way through a crowd to get to your next stop. I mean, isn’t this reason alone enough to visit Bratislava?! For me it was. In the last few years I’ve started dreading being around crowds of people, COVID sure hasn’t changed my mind about this, and here I didn’t have to deal with any of it. As a solo traveler, it’s also nice to be able to set up my tripod and take photos and videos without having a swarm of people flocking in the background.

One of the first things you’ll see whether arriving by bus, train, or boat will be either Bratislava Castle sitting on a hill or the UFO tower over the Danube river. How many other cities can you say a similar sentence about? I was more shocked about the UFO tower. One night when I was wandering around, it was lit up green! I had me thinking, that aliens were really out to get us! 

The People Make It Better

Overall, the best part of Bratislava is the people. Since they aren’t used to dealing with huge amounts of tourists, they’re just nice. Any questions I had, they were always willing to answer. Since it’s not a huge city with all the hustle and bustle, people aren’t in such a hurry and won’t just blow you off. Every person that I did have contact with spoke at least some English so I didn’t really feel the language barrier. Although of course it’s always nice to learn a few words in the local language to make deeper connections.

I somehow ended up at a protest near the Bratislava castle. There was a group of young college students covering it for a documentary. They may have also recorded me asking one of them questions, so I may end up in their documentary 👀. These are the kind of experiences I live for and that help me enjoy a place more.

*This total includes all the meals I ate, coffee I drank, activities I participated in, and bus tickets to and from the city. I have a whole list of everything I purchased and how much it cost which I’ll gladly share if you’re interested!

Are you considering solo travel? Check out my other solo travel experiences!

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