Bratislava, Slovakia City Guide

In June 2017, my husband and I embarked on a three-week long backpacking trip of western Europe. In my first post of this series, I go through all the details about preparing for this trip from  itinerary, budget, packing, riding the train, lodging, and other common questions I’m asked. Now, I’ll take you through a detailed “City Guide” of every city we visited, and my top recommendations of where to eat and drink, where to stay, and what to see in this Bratislava, Slovakia City Guide.

Before I dive into the details about what we saw and did in Bratislava, a little background on the travel style Curtis and I enjoy. Our favorite way to travel is to get immersed in local culture. We like to eat unique foods and people-watch. On the flip side, we don’t like to do much in the way of touring — I can’t stand waiting in line or crowded attractions. We also like to be outdoors, so one of our favorite things to do is just stroll along the city and see the sights. Our travel style is low-key, affordable, and cultural. So you’ll find a lot of these types of travel recommendations in our city guides. If that’s the type of travel you like, too, read on!

Spoiler alert, we adored Bratislava. It ended up being our favorite place on this trip. The city is very walkable. It was the most affordable place we traveled, too, with a glass of locally-made wine costing around $1 USD in some restaurants. We ate and drank like a king and queen in Slovakia, which leads me to….

 What to Eat & Drink: a Bratislava, Slovakia City Guide

Bratislava, Slovakia had a surprisingly “foodie” culture. We loved going to local wine bars where we could drink wine straight from the cask and order delicious small plates to share.

One of my favorite places was Viecha malych vinarov. When we sat down we were brought carafes of water, fresh bread, olives, jam, and chopped vegetables. The atmosphere of this tiny place is so welcoming and friendly. The wines available from cask are from the Carpathian region, and you can order a glass from the “tap,” a pour from a bottle, or a bottle itself. We wanted to try a few local wines so we usually went with the cask pour. Then, we ordered a dish that was like baked brie, wrapped in pancetta, topped with sausage on an arugula salad, as well as a bruschetta.

While we were out exploring the Old Town of Bratislava, we had one national dish on our list: bryndzové halušky, which is a soft goat cheese poured on gnocchi or spaetzle noodles. We had ours with a fresh cucumber vinegar salad.

We could not get enough of Slovakian wine, and stopped at Pinot u Bruna — a cozy little cafe in a cottage near the Bratislava Castle. We had warm weather in Bratislava and it felt so nice to sit outside. Most of the cafes and pubs we visited served this “pickled cheese” with nuts and small deli pickles as an appetizer.

There are so many quality, local places to eat and drink in Bratislava. A few others you could try if you get the chance:

• U Čerta – (“At the Devil’s Place) – a living room style bar with a friendly atmosphere. When the indoor seating got too crowded, people just perched outside on the steps and the street with their drinks.
• Drink in Gallery Andy – This is the weirdest place I’ve ever been in my life. That’s all I’ll say here.

Where to Stay

We stayed in an awesome AirBnb near the Medická záhrada (Medical Garden) which is where the medical university is located. There were lots of cool flats available in this area. My favorite place, Viecha malych vinarov, was also in this neighborhood. It’s nice to be outside of the main tourist center, while only a 10 minute walk from Old Town Slovakia, 2.3 miles from the Bratislava Castle and the Danube River.

Where to Sight-See

Go for a stroll in Bratislava’s charming Old Town.

We visited the Slovak National Gallery (which had free admission while we were there!) to see Nech šije! (Sew Long!), an exhibit on Slovak fashion 1945-1989. My vintage-fashion-loving heart was bursting with this exhibition, which covered the role of socialism and totalitarianism in marketing, fashion design, and clothing production during this era.

Curtis made the long trek up to the Bratislava Hrad. I sat this castle out and read a book in the garden instead– the hill was so steep!

After you’re finished wandering the Old Town, make your way down to the Danube River for some beautiful sight-seeing. There are two pedestrian bridges that cross the Danube in Bratislava (Stary Most, or Old Bridge, and The Bridge of the Slovak Uprising).

We ventured across the river and spent some time in the Garden of Janko Kral, which is the oldest public park in Central Europe. It was full of monuments and beautiful rose gardens. After wandering the length of the park, we had dinner and a drink at Leberfinger, a traditional Slovak restaurant that has been in operation since 1785. From what I could tell, it used to be a historic inn.

Crossing the Danube River on the Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising.

We just loved Bratislava. The city is beautiful, there aren’t too many tourists, you absolutely can’t beat the price, and *my gosh* the food and wine… I dream of going back one day.

For more general tips about backpacking western Europe, head back over to the travel section of my blog. For more City Guides, including what we did in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria — press on! -Emily