Bratislava
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Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia located in the southwestern part of a country and the banks of the Danube. It has appr. 490, 000 residents and its metropolitan area about 660, 000.
Celtic Boii tribe constructed the first known fortification here about 200 BC. The city is first mentioned in 907 and through the centuries Bratislava has seen regimes of Great Moravia, Hungary, Habsburgs of Austro-Hungary and Czechoslovakia serving since 1993 as the capital of free Slovakia.
See and do
The city centre is relatively cozy and pedestrian with occasional cars.
Old Town has many restaurants, and also Danube promenade provides them in Riverpark or Eurovea promenade.
Grassalkovich Palace
Situated in Hodzovo námestie square and guarded by the Slovak National Guard, this summer palace is today official seat of the President of Slovakia but it is open for visitors. It was constructed in 1760’s in Rococo-late Baroque style for Count Anton Grassalkovic. Its chapel is decorated with frescoes by Joseph von Pichler. it has a lovely French garden as a public park.
Castle
Standing on the rocky hill of the Little Carpathian range above the Danube, Bratislava Castle has faced the winds since the 9th century and is the dominant part of city’s skyline. Built in rectangular shape, castle has four towers, largest and tallest being the Crown Tower on the southwest corner. The exterior walls and inside corridors has Gothic and Renaissance fragments. There is an exhibition area of the Slovak National Museums in second floor of the castle. The Lugiland Bastion, build in 17th century adjacent the Nicholas Gate, currently houses the National Council of the Slovak Republic. The castle was completely reconstructed in 1956-1964.
Mirbach Palace
This Rococo palace is one of the treasures of the Old Town and built 1768 to 1770 for local rich brewer Michal Spech, but named after its last owner, Count Emil Mirbach. Currently it houses the seat of the Bratislava City Gallery and collection of Central European Baroque paintings and sculptures in permanent exhibition and several temporary art exhibitions.
SNP Bridge
This extraordinary bridge is one the world’s longest cable-stayed bridges with a main span length of 303 m.
It has the flying saucer-shaped structure housing a classy restaurant called UFO on its pylon, offering a remarkable vantage over Bratislava.
Something peculiar
Tourism operator Authentic Slovakia offers a car-sighseeing called Post Socialist City Tour with 70’s retro Czechoslovak Škoda cars. Tour lasts four hours and it presents e.g. Slavín monument with the large cemetery of fallen Soviet soldiers and the Petržalka district. Info about the tour here.
How to get around
Outside of the city centre it is suitable to use trolley and tram network of the city. There is also a bus line available. A single-journey ticket costs € 0.70. It’s valid for 15 minutes and doesn’t allow change, visitor needs to stamp a new 15 min. ticket every time in change of bus or tram. There is a transfer ticket available for €0.90 (valid for 60 minutes on weekdays and 90 minutes on weekends and holidays), which one can use for any number of travels within the specified time period. There are ticket machines at most stops in the town hence the drivers don’t sell them. With the Bratislava City Card one can use public transportation without fee midnight of the last day of the validity.
How to get in
Bratislava has an international airport, which is served mainly by RyanAir flights. See the flights here.
Vienna Airport is located appr. 40 km from Bratislava and it is connected with a 13 Blaguss-operated buses a day between Bratislava city centre. The bus timetables are visible here. Trains from Vienna to Bratislava do not stop at Vienna airport. However, there is a direct connection between both central train stations, train timetables are visible here. Airlines of the Vienna Airport visible here.
Buses from Vienna are running almost every hour Sudtirolerplatz near Hauptbahnhof via Vienna International Airport. . The bus timetables are visible here. Tickets cost about 7 euros. Daily buses from Budapest and Prague are also available.
Regular boat lines operate on the Danube from spring through fall on routes from Vienna. See the prices and timetables here.
There is also a faster ferry boat line available. See the prices and timetables here.
Roads A4 and A6 connects Bratislava and Vienna (80 kilometres).
Text: Timo Hellman
Photos: Wikimedia Commons with the CC-BY-licence / Stano Novak, Bojars, Lure, El Coleccionista de Instantes Fotografía & Video and Reisio[/fusion_text]
