Bratislava - TAT (The Away Today) Score
| Bratislava, Slovakia | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average Cost Per Day (including transportation, lodging, food, activities, etc.) | $57.00 | ||||
| Average Steps Walked per Day | 15,552 | ||||
| Architecture | 3 | ||||
| Food | 4 | ||||
| Walkability | 4 | ||||
| Public Transportation | 4 | ||||
| Activities | 4 | ||||
| Vibe | 4 | ||||
| All Around | 4 | ||||
What to do with 48 Hours in Bratislava
When I was planning on going to Eastern Europe, I wanted to slow down a bit. I planned on spending at least a week or so in each city Prague, Krakow, Budapest, and Bucharest. Well, if you read about my thoughts on Prague, you know that didn’t last long. I decided to speed it up a bit and spend ~3 days in each place, leaving some time at the end to go back to cities I wanted to spend more time in . With this new extra time, I could add in some additional places. First addition to the agenda was Bratislava, Slovakia. It’s super conveniently located two hours west of Budapest (and one hour east of Vienna if anyone wants to add that in).
I’m not sure why, but when I thought of Bratislava previously, my first reaction was “blegh.” Know what I mean?! Communism, blah architecture, cold and dreary came to mind. I only know one other friend that had been there, and he told me someone stole his phone and he saw a girl get harrassed in the alleyway. So why did I decide to actually go?! I think mostly because it was on the way to Ljubljana, and I wanted to give it a chance.
Was it worth it?
I only gave it 48 hours, but I was shocked – it was lovely! Just our luck, we had fabulous weather while there. It was sunny and warm, already disproving my “cold and dreary” assumptions. There were tons of fellow travelers at the hostel, Hostel Blues, and it was clean and open. I ended up running into a new friend from Krakow too! My stay here was during the World Cup, so I went to a bar down the street to watch a game. I got a huge beer for 1,7 Euros. C’mon! What’s not to love?! In the mornings I went to the bakery down the street (they were everywhere) and got some phenomenal doughnuts in a huge assortment of pastries. During the day I met new friends and wandered around the city and gained a whole new perspective!
After looking back at my notes from Bratislava, I had mentioned that the WiFi in the city was really good. This is something that I feel like a lot of people don’t take advantage of – if you’re only using WiFi when traveling abroad (like I did for four months!), be sure to check the WiFi networks whenever you need internet – you’d be surprised where some free networks are!
What to do
If you’re heading to Bratislava soon, check out the items below that I did to take advantage of my two days here!
-Learn a few key phrases in Slovakian (and learn the difference between Slovakia & Slovenia)
-As always, start your trip with a free walking tour – our tour guide with Be Free Tours was especially sweet and bubbly!
-Tour the Bratislava Castle & Gardens
-Eat at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant – a traditional Slovak restaurant in an old theater with delicious food. Slovak Pub, close to Flagship, was also suggested by locals
-Gaze at the The Church of St. Elizabeth (otherwise known as the Blue Church)
-Check out the UFO Tower & Slovak National Uprising Bridge that spans the Danube (you can see three countries from the top – Slovakia, Austria, & Hungary)
-There are insanely delicious pastires in Bratislava – I saw little shops all over the place! Definitely leave some room for these while walking around
-Stay at Hostel Blues downtown – clean rooms, nice common areas, near the bars and restaurants, 20 minute walk from bus station
-Take Advantage of it’s proximity to other cities -bus or train to nearby Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Ljubljana (all for less than 20 euros!)
-Follow my tip for every other city as well – walk around! Get to know the nooks & crannies of the city, therefore finding it’s charm
Have you been to Bratislava? What did you love about it? Let us know in the comments!