Otwo’s Guide to Bratislava
October 19th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Take a trip to a post-communist wonderland with Emer Sugrue’s guide to Bratislava.
Slovakia is often overlooked as a tourist destination in favour of it’s former other half, the Czech Republic, but it has a lot to offer, especially if you are on a budget. And why would you be reading this if you weren’t?
I knew nothing about the city when I arrived, not even what currency they used so I was delighted to find that it is in the Eurozone. The most notable thing about Bratislava is how astoundingly cheap everything is. Drinks cost about one Euro, two if you really go upmarket and so unfortunately is a popular stag night destination. It guarantees a good turn out every night of the week but may be a little intimidating if you are travelling alone. It’s popularity is understandable, it is a great place to party. There are a huge variety of pubs and clubs for every possible musical or atmospheric taste and they stay open all night. It was much more difficult to find food after 3am then it was to find dancing.
The best hostel in Bratislava is the Hostel Blues. It’s not the cheapest you’ll find, around €17 a night but it’s right in the centre and the atmosphere is unbeatable. With the exception of the roving hoards of Liverpudlian stag nights the people are astoundingly friendly and interesting. The staff were always recommending restaurants and attractions, lending us books and just generally chatting to us while we sipped our ridiculously cheap beer. There are traditional restaurants nearby which offer a range of local dishes such as goulash, Lokše, a type of potato pancake, Rezeň, breaded pork, and Bryndzové halušky, potato dumplings with sheep’s cheese and bacon (which is a lot nicer than it sounds). With a starter and desert, a meal out will still set you back less than a tenner.
The city has plenty to offer in between drinking binges too. The city is a mishmash of ancient castles and communist concrete drudgery but there are area of incredible beauty. Bratislava’s Old Town dates from the middle ages and houses museums, churches and various ancient civic buildings interspersed with market places. The museums are interesting but mostly unremarkable, there are far better natural history museums to be seen elsewhere but one that is worth a look is the clock museum. You have to really like looking at old clocks though, it’s a long cog filled day. One old church is dedicated to an early Christian martyr and after a short walk around it I discovered that they still had the man’s corpse. If you want to get a real feel for the city, there are free walking tours offered every day covering various parts of Bratislavan history.
On your tour of the Old Town keep an eye out for Bratislava’s collection of statues. These are dotted around the city and by all accounts, make no sense. One shows a fat old man crawling out of a man-hole, another is a soldier carver out of huge block of stone resembling a bit too closely Han Solo encased in carbonite. The other must-see is the Slavín, a World War II memorial dedicated to the soviet soldiers who died liberating the city in 1945. The monument sit o n top of a huge hill overlooking the city. It’s a very steep hill and tough going in the summer’s heat after all those €1 beers but the view is incredible. The monument and graveyard is beautifully sad and it’s a lovely place to wander around and relax for a day. Another steep walk away is Bratislava Castle While the original castle dates back to the 10th century, it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1950s.
Bratislava is a small city, but it has a little bit of everything. If you want night life, culture and the experience of a lifetime, it’s just an Easy Jet flight away.
