Why Bratislava? The flights were cheap and we’d not been there before, that was our rationale for booking. We had no plans or pre conceived ideas and as a result had the most wonderful few days. We had beautiful sunshine while we were there and were surprised to find that not only does Bratislava have a beautiful old town to explore and a UFO but also is a great city for food and drink.
What we did:
UFO
Driving in to Bratislava from the airport you cross over the Danube and pass under what looks like a UFO on legs in the middle of the bridge. You can actually visit the UFO as it has a lift in one of the legs, an observation deck at the top and even a restaurant and bar.
The tickets to go up the UFO to the observation cost between 10€ and 12€ depending on the time of year and time of day you visit. The lift takes you up to the bar and restaurant level and then there is a short flight of stairs up to the observation deck. The views from the top are pretty amazing, you can see the whole of the old town and in the other direction, all the way to Austria.
If you want to eat in the restaurant then you can pre-book a table but the bar is first come first served and does some delicious mandarin lemonade.
If you are feeling very adventurous then you can book to do the Skywalk where you get to step out of a window and walk around the outside of the restaurant. You are clipped on to a safety line and there is an instructor with you but it would still be a no from me. We didn’t see anyone doing it while we were there so I assume it is something that needs booking in advance.
Old Town miniature bus tour
Tour4U runs a variety of tours around Bratislava in various fun looking vehicles. The old town is car free so the tour of the old town is in tiny vintage buses that can just about squeeze down the tiny streets. It was a great way to get an overview of where everything was in the old town and a summary of the town’s history. The bus has an audio guide that has the option of an incredible number of different languages. The driver, who spoke very little English but was so lovely, set everything up for us with our headphones and then offered to take a photo of us. The little bus only seats about 6 but they do have a trailer that they can hook up during busier times for more capacity. As the bus drives around it stops at the main points of interest and the driver pointed us to what our audio guide was telling us about. The tour takes about 35 minutes and there are also options for other tours, we bought tickets on the day but at busier times it would definitely be worth booking ahead.
Bratislava Castle
Bratislava castle is the beautiful white, square building with 4 towers on the hill above the city. There has been a castle on the site for thousands of years but the current castle lay in ruins between 1811 and 1953, it is now almost fully restored and houses the Slovak national museum. It’s a beautiful building but the museum feels a bit sparse. There was a small exhibition of the history of the castle, an exhibition of nativity scenes, some religious art and a couple of other exhibitions. The castle is also used for various state functions and musical events. There was a lot of empty rooms and you can only visit a small part of the building which does include one of the towers. We’re glad we visited but if you are short on time then you would be fine to skip it and wouldn’t have missed out, there isn’t much that is aimed at children either.
The gardens on the other hand are beautiful and free to enter. There are formal baroque gardens and a large outdoor area with trees, benches, a children’s playground and a restaurant. There are also some spectacular views of the city. t’s well worth a trip up the hill even if you don’t venture in to the castle.
It’s also worth noting that there are 2 ways up to the castle, you can walk/drive up the road or walk up by going under the underpass by the bus station and following the signs. The walking route is steeper but much shorter.
Bratislava Segway
This was the highlight of the trip for Pip as she has wanted to do this for ages and she has never been old enough. We booked a Segway tour with Bratislava Segway which we thought was a group tour but turned out to be just us. It was a brilliant way to see the city as we got to cover much more ground than we would have done on foot. We started by crossing over one of the bridges over the Danube and visiting the city beach, we then explored the park (Sad Janka Krala) which has a seating area for each star sign (so that you have somewhere to celebrate your birthday) and a spire from a church that collapsed.
We then crossed back over in to the old town and headed up to the castle as well as visiting some of the old town sights. Our guide Hector was excellent and spoke great English, he looked after us brilliantly during the 2 hours we were with him.
Day trip to Vienna
Bratislava and Vienna are the two closest capital cities in Europe. At just over an hour apart by train, Vienna is an easy day trip from Bratislava. You can read about our day trip to Vienna here.
Food:
Bratislava really surprised us by being a major foodie destination. Everything we ate while we were there was delicious and there were dozens more restaurants that we spotted that we would have liked to try. Slovakia also a big wine scene and Bratislava has several micro breweries so you really could just spend your whole trip eating and drinking.
Koliba Kamzik
Our first stop in Bratislava was for some traditional Slovakian food at Koliba Kamzik. As it was lunchtime we didn’t go for full meals, especially as soft of the dishes were very meaty and heavy, instead Pip tried some chicken soup, Andy had pierogies and I had a sundried tomato flatbread. The food was a great introduction to Slovakian culture and the staff gave us a friendly welcome.
Fabrika the Beer Pub
The first evening in Bratislava we ate in Fabrika, the restaurant at our hotel. It was an excellent choice. We were really impressed with the choice of food and when it came it was delicious. Pip and Andy chose burgers and I went for mozzarella sticks and a salad (and stole some fries!). They also have a large selection of local craft beers.
Jasmin
Whilst on our Segway tour we past Jasmin which is at the bottom of the hill under the castle. The meals looked delicious so once we had finished our tour we walked back up to see if we could get a table. Jasmin serves Asian food but posh Asian food and there is something to suit everyone’s tastes. We started with sushi and hot and sour soup and then Andy had Spicy duck with wasabi sauce, Pip had Peking duck with pancakes and I had tofu with bamboo shoots and mushrooms. All absolutely delicious and we would highly recommend a visit if you are in Bratislava.
Drinks:
Bratislava is also not short on bars and places to have a drink.
Gallery Andy
We stopped for a drink here on the way down from the castle because of the name but it turned out to be a great find. Gallery Andy is a tiny bar with most of it being underground but the main area is fitted out like the inside of a tram complete with drivers area. When you are ready to order you simply pull the bell! The added bonus being that because it is in the building’s cellar it is lovely and cool on a hot day. There is also some outside seating if you would prefer to sit and watch the world go by while having your drink.
Underground Tearoom
We heard that there was a tea room in an underground air raid shelter and we immediately put it on our list. Set out in a number of smaller rooms, it’s fun and quirky. Each room and seating area is themed around a different country and as it was almost empty when we went we were able to to really think about where we wanted to sit, we went for the Masai Mara seats. The tea menu is vast, hot and cold teas from all around the world. Andy and I weren’t very adventurous and went with traditional English Breakfast tea and Earl Grey but Pip decided to go for tea beer (not actual beer) which was a bit on an acquired taste.
Where we stayed:
We stayed at Hotel Loft, Bratislava which was the perfect base for exploring the city.
Getting around:
Bratislava’s Old Town is small enough to cover on foot so we walked everywhere. We did cover a bit further afield by Segway but you could have walked across the river to the park.
We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel which took 15- 20 minutes, we booked and paid for it using the Bolt app.
Bratislava has a bus and train station which are both within walking distance of the old town centre (the train station is a little further out).
Money:
Slovakia use the Euro and we used a mixture of card and cash when paying for things.
Thoughts on Bratislava:
Bratislava is a gorgeous city, the perfect size for a weekend city break. A few days is enough to see Bratislava has offer but we enjoyed slowing right down and not having to rush to fit everything in. We also liked that we had plenty of time to stop to enjoy a drink or an ice cream or two.
If we were doing the trip again we would probably spend more than a day in Vienna but the fact we didn’t get to see it all means we will just have to go back!
We visited in May 2003 when Pip was 11.
Go everywhere, Do everything 