Spending a day in Bratislava, Slovakia

I’ve previously talked about cutting a trip short due to Fibromyalgia. After that happened, Bratislava and Budapest were cities I still felt I really had to see. I’d failed to see any more of the cities than the bus station and the outskirts in May, so when I was planning my September trip it made sense to start with flying out to Bratislava and picking up where I left off, and the flight was cheap and quick, so I booked it. Spending a day in Bratislava was finally going to happen!

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was initially just a quick addition to the initial May plan, for no other reason than that there was a direct flight home from there. Sometimes I end up adding a city just for convenience, and it often turns out that was a really good decision. On this occasion that was absolutely the case, and I loved spending a day in Bratislava.

I got a direct flight from Leeds Bradford, my nearest airport, on a Sunday evening, and I was in the air for just over two hours. Bratislava turned out to be perfect for an evening flight as I stayed at the nearby Aviator Garni hotel, which is just 500 metres from the airport, so I didn’t need to worry about arriving tired. I walked from the airport to the hotel and managed a good nights sleep before moving my bags into the city itself, staying in the old town for two nights so I could explore properly.

At this point my trip got a little bit derailed as we decided J was going to fly out to join me, and my 24 hours in Bratislava became 60, but I spent the second day in nearby Vienna because Bratislava only really needed a day to see the city properly. If Bratislava ends up being somewhere you really want to see, or a city that makes sense en route to somewhere else, it’s definitely a city that lends itself to a short stay.

Explore the Old Town

Bratislava Old Town is where I spent the majority of my time. It did help that that was where I was staying, but it was also by far the most beautiful part of the city. I spent the majority of my time just walking and taking photos (and then when J arrived, sitting on a bench in the Main Square) but you’ll want to make sure you see Michael’s Gate, a gorgeous street full of lovely little shops, Cumil, the bronze statue of a little man popping up out of his manhole cover and the very beautiful Primates Palace.

Walk up to Bratislava Castle

I didn’t actually make it up to the castle, in the end, as the hill was too steep and I was tired. I’d intended on going up the next day when J arrived but then couldn’t move myself from the bench we were sat chatting on, and I did see it from the bottom of the hill at least. If you’re a castle kind of person though it’s a fairly short walk from the Old Town and I’m told the views from up there are brilliant.

Find the famous Blue Church

The only thing anyone I mentioned Bratislava to knew about was the Blue Church, Church of St Elizabeth. I went to find it myself on my first day in the city, then happily took J to see it because I knew the way. Apart from obviously I didn’t know the way, because this is me, and we spent a bit of time getting lost before we made it. The beauty of the building made up for that, though, and I’d highly recommend adding the Blue Church to your Bratislava list.

Got more time?

If you find yourself with more than a day free and spending a day in Bratislava, you might want to think about heading to somewhere else afterwards. Vienna is just an hour away by train, or the beautiful Budapest took three hours. Prague is also doable on a train, although I wouldn’t suggest doing either Prague or Budapest for just a day trip-there’s far too much to see in both cities. Definitely consider them after Bratislava though, they’re both highly recommended by me.

Have you been to Bratislava?