Slovakia Vacations

If you take a step back and think about the beauty of castles, and the employment of spas and thermal springs for relaxation and health benefits, you start to see the similarities in humans across great swaths of time. The people of Slovakia today, and its inhabitants over time have appreciated beautiful architecture and comforts of Mother Nature. Check out some of these spots to experience these centuries old sites.

Bardejov is a spa town in northeast Slovakia, with a completely intact medieval town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There’s a stunning wooden church, the Gothic St. Egidius Basilica. The town square has an astronomical clock from the 16th century and its spa has been around since 1247.

Orava castle, on a skinny rock cliff, was used in the 1922 silent film Nesferatu, the story of Dracula. Today you can see the torture chamber and a knight’s hall and the views of the surrounding landscapes are gorgeous.

Banksa Stiavnica is a medieval mining town in central Slovakia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was a major centre of mining and metallurgy in the Habsburg Monarchy. Complete with Renaissance palaces, medieval churches, and beautiful squares and castles. Get out into the surrounding landscapes and witness relics of the mining sites and metallurgical activities of the past.

Levoca is an amazing medieval town surrounded by walls with a unique Renaissance town hall. It was an important trading and cultural centre in the Middle Ages. The resort village of Strbske Pleso, near the Tatras, with its picturesque lake, and skiing in the winter has been popular with nature enthusiasts for a long time. 

Osturna, incredible view of the High Tatras from here, with their white snow peaks and the incredible landscapes surrounding them. The area is well known for the preserved folk architecture wooden houses with ornate painted decorations. And nearby, Spis Castle, a national cultural monument, in partial ruins, built at the beginning of the 12th century, was an important political, economic, and cultural centre for the Kingdom of Hungary and several kings and families who owned the castle. Roman coins were found in a cave under the castle and the kitchen has been restored – you can imagine it alive with cooking and commotion, in action for the ladies and lords of the past.

The climate of Slovakia is a temperate continental climate with distinct seasons. Many wonderful activities can be found to do all year round depending on the temperature you’re looking for. There’s amazing hiking in the mountains in summer, and skiing and Christmas markets and holiday festivities across Slovak cities in December.

The Slovak Republic boasts incredibly stunning wild nature reserves and national parks that offer a wide range of activities. There are 9 national parks, 12 limestone caves open to the public, several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the highest per capita number of castles in the world. There are also numerous mineral and thermal springs meaning that many cities and towns in Slovakia have spa centres.

Slovak Paradise National Park forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland and is

famous for its beautiful canyons and ravines with waterfalls and rocky formations created by streams over millennia. The park also has 300 kilometres of trails with ladders, chains, and bridges, making outings there quite adventurous on foot. There are 2100 varieties of butterflies in the park, and of 350 caves in the park, only the Dobsinska Ice Cave is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – it’s the most visited underground cave in Slovakia and has some truly otherworldly physical features.

Velky Sokol is the highest peak in the jagged High Tatras and offers awesome hiking and climbing among stunning alpine flowers, snowfields, thundering waterfalls, marmots, birds, the endangered saker falcon, and the European otter and ground squirrel. Also found here are chamois(a mountain goat-antelope), bears, and lynx.

The city of Kremnica has a mint that opened in 1328 in the Middle Ages and it’s still operating today, as the oldest of its kind. The area has a rich history of gold and silver mining, and its coins have been used for centuries.

Conquered by Celts, Slavic tribes, and under the influence of the Great Moravian empire and the Maygars, Slovakia was a part of Hungary into the Middle Ages. The relationship with Hungary continued for centuries as Slovakia aligned itself with the Austrian Hapsburg monarchy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Late in the 18th century, nationalist movements began to spark. The 20th century saw a new alliance with the neighbouring Czechs, at the suggestion of Slovakian intellectuals. This union was formalized at the end of WWI.

The day before Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1938, Slovak leadership made an unpopular choice and declared Slovakia a German protectorate. This put Slovakia under German power. The Yalta Agreement at the end of WWII left Slovakia as a part of Czechoslovakia, and soon after it came under communist control.

1989 witnessed the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. As a result of the revolution, the “Iron Curtain’ and the Berlin Wall came down and the country experienced dramatic democratic reforms. The desire for a democratic Slovakia was strong and many worried about the economy. On January 1 1993, the Czechoslovakian federation ceased to exist, and an independent Slovakia emerged for the first time in the region’s long history.

By 2004 the young country of Slovakia was accepted into NATO and European Union, adopting its currency, the Euro, in 2009. Main religions include Roman Catholic and Protestant, with Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Jewish and Greek Orthodox minorities. The official language is Slovak, and there are also speakers of Hungarian, Ukrainian, Ruthenian, and German across the country.

Before you leave, make sure to pick up souvenirs of dolls dressed in folk costumes, ceramic objects, crystal glass, carved wooden figures, and wooden pitchers. 

Check out Devin at the confluence of the Danube and the Morav rivers for its incredible castle, Sulov Rocks, 2 hours from Bratislava, a jagged mountain part of the ‘Slovak Dolomites’ or Bojnice Castle, the most beautiful and visited castle, built in the 12th century in the style of a French chateau.

The delicious cuisine of Slovakia is wholesome and hearty in nature, high in fat, and comforting as anything. Plan to enjoy many delicious meals with a beer or a beautiful glass of Slovakian wine. The food focuses on dairy products (cheeses, sour cream, and ice cream), meats,  cabbage as a staple, and onions and garlic are used in many dishes.

The neighbouring nations of Hungary and Austria have had influences on the food in Slovakia. Lunch is often the biggest meal of the day, with a lighter meal served for dinner.

The national dish is Bryndzove halusky – home-cooked dumplings filled with sheep cheese and salty bacon. Fried sheep cheese, of gooey Edam Swiss or Gouda, served with mayonnaise or tartar sauce is a popular street food. Zemiakovc placky and lokse are different varieties of crispy potato pancakes fried with garlic and flour. These are eaten as a side with many meals. Mutton with sour and salty sauerkraut is a popular dish flavoured with prunes, mushrooms, and apples.

If you like warm soups, there are a few good ones. Goulash is a rustic meat soup/stew made of beef, paprika, marjoram, and potatoes, with a dark red sauce. Kapustnica, or sauerkraut soup combines sour cabbage and smoked pork sausage and dried mushrooms. Chicken noodle soup is also popular.

For dessert, you’ll discover sulance,  potato dough turnovers filled with plum jam or covered in a poppy seed spread. And Sisky are fried dumplings with orange jam.

There are six distinct wine regions with long histories and unique terriers and grape varieties including Tojak, Nitra, and the Small Carpathian region. Some say the Little Carpathians region in the west produces the best white wine in the country including a Riesling, while Aszu is a Tokaj wine – sweet, fruity, and delicious.

Beer is popular too, especially pale lagers, with producing brands like Mustaz Zlaty Bazant, Corgon, Saris, Smadny Mnich, and Topvar. Opre cider is a classic natural Slovak beverage made from apples, raspberries, blueberries, and sometimes pears. It’s believed to be the oldest cider maker in the country.

Tipping 10% is appreciated in Slovakia, and the drinking age is 18.