Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is a great destination for a day trip from Vienna. It’s located just an hour’s drive from Vienna, near the Austrian border. While there are various ways to travel between the two cities, including buses, trains, and ferries, we opted to drive to Bratislava in our rental car.
Travel to Bratislava
One thing to note is that driving on Slovakian motorways requires an e-vignette, which can be obtained by registering your vehicle and making a payment on the official website. Alternatively, you can avoid the vignette by taking interior roads, though we didn’t try this option.
Parking inside any city is a challenge, and Bratislava was no exception. We parked in the free parking area of Aupark Mall and walked!
UFO tower
The first place that caught our attention was the UFO tower next to the Danube River. The tower looked impressive from the road. We were one of the first people to visit the UFO tower that day, and within no time, the elevator brought us to the top of it.
As expected, the views were amazing with the Danube River and Bratislava city. It was a sunny but windy day. Hence, we could stay on top for a short time. We spent some time in the restaurant in the tower, though we did not order anything. There was also an option for the skywalk, but it was only open for two days in a month and had to be booked separately.
Bratislava castle and old town
After visiting the UFO tower, we crossed the river to the old town, where we saw St. Martin’s cathedral, a stunning gothic church. We were there on Easter Monday, and there were ceremonies being held inside the church.
Next, we climbed up to Bratislava Castle, which is located on a hill. The climb was steep, but the views from the top were worth it. We spent a lot of time admiring the castle’s beauty before walking around the old town. Along the way, we saw historic landmarks like Cumil, Hlanve namestie, and Michael’s Gate.
Continuing our walk, we passed through Michael’s Gate and visited the Presidential Palace, which is the seat of the President of Slovakia. This area also had many beautiful gardens. Near the palace, we saw Freedom Square, which was undergoing renovations.
Our last stop was Slovak Radio, a famous building with a peculiar inverted pyramid shape. While tourists aren’t allowed inside, it’s worth seeing from the outside. Interestingly, it’s a Soviet-era structure, and Slovakia was part of the Soviet bloc until the early 1990s.
Public transport
Now, we had a long walk to the parking lot. Instead of walking, we took a bus to reach Aupark. We had to get bus tickets from ticket vending machines, available at a few bus stops. But they only accepted coins. Luckily, I had collected a few coins for entering the toilets and it was useful here!
TSIM issue
One thing to note is that my TSIM stopped working while we were in Slovakia, and I was asked to top it up. While it wasn’t an issue as I had offline maps, it did become a problem when we wanted to take public transport from Slovak Radio, as it only works in online mode. Luckily, Chaya had Airtel International roaming, which still worked. It’s still a mystery why my TSIM stopped working in Slovakia after sometime, as it worked well in all other countries.
Information and tips
- Bratislava can be easily done as a day trip from Vienna.
- Website to get e-vignette for your car – https://eznamka.sk/en
- Currency in Slovakia is Euros.
- Public transport is very efficient in Bratislava.
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