Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. My first impression of Bratislava is from the movie Eurotrip, where you can buy anything here with only a few dollars. But this is not true. Bratislava is not a cheap place to visit, although it is slightly cheaper than many cities of Europe. The highlight of my Bratislava’s trip is the Blue Church.

 

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I took an overnight train from Krakow to Bratislava, and it was not easy. I had a bed on the train but I was tossing and turning all night.

Finally, I reached Bratislava at about 6 am and walked to Hostel Brickyard (about 2-3 minutes walking distance from the train station). But I couldn’t check-in the hostel because it was too early, so I put my luggage in the hostel and then I can walk around. The hostel staff was very kind to let me take a shower before I check-in.

 

Bratislava Castle is stunning

Once I heard: ‘Every female has a special feeling for castles.’

Maybe it is true.

Castle is romantic, mysterious and always have a story.

The view is stunning when I was at the top of the castle. The weather was a bit awful; I believe the view will be even more amazing if the weather is good.

My tour guide said this is the castle that inspired the famous story “The Little Match Girl”. This is a very sad story. Perhaps, every beautiful story has a cost.

The panorama view is excellent:

 

Free walking tour in Bratislava

This is the best tour that I have ever had. My tour guide was Xenia – a young lady but was able to handle such a big group. I paid full attention during the entire tour. She covered almost everything that a tourist would like to know, such as history, general knowledge for Bratislava, interesting tradition, places for good view and photos, recommended food and restaurant. I think this is exactly what a good tour should do. She conveyed the message very well. And what I really like is, she is always having a smile on her face 🙂 I have done many free walking tours in Europe, and this is the best tour so far.

She told me that some of the people cannot differentiate Slovakia and Slovenia. I was secretly glad that because I was not the only person who had this confusion. 😝

 

Blue Church – the most beautiful church that I have ever seen

I really like Blue Church. Its actual name is Church of St. Elisabeth and is commonly known as Blue Church. The church was designed by a Hungarian architect in the 20th century. This church is so different from the other churches – it is very sweet and romantic. The milky blue colour is the fairytale which will melt the heart of a woman. I hope that I can see the more similar design of church! I saw a couple having their wedding here, I am not sure if this is the reason that we are not allowed to go inside the church.

 

Having Lunch & Walk

After the tour, I had a lunch at Flagship Restaurant which was recommended by my tour guide. I went alone but I met the people who were on the tour; I joined them so six of us having lunch together. To be honest, I didn’t quite like the food. Maybe I was not used to it. It was very cheesy and filling. I also did not like the staffs at this restaurant as some of them were quite rude. Next time I will try another restaurant that the tour guide recommended: ‘Bratislavský Meštiansky Pivovar’ that has better reviews on Tripadvisor.

Walking around~

My tour guide said the statue below is very famous, and you can’t say you have been to Bratislava if you haven’t taken a picture of it… But the statue itself has no meaning; it is just to attract tourists 😥

A relaxing place for you to rest:

An old street:

 

One-day trip to Bratislava is perfect

Overall I had a good time in Bratislava. I stayed a night here and left Bratislava on next day early morning. I was worried about safety in Eastern Europe so I only planned one night stay here. And I found that this is the perfect amount of time to spend in Bratislava.

I love the Blue Church and Bratislava Castle, but they can be visited within one day since they are not far away from each other. You will also have some time to explore the city and join the free walking tour if you want. If you are travelling in Vienna, you can do a one-day trip to Bratislava (takes about one hour by train) or stay overnight if you want a more relaxing trip.

Previous Stop: Krakow, Poland
Next stop: Prague, Czech Republic