A tour of Slovakia

This tour is set within the wider context of a journey also including Poland (see the related itinerary), made with my Fiat Tipo. Having entered Slovakia from the Sáhy border crossing with Hungary and an overnight stay in an elegant guesthouse at Jasná in the Národný Park in the Tatra Mountains. Although it is late September, snow welcomes me. The following morning at Štrbské Pleso, a winter-sports resort in the Tatranský Park in the High Tatras, which appears shrouded in a blanket of fog. In the Slovak Paradise National Park, on the other hand, I find sunshine, then I continue to Levoča, a town with medieval buildings and a curious cage where adulterous women used to be locked up. A little further on, Spišský Hrad and Spišská Kapitula, that is a ruined manor and a convent. The castle set on a hill recalls many a cinematic-medieval setting. From here I reach Zakopane in Polish territory.

After the long visit to Poland (see the related tour), I returned to Slovakia via the famous Dukla Pass, where relics are preserved along the road in memory of the epic Second World War battle between Russians and Germans. Passing through Svidník you see the typical churches of Ruthenia. At the border of Slovenské Nové Mesto I enter Hungary and then return to Slovakia, crossing the bridge over the Danube that separates the twin towns of Komárom (Hungary) and Komárno (Slovakia). Crossing the countryside north of the Danube I reach Bratislava. The Slovak capital offers a fairly small historic centre with a few monuments worthy of note and a square castle. Unfortunately the historic centre has been split in two by a horrible motorway that separates the medieval area from everything else. Near the city is the border with Austria, which I crossed to return home.

After this journey I returned to Slovakia a few times to pass through towards Poland to reach the Baltic States, and to refuel at Komárno during a holiday in Hungary. Slovakia is certainly not an essential destination for a traveller's curriculum.