Western Slovakia
 

I'm going to be in Nitra in August for a week's summer school.

My plan is to fly into and out of Vienna from Manchester, take a bus from Vienna airport to Bratislava, then another bus to Nitra the day before the course starts. That way I'll get plenty of time to explore Nitra. There is also a day excursion during the course to Bratislava.

The week finishes on Sunday 7th August and I'd like then to take another couple of days and see another town/area. I've been using www.cp.sk to look at bus and train times.

My choices so far are between Banská Bystrica, Banská Štiavnica and Trnava. Trnava has the advantage of being close to Nitra and Bratislava, but I like the idea of heading up into the more mountainous areas. Any thoughts? There's not a lot of places to stay reviewed on Tripadvisor. I won't be heading too far East because I want to have a reasonable journey back to Bratislava and then Vienna for my flight home in the evening.

Another option might be Brno. This has the advantage of a fast direct link back to Vienna and is still within a reasonable bus journey from Nitra.

Any advice gratefully received.

Michael

Hi Michael, Nitra is not the most exciting town in Slovakia but your choices are good ones. Banska Bystrica is a lovely town, as is Banska Stiavnica though BS is much smaller (you can 'do it' in a day). Brno is okay but nothing very special. I've not yet been to Trnava. If you are into mountains, I would recommend going further East to either the Tatras, or, even more spectacular, the Slovak Paradise area, not far from Spissky Nova Ves, which has a direct train connection with Bratislava. A one day hike in the Slovak Paradise area would be my choice. Hope you have a great trip.
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Jeremy

Thanks for the response.

Having checked bus and trains I think the Tatras are further than I want to go. It does look spectacular though.

Well, Nitra is where the summer course is so that's not a choice. I think it looks interesting enough though.

I'm leaning mostly towards Banská Štiavnica at the moment. It's about 3 hours by bus from Nitra, and going back to Bratislava I can take the train (which I gather is pretty scenic down the valley) in plenty of time to make my planned early evening flight from Vienna. Any recommendations on places to stay? I tend to prefer pensions to big hotels.

I don't think you'll have a problem finding a pension in BS though I only spent a day there so can't recommend anything personally. I would recommend the divná pani caffé http://www.obedovat.sk/banskobystric...ani_caff%C3%A9 for something a little unusual.

Appreciate the advice on the cafe. After a week of University catering I suspect I'll be craving a bit of variety! :-)

I love the fish-eye lens photos...