Eastern Slovakia - a really nice place to ride
 

I'm kind of surprised that no-one ever asks questions about Slovakia here in the Europe forum. I just finished making my third trip to Slovakia, and I really like this country.

In the far West, it's kind of flat and boring, and the capitol city, Bratislava, is a bit depressing - mostly 1960s Eastern bloc Brutalist architecture. But, as soon as you start to move east, the country gets really interesting. There are lots of nice twisty roads everywhere, fascinating people, historical sites, unique architecture, and good food. The further east you get, the less expensive (and more interesting) the country gets.

One thing I did notice about towns and cities in Slovakia is that they are very much 'inward-focused'. In other words, you might drive by a town on the highway, look at it from the outside, and think "Gee, that looks like a really dull, uninteresting town." But, if you get off the highway and ride right into the middle of the town, chances are that it will have a large, quite interesting, and nicely restored central square. This means that rides through Slovakia tend to be quite 'pokey' - lots of getting on and off the bike, lots of drinking coffee and walking around town squares, stuff like that. It's kind of a nice break from places like France and Germany, where you can usually drive through the town centers on a roadway.

Anyway - if anyone is thinking about visiting Slovakia, by all means go and do it. I can't think of any negatives at all about the country (other than Bratislava not being very interesting), and it has all the other required ingredients for a nice holiday - it's inexpensive, interesting, and full of nice people. The country is well covered by the most recent release of the 'City Navigator Europe' cartography for Garmin GPSRs, so, no worries about getting lost.

Go for it.

Michael

Good to hear somebody else praising Slovakia.That's why i like it because it's different.The architecture may be ugly in places but that is part of it's communist past.Then we still have some 1960's blocks of concrete in towns in UK.
I have always dismissed Belgium as being flat and boring and only being remembered for chocolate and floodlit motorways.The only interesting places worth visiting being Brugge and Ypres.Last week i had a very pleasant ride in the Ardenne area.What a pretty place and great roads ! I stand corrected !

Sorry, I beg to differ here - I think Bratislava has a lot to offer, and one of the main reasons I like it (other than the abundance of beautiful women!) is that it's avoided by so many, giving it a very different atmosphere than the capitals of its neighbours (Wien, Prague, Budapest etc.)

Riding in Slovakia can be a little boring, but the impeccable road manners from most drivers make up for this. What is it you have against Bratislava?

Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across that I was 'against' Bratislava - just that Bratislava itself appears (to me) to be kind of boring compared to the rest of the country - the rural parts of the country.

I suppose I should disclose that I kind of dislike big cities anyway - I spend half my time in Zurich, and half in Toronto - two cities that have been rated as amongst the best in the world - and I don't really like them, simply because they are 'big'.

I think Bratislava is kind of dull looking, but, I didn't mean to imply that people should avoid it, or that it was bad - what I was really trying to say was that the rural, eastern part of Slovakia is a real delight, but we don't seem to ever see any posts here from people asking about touring there. In other words, I was 'boosting Eastern Slovakia', not trying to put Bratislava down. Sorry if I created that impression by accident.

Michael

Hi Michael,

My reply was meant to be a bit "tongue in cheek". I haven't seen any complaints from any Slovakians, so I guess you haven't offended anyone.

Since I've lived most of my life in the country, I enjoy visiting cities once in a while (warped or what?), but I agree with you that when riding, I would much rather give them a wide berth and prefer to stay off the beaten track.

For this reason, a big :thumbup1: in boosting Eastern Slovakia!