How To Spend 1 Day in Bratislava

If you are visiting Vienna or Budapest, you might consider adding a day trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. If so, here is what you can expect and a recommendation for how you can spend 1 ideal day in this city. The interesting thing about Bratislava? With its location on the borders of Austria and Hungry, it is the only national capital that borders two countries in the world.

When visiting Bratislava, I would recommend travelling on a weekend so you can visit the Old Market Hall, and visiting main attractions including the Blue Church, the Bratislava Castle, the outside of the Museum of Clocks and wandering the old streets.

Accommodations in Bratislava

I don’t have an affiliate link, but I do feel compelled to recommend these accommodations for being both in close proximity to the main attractions and for the kindness of our host.

The location of this place was awesome and is literally next to the famous (and from what I’ve seen most photographed) location in the city, Michael’s Gate. For context, Michael’s Gate is a 14th-century clock tower, that doubles as the gate into Bratislava Old Town. The gate itself is said to be the only one preserved from the original Medieval structures that surrounded the city centre.

Breakfast in Bratislava

You will naturally see many of the attractions as you make your way over for Breakfast. After doing our research on TikTok, the most videos I had seen were for this place called Otto! which is a short walk outside of Old Town (about 1 kilometre to be exact).

Otto! has a very colour interior and average prices. For me and my friend to each order pancakes, orange juice and a cappucino we paid about €30. Overall, the 4.5 star rating on Trip Advisor I would agree would be accurate.

Before asking why you might walk this far for brunch, keep in mind that Otto! is very close to the Blue Church which is deemed unique for its colour. And if it’s open you can take a look inside to see the matching blue interior. So, after breakfast it makes sense to stop by.

And while in this area, you are only 10 more minutes walking to the Slovak National Theatre which is deemed a 4.7 star rating as a historical building. Although we didn’t quite make it this far, you might choose to as part of your walk.

After, I would suggest you start making your way back to the Old Town area of Bratislava, which includes the historic centre and joins neighbourhoods that used to be the outskirts of the city back in the Middle Ages. With a fairly small section of city, you don’t need a map to find the cute streets such as the one below.

Lunch in Bratislava

Since we had just got off the train we only grabbed one or two quick photos before making our way over to the Old Market Hall - Stara Trznica for lunch.

Unfortunately, this is where our lack of research bit us in the butt as the Old Market Hall is only open on Saturdays. At this point since we were hungry, we chose to go a nearby Vietnamese restaurant - I believe was Cafe Com Viet which we would not recommend based on our order. However, I have heard very positive reviews and would recommend this as your lunch stop, which is just around the corner from the main Old Town.

Visiting The Iconic Bratislava Castle

After visiting the castle, we went back to our apartment for a little bit of downtime before dinner. As I mentioned earlier, the restaurant we were recommended by the apartment host was The Slovak Pub, which was a short walk outside The Old Town area. According to Trip Advisor, this restaurant only had a 4 star rating out of 5. However, I would argue that for trying local food this place was great. The Schnitzel perhaps not my favourite, but that’s not really a specialty here anyways.

Here we tried Bryndzové halušky, the country’s national dish (pictured above), which are potato dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon. Although many visitors had complained about the dish not being awesome, I would argue that if you compare the food to Macaroni and Cheese instead of what you might expect from a dumpling the dish was pretty good. Also I imagine sheep cheese is an acquired taste that the average person might not love anyways. My recommendation would be to try it anyways since it gives you a better feel for the company’s culture, and if you take this recommendation the prices weren’t horrible so it won’t set you back too far anyways.

Although this was just an overview of what we did in between our visits to Vienna and Budapest, I’m sure there are other areas worth visiting. Any questions about visiting? The following FAQ’s might be helpful. If not, feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bratislava, Slovakia Worth Visiting?

I am glad I visited the city once! However, with many of the main attractions being in such close proximity you only really need 1 full day in the city.

What Is Bratislava Best Known For?

Although it depends who you ask, Bratislava is best known for its castle, Old Town, complete with cobblestone streets, one-of-a-kind sculptures, and it’s famous Blue Church, which as far as I know is featured in Brussels miniature creation of the world.

Is The Bratislava Card Worth It?

The Bratislava Card would be worth it if you choose to see attractions like the Devin Castle which require transport to, want to visit Michael’s Tower, Old Town Hall Tower and St. Martin’s Cathedral and prefer a guided tour. These attractions are all 100% discounted with the Bratislava Card. However, if you are the type of traveller that just wants to get lost in the streets and try some local food the city if very walkable and the 23 Euro cost would not be worth it in my opinion.

Is Bratislava Safe To Travel?

Much like neighbouring European countries, as ong as you use common sense and are wary of your surroundings, then it is easy to avoid scams and petty theft. That being said, outside of Old Town you are likely to experience some interesting looks as a visitor.