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A 200-year-old log cabin with perfectly preserved white geometrics just waiting to be
photographed. The smell of strong coffee enjoyed midday with pastries in an old town square
caf. Whimsical, foot-tapping folk music punctuated by a yee! ha! yip! The crunch of fresh
snow under your boot at 2000m. Slovakia is not about overwhelming sights or superlatives,
its more about the experience of a place where nature and folkways still hold sway.
Bratislava bustles these days as post-EU membership investment pours in and new res-
taurants seem to open daily. The rabbit-warren old town is certainly worth a day or twos
distraction. Get outside the city though and you can still find ancient castles, traditional
villages, well-protected nature preserves and tourist walking trails connecting the country
from end to end. Dense forests cover the low hills, and remnants of fortresses top the craggy
cliffs. Medieval towns sit in sight of alpine peaks. You can hike past a waterfall in a gorge
one day and search out nail-less wooden churches the next.
Thats not to say that Slovakias architecture wasnt affected by communism. Industrial
blight and truly ugly concrete buildings are a part of the whole. But the countrys come
through it all with its folksy spirit intact. So pull up a plate of dumplings with bryndza
(sheeps cheese) and dig in.
Slovakia
FAST FACTS
Area 49,035 sq km
CapitalBratislava
Currency koruna (Sk);1 = 37Sk; US$1 =29Sk; UK1 = 55Sk; A$1 = 22Sk; 100 =
25Sk; NZ$1 = 19Sk Famous for ice hockey, beautiful women,
mountain hiking, folk traditions
Official Language Slovak
Phrases ahoj (hello); dovidenia (goodbye);akujem (thank you); este pivo prosm(another beer please), kde je WC (veyt-say)?(wheres the loo?)
Population 5.4 million
Telephone Codes country code%+ 421;international access code%00
Visas citizens of the EU, USA, Canada,Australia, New Zealand and Japan can enterSlovakia for 90 days without a visa
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T R A N S P O R T I N S L O V A K I A G e t t i n g A r o u n d w w w . l o n e l y p l a n e t . c o m w w w . l o n e l y p l a n e t . c o m Lonely Planet Publications
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Lonely Planet Publications. To make it easier for you to use, access to this chapter is not digitally
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come with them. You can buy stickers at bor-der crossings, petrol stations or Satur offices(100Sk for 15 days, 600Sk for a year, both forvehicles up to 1.5 tonnes).
Parking restrictions are eagerly enforcedwith bright orange tyre boots. Always buy aticket, either from a machine, or from the at-
tendant wandering around with a waist pack,and put it on your dashboard.
Local TransportCity buses and trams operate from around4.30am to 11.30pm daily. Tickets are sold at
public transport offices and at newsstands.In Bratislava, some stops have ticket-vendingmachines. Validate tickets in the red machineson board or you could face a fine of up to1400Sk.
Train
Slovak Republic Railways(eleznice Slovenskej Repub-liky or SR;%18 188; www.zsr.sk)provides a cheapand efficient rail service. Most of the placescovered in this chapter are on or near themain railway line between Bratislava andKoice.