Traveling across Slovakia, self drive tour - Hire car

Traveling across Slovakia, self drive tour - Hire car

Travelling across Slovakia, you’ll see the most interesting places you can fit into six days.

The area of Slovakia comprises more than 100 castles and châteaux and at least twice as many manor houses built in different historic eras. First night you'll spend in one of them.

The first manor house to see will be the 5* Château Belá located 80 kilometres from Bratislava. It’s one of the most beautiful château-hotels with high-quality services.

Also you'll drive through 4 national parks, visit a few castles and UNESCO heritage sites, spend nights in High Tatras and Low Tatras national parks and see many interesting places and hike a few paths.

You’ll collect your car either at the Bratislava Airport or at the hotel you’ll be staying in.

Traveling across Slovakia, you’ll see the most interesting places you can fit into six days.

The area of Slovakia comprises more than 100 castles and châteaux and at least twice as many manor houses built in different historic eras. First night you'll spend in one of them. 

The first manor house to see will be the 5* Château Belá located 80 kilometres from Bratislava. It’s one of the most beautiful château-hotels with high-quality services.

Also you'll drive through 4 national parks, visit a few castles and UNESCO heritage sites, spend nights in High Tatras and Low Tatras national parks and see many interesting places and hike a few paths.

You’ll collect your car either at the Bratislava Airport or at the hotel you’ll be staying in. 

Day 1: Transfer Bratislava - Belá chateau.

Visit vineyards, tasting vine, visit Esztergom, Hungary

In the morning you will receive your car and set out to the south of Slovakia – an area teeming with vineyards, winemakers and manor houses. After less than 2 hours of driving, you will arrive to Belá, a village located just 15 kilometres from the Hungarian historic city of Esztergom. You’ll be accommodated in the Most Romantic Historic Hotel in Europe of 2018.

You can look forward to a fantastic gastronomic experience in form of a 3-course dinner, a wellness area and walks in the splendid park. We also recommend you to visit Esztergom and its famous cathedral, only 15 minutes’ drive away.

Belá neighbours several villages with lively winemaking tradition, so if you like wine, they are definitely worth a visit. Upon request we can provide you with bicycles that you may use for cycling trips from the Belá Château to the neighbouring villages such as Strekov and Rubáň (20 km).

Day 2: Visit Banská Stiavnica, UNESCO heritage list

After breakfast you will set out from Belá heading northwards to the historic town of Banská ˆtiavnica. If you haven’t managed to visit Esztergom on your first day, this is your second chance. Then you’ll travel to Banská ˆtiavnica.

Take a tour of Banská ˆtiavnica, one of the most beautiful and historically interesting towns in Slovakia. Registered as UNESCO heritage, it was also the site of the first technology-oriented university in the world.

The town was registered as a UNESCO heritage site in December 1993, and was also the site of the first technology-oriented university in the world. From here, Banská ˆtiavnica became a center for science and technology development in Europe. Banská ˆtiavnica is one of the most beautiful and historically interesting towns in Slovakia, attracting artists and romantics with its old mining roads, stylish cafés and many restaurants.

The afternoon will bring one more one-hour journey to the south of Slovakia where you’ll visit a true country farm. You’ll get a genuine experience of the countryside life that you’ll never forget. The accommodation will be different from that of the château hostel, but we promise it’ll be worth it.

Day 3: Tour to the Slovak Paradise National Park and Slovak Karst. Visit very unique manor house in Betliar.

After a unique breakfast, you’ll say goodbye to these unusual Slovak hosts (the women running the farm are actually Dutch) to continue your journey across Slovakia. Ahead of you is your longest journey linking multiple historic sites and national parks, including the most towns you’ll visit in one day. After 30 minutes you’ll be passing the Halič Castle where we recommend you to take just a short coffee break and continue to the east of Slovakia. An hour later you’ll arrive to the Slovak Karst National Park and the town of Rožňava, not far from the Betliar Château. The Betliar Château is the only manor house which has been preserved after 1945 with its original furniture and collections without any refurbishment. All that you can see here belonged to the members of the House of Andrássy who are considered to be the most significant aristocratic family of the 19th century Europe.

The manor house is surrounded by a splendid historic park spread over more than 80 hectares, considered to have been founded by the count Leopold Andrássy (1767-1824) in the end of 18th century.

From there you will continue towards the Slovak Paradise National Park, famous for its ravines and gorges.

You can also look forward to a tour of the ice cave in the Stratená village. The Dobšiná Ice Cave belongs to the most significant ice caves in the world and has been listed in the World Heritage list of natural sites since 2000.

You path will then lead you to the High Tatras.

Accommodation will be arranged in a 4* hotel directly in High Tatras.

Day 4: High Tatras experience

You’ll spend the whole day in the High Tatras.

This day you'll stop in the oldest National Park in Slovakia. You can take some of easy hikes suitable also for children. For example to the Huge waterfalls and mountain cottages or to the lake Zelené pleso or around the Strbské pleso lake. The High Tatras are truly unique as one can enjoy magical silence in the valleys as well as maximum relaxation. In this National Park are around 600 km of marked trails that can take the tourists to the most interesting and also hidden places of the High Tatras.

You should visit also Belianske Tatry and Bachledova valley with popular treetop walk. There you can see the unique nature of the Belianske Tatry.

Accommodation will be arranged in a 4* hotel directly in High Tatras.

Day 5: Low Tatras mountains, hike to the peaks and visit an Ice cave

After breakfast you’ll drive to the Low Tatras. Within 30 minutes, you’ll arrive to their centre – the Demänová Valley, the location of the famous Demänová Ice Cave and the Ice Cave of Liberty, which are open to public. The cable car will take you to Chopok (2,024 m. a. s. l.), the third highest peak of the Low Tatras.

From there you can walk to the neighbouring peaks including Ďumbier (2,043 m. a. s. l.) the highest peak of the Low Tatras. In case of favourable weather, you’ll be able to enjoy amazing views. You can return from Chopok either by cable car or by foot.

Accommodation will be arranged in a 4* hotel directly in the Demänová Valley.

Day 6: Historical village Vlkolinec, Banská Bystrica town, Kremnica old mining town and Bojnice castle

The last day of your journey. From the Low Tatras, you’ll drive through Ružomberok to Vlkolínec, an old, historic village listed in the UNESCO World Heritage located on the edge of the forest.

You will leave the Low Tatras via the Donovaly mountain pass, bringing you to the city of Banská Bystrica. On the way there you might want to stop in an old mining village of ˆpania Dolina to experience its unique zeitgeist and breath-taking nature. After Banská Bystrica, we recommend you to also visit the town of Kremnica. You’ll be located near the geographic center of Europe. You must see it!

After that you'll move back to Bratislava. On your way you can visit one of the nicest castles in Europe, fairy tale castle in Bojnice.