Trip to Bratislava: Bratislava Castle

The most famous landmark of Bratislava

The Bratislava Castle from the historic center (zoomed in).

The Bratislava Castle (or Bratislavský hrad) is a huge castle on a hill above the old part of Bratislava, overlooking the Danube river in the south and the medieval part on the east. I must say it's one of the most impressive castles I've ever seen and that's due to its size. When it comes to interesting elements, the castle's facade looks a bit plain, especially today, when the whole complex is being renovated.

This castle is definitely the landmark of Bratislava. It's seen from many corners of the city and it's one of the symbols of Slovakia. The image of the castle is featured on Slovakian 10, 20 and 50c Euro coins (source). From 2008-2013 the castle is being meticulously renovated and when finished, it is supposed to look like on the image on the left (source). I definitely want to return in few years to see the newly renovated castle. Read the history of Bratislava castle here>>

Let me show you my photos of the way up to Bratislava castle and the magnificent view we had over the most parts of the city.

✰ Up to the castle

The road up is partly narrow and steep, but not tough to master.

A nice mermaid statue along the way. Sadly, it's full of graffiti, like most of Bratislava.

The first view of the old city was promising. We continued to go up.

This is the Nicholas gate before the Lugisland bastion.

Another view of the fortifications below the main palace.

✰ Slavín war memorial

Slavín, a famous war memorial, is seen from this part. See a bigger photo here>>

✰ Bratislava castle

And then we finally saw it: The massive Bratislava castle amids renovations.

Another view.

Two sides.

A proud Slovakian flag at the main entrance of the castle.

This detail is interesting.

The main entrance.

The Leopold's gate at the end.

Posing for my readers ;-) See how small I look compared to the castle?

✰ Statue of Svätopluk

Statue of Svätopluk I, King of Great Moravia in the 9th century.

The Svätopluk statue from behind. His pose is directed towards Austria. Will he attack? ;-)

✰ View over Petržalka

The river Danube and the Western part of Petržalka.

Nový Most and Eastern Petržalka, Bratislava's biggest borough.

My princess from the Far East :-)

The Nový Most or New Bridge over the river Danube.

Had to zoom the top of the UFO restaurant on the New Bridge, cuz it's fun.

✰ View over the old Bratislava

Nice view over the southern part of Bratislava's historic center.

The Old Town hall at the Main Square and the St. Martin's Cathedral on the right.

This is Bratislava. Do you like it?

✰ Bratislava in conclusion

We spent one afternoon in Bratislava and we liked the city, but only if by city you mean buildings. But we didn't like the people, who were mostly unfriendly or looked a bit annoyed. Did we take too many photos? Are Bratislavans generally not nice to foreigners or interracial couples? Of course that's hard to say, because we only met few. I'm sure there are many friendly Bratislavans, but I have to yet meet some. The city really has a rich history and a lovely old part, which is clean and neatly renovated. So is the castle. But the further you are from the center, the dirtier it gets. And there are a lot of graffiti everywhere, which is a pity. Makes the city look bad.

The highlights of the trip were: The Old town, the food and the castle. I would definitely return to Bratislava on a short trip from Vienna, but I'd not go to Bratislava as the main destination. I want to see how the renovations of the castle and the St. Martin's Cathedral will proceed and I also want to try the traditional Slovak dish bryindzové halušky again. Well, just when we thought we'll have a happy end in Bratislava, something happened: The Kofola incident. More about that on my green blog soon.

St. Martin's <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> The Kofola incident

[Bratislava map][All photos by MKL except where otherwise noted, 2010]
[Slovakia is not Slovenia][Ps: I know my watermark has a typo =.=]