Into Slovakia

Fields of rapeseed going into Slovakia

After navigating out of Vienna, we had a seamless border crossing into Slovakia and headed toward its capital, Bratislava.

The day was beautiful, and the views were lovely, with bright yellow rapeseed covering every inch of the rural landscape.

We found our way to Senec which, according to our research, was close to Bratislava and had two camping sites.

The first one was closed except for one old caravan. There were a few shifty looking characters wandering around, so we didn't linger. 

Senec campsite

Moving to the next one, and trying to go down a one-way street (!), we saw another site that had a caravan parked in it.

We found a lovely Dutch couple there, and with their limited English and our very limited sign language, we learned that it was a free site.

It was a nice quiet location by a lake, but the facilities were all closed. However, we decided to stay there for 3 nights using our own on-board facilities.

The next morning, we drove into the city of Bratislava.

Bratislava sits along both banks of the Danube River, close to the border with Austria and Hungary.

Bratislava old town

Arriving into the city, we managed to find a parking spot near the river, close to the old town. 

Parking in our big campervan is always a challenge in old cities with narrow streets.

Bratislava has an 18th century pedestrian-only old town. We walked around checking out the old part of the city, finding it quite attractive, compact and well looked after.

And, it is packed with museums, palaces, and historic buildings. 

Bratislava Castle

We really liked the Bratislava Castle, which sits on a hill overlooking the old city. 

The castle was a frontier post of the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 5th century.

Crossing the New Bridge (Bridge of Slovak National Uprising) to the other side of the Danube, we were intrigued at the unusual circular building sitting at the top of a very tall tower.

Then, we found we could get to the unusual building at the top, so off we went.

We ended up in a restaurant which towers 85 meters above the Danube River. Apparently, it had been renovated, and reopened in June 2005. It has been nicknamed the "UFO" after its flying saucer shape.

UFO Tower, Bratislava

We had a lovely lunch there, with amazing 360 degree views of the city, accompanied by an occasional sway of the tower when traffic went over the bridge!

We liked the feel of Bratislava, and so had a good look around.

We think that its old town is more compact and cleaner, than the old towns in Vienna and Prague - although, it’s beginning to be dwarfed by the newer part of the city.

After a few days of free camping, our campervan was low on water and needed power for the appliances. We felt that, after sightseeing and a few days of relaxing, it was time to move on. Our next stop is in Slovakia's Low Tatras.

The above describes part of our 7 month campervan trip around central and southern Europe, which began in Germany.