Slovakia – Country #42 In My Mission to Visit All Countries in the World

In this latest series, I will be going through all the countries I’ve travelled to on my mission to visit every single country in the world. In this article, we will be covering country #42: Slovakia. If you haven’t gotten a chance already, read this story first to find out why I’m trying to visit all 193 UN-recognized countries.

VIDEO – Country #42: Slovakia

Blog post on Slovakia

• My Complete Portugal, Slovakia, and Hungary Spending Breakdown
• Bratislava – What is it Like in the Slovakian Capital City?

In and out of Slovakia

Despite Slovakia being my country #42, the first time I went to this country was when I was transiting to go to Budapest from Poland. During my transit, I saw the beautiful countryside and castles on top of the mountains. I wish I had explored that side of the country because I love castles and rolling hills.

The second time I went to Slovakia is when I actually got a chance to look around and explore it. After finishing up my trip to Budapest, I took a bus to go all the way to the Slovakian capital city of Bratislava. Here I would be doing a full-day city walking tour just to see what this city is like. I didn’t plan on staying long in Bratislava because I am just doing an overnight transit on my way to Switzerland which is my true next destination after Hungary.

Arriving in Bratislava

After getting off the bus in Bratislava, the first thing I noticed right away is how fresh the air smelled. This capital city is rather quiet compared to most capital cities. I don’t think there are many people that live here.

I made my way to my hostel while admiring the serenity of the place. It felt peaceful here. I think I’m going to like this place.

City walking tour of Bratislava

After getting myself settled in my hostel, I befriended a young Austrian guy who was super friendly. We decided to team up together and explore the city.

The first thing we did was to check out the famous Bratislava statues. I thought they looked quirky and kind of creepy.

Next, we made our way to the most popular spot in the city which is the capital on the hill.

The exterior of the castle was neat; but, even more, impressive is the view of the city and surrounding area.

On the other side of the river lies Austria. As a matter of fact, I think Bratislava and Vienna are in the top 3 two closest capital cities in the world with distance being roughly 80k apart.

After admiring the view, we went to the back of the castle to explore the courtyard.

When we got bored walking around the castle, we wrapped up our walking tour by checking out the city itself.

Unpleasant Swedish guy

After spending a big chunk of the day walking around, we went back to the hostel to rest up for a bit. There, we met a Swedish guy who wanted to explore the city with us in the evening.

As we walked around with the Swedish guy, I started feeling fed up with hanging out with him. He was really negative and has a pessimistic personality. I can’t stand hanging out with people who complain a lot.

And so, I decided to leave and go off on my own. For dinner, I had some local pizza before making my way back to my hostel.

Conclusion

Sometimes in life, you’re not going to get along with everyone and that’s okay. The most important thing is knowing when to walk away. I have nothing against the Swedish guy but clearly, our personality doesn’t click so it was best not to hang out and force getting along. Travelling is your journey and you’re not obligated to hang out with people you don’t want to.

The next day, I took the bus from Bratislava, transiting through Austria and finally arrived in Zurich in Switzerland.

Slovakia is a neat country but I can’t say it has any “wow” factor that would make people go back there again and again. And while I would like to see the Tatras Mountains and the castles on the hills, it’s not a huge priority and I just don’t see myself going out of my way to come back to Slovakia.

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