5 Weekend Trips from Bratislava

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While Bratislava itself is a nice city as well, its main attractions can be seen within a couple of hours. However, if you are staying in that part of Europe for longer, then you are in luck as there are many amazing day trips from Bratislava as well as weekend trips from Bratislava that you can go on. While some such as Vienna might be just an hour away, others do require are bit more travel time.

Vienna, Austria

Vienna is the closest bigger city from Bratislava and a must-see destination that you should visit once in your life. Austria’s capital is only a one-hour bus ride away and it will only cost you around 5€ to get there.

There are a lot of amazing things that you should add to your Vienna itinerary such as visiting the beautiful Schönbrunn palace or the impressive St Stephen’s Cathedral.

While you could visit Vienna as part of a day trip as well, I’m sure we can all agree that there is so much to see that a full weekend in Austria’s capital would also be justified. There are a lot of things to see and do in Vienna.

Budapest, Hungary

You can easily reach Budapest within a 2.5 hour train ride or bus ride. And it is also pretty cheap! There are a lot of activities you can do in Hungary’s capital, such as walk up to the castle, crossing the chain bridge or visiting the house of terror.

There is a reason why so many tourists head to Budapest every year, the city just has so much to offer. And don’t forgot to visit one of the most beautiful places in Budapest: The Parliament building.

Prague, Czech Republic

While there is a direct train to Budapest, there is also one to Prague. If you take the Budapest train in the other direction you can reach the capital of the Czech Republic in just four hours. I had once spent two nights in Prague and it was definitely not enough to see everything but get a good idea of the city in just a weekend.

When you are there make sure to explore the Old town square and walk across the Charles Bridge (together with probably half of the tourists in Prague). You can also get some stunning views of the city from the Prague Castle. There are just so many amazing things to do in Prague.

Krakow, Poland

I really love Krakow! I’ve been there twice so far and I am looking forward to return one day. The main square is beautiful and there is always a lot going on.

The city is super affordable and you can easily walk around by foot to see all the attractions that are located within the main city centre. There are Flixbusses that regularly go from Bratislava to Krakow which takes around 6.5 hours.

They are pretty cheap as well (I paid around 14 Euros one way). All the busses leave from the main bus stop in Bratislava.

Belgrade, Serbia

To be fair, I’d recommend doing a longer weekend trip to Belgrade (around 3 nights) because that’s what I did. Well, technically that’s what I did! I had taken the train to Budapest, stayed for one night and then took an early bus, which takes around six hours to Belgrade.

Then I stayed there for two nights and took the bus back to Budapest and then the train to Bratislava on the same day. However, if you would be going by car, then you could also do the trip in just a weekend without the stop in Budapest.

Belgrade was an interesting city and there are lots of pretty buildings to look at. Honestly, I didn’t love it there but I also had no luck with the weather and the people in my hostel so I might return one day to give this city another chance.

Other Weekend Trips

Below you can find some other locations that can be visited as part of some weekend trips from Bratislava. However, I haven’t been there myself so I sadly can not tell you about my own experience.

High Tatras: The high Tatras are a mountain range in the North of Slovakia as well as Southern Poland. From Bratislava you can take a train to Poprad from where you can reach the mountains. It’s a great place to go hiking and enjoy nature. For more information check out this complete guide to Hiking in the High Tatras.

Košice: This is the second biggest city in Slovakia and located in the Eastern part of the country. It is located about 400 kilometres away from Bratislava. So it will take you a couple of hours to get there.

Salzburg: From Vienna you can reach Salzburg within around three hours by train. Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria. And while I have never been there myself I have only heard good things about it and I believe it is definitely worth a visit as well.

Munich: If you take a train from Vienna (one hour from Bratislava), then you can be in Munich within around four hours. Hence, five hours in total. It might be a little expensive to get there, especially when it is just for a weekend. But you can get some cheap train options at times if you book early enough. Munich in Germany is definitely worth a visit as there are a lot of things to see and do in Munich.

And this was my little list of places to visit on a weekend trip from Bratislava which can be done by bus/train. Of course if you would consider going anywhere by plane as well then basically you could include most of Europe.

Which of these weekend trips from Bratislava would you consider going on?

Talk to you later,

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