Central Slovakia: Banská Štiavnica, the Mining Towns and the Low Tatras

Leave Bratislava along the Váh and stop at Trenčín, where a castle rises on a rock above the river; on the same cliff a Roman inscription of 179 AD recalls the legion that wintered here, at Laugaricio, the northernmost trace of Rome in Central Europe. Charge in the town, then follow the valley of the Nitra to Bojnice. Its castle, rebuilt between 1889 and 1910 by Count Ján Pálffy in the manner of the Loire châteaux, lifts turrets and steep roofs above the spa park; walk around the walls in the evening light and past the old linden named after King Matthias.

Why stop hereWhy stop here: Bojnice Castle. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

Give the morning in Bojnice to the castle halls, with their carved ceilings and the Pálffy collections, and to the zoo on the hill next door, the oldest in Slovakia. Then drive north into the valleys of the Strážov hills to Čičmany, where dark log houses are covered with white geometric patterns, once painted with lime to protect the wood; in 1977 the village became the first reserve of folk architecture in the world, and the Raden house shows how the families lived. In the afternoon cross the hills to Kremnica, a gold-mining town enclosed by walls, and settle in below its castle.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: GreenWay (GreenWay Kremnica) — typical arrival 30%, about 40 min to 90%. Why stop here: Kremnica Town Castle, Kremnica Mint. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

Kremnica has struck coins since 1328, and its mint is among the oldest working mints in the world; the Museum of Coins and Medals on the main square tells that story in gold and silver. Climb to the town castle, with the Gothic church of St Catherine inside its walls and a view over the red roofs, then drive a few kilometres to Kremnické Bane, where a small church stands near the spot said to be the geographical centre of Europe. In the afternoon the road winds south through beech forests to Banská Štiavnica; stop on the way at Počúvadlo, one of the best-loved of the miners’ reservoirs, for a swim or a walk along the shore.

Why stop hereWhy stop here: Holy Trinity Square, Old Castle, New Castle. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

Give the day to Banská Štiavnica, a town of silver built on the slopes of an extinct volcano and listed by UNESCO in 1993 together with the technical monuments around it. Start on Holy Trinity Square with its plague column, look into the Old Castle, a Romanesque church turned into a fortress, and the New Castle, a white tower raised against the Turks in the sixteenth century. After lunch go down into the Bartolomej shaft at the open-air mining museum, then climb to the Calvary on Scharfenberg hill, a Baroque ensemble of chapels and churches begun in 1744, where the whole town lies below you at sunset.

Why stop hereWhy stop here: Holy Trinity Square, Old Castle, New Castle. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

Drive north to Banská Bystrica, the third of the great mining towns, whose long square is framed by burgher houses and a leaning clock tower. By the river stands the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, a split concrete building opened in 1969 in memory of the revolt against the Nazis that broke out here in August 1944. In the afternoon take the short road up to Špania Dolina, a copper-mining village on a steep slope, where a covered wooden stairway climbs to the church and women still make bobbin lace; spend the night back in the city.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: GreenWay (GreenWay Banská Bystrica) — typical arrival 30%, about 25 min to 90%. Why stop here: SNP Square and the clock tower, Museum of the Slovak National Uprising. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

Charge in Banská Bystrica and cross the Low Tatras by the pass of Donovaly into the Liptov valley. Near Ružomberok a narrow road climbs to Vlkolínec, a hamlet of some forty-five log houses with a wooden belfry, listed by UNESCO in 1993 as one of the best-preserved villages of its kind; walk up its single street in the morning quiet, before the visitors arrive. Then continue east along the valley to Liptovský Mikuláš at the foot of the mountains, where you stay for two nights.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: OMV eMotion (OMV eMotion Liptovský Mikuláš) — typical arrival 35%, about 30 min to 90%. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

A day in the Demänová valley, which runs straight into the heart of the Low Tatras. In the Demänová Ice Cave the lower halls stay frozen all year, and the walls still carry the names of early visitors; a little further up the valley the Cave of Liberty opens a different world of dripstone and underground lakes. From Jasná the cable car rises to the summit of Chopok at 2,024 metres, with a view across the ridges to the High Tatras on a clear day. In the evening drive along Liptovská Mara, the largest reservoir in Slovakia, where a lone church on the shore recalls the villages beneath the water.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: OMV eMotion (OMV eMotion Liptovský Mikuláš) — typical arrival 35%, about 30 min to 90%. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.

Return west down the Váh valley past Žilina, with the hills of the Malá Fatra close by and castle ruins on the rocks above the river. Charge again in Trenčín and, if there is time, walk up to its castle for a last view over the valley you followed on the first day. In the evening you are back in Bratislava: leave the car and climb to the castle above the Danube, where the plain opens towards Austria and Hungary.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: GreenWay (GreenWay Cesta na Senec) — typical arrival 40%, about 30 min to 90%. Why stop here: Bratislava Castle. Access: walk from the overnight — leave the car.