Slovakia Travel and Destination Guide

The Czech Republic's somewhat less famous sister, young Slovakia lacks the big tourist draws of its neighbours. Slovakia's charm lays in its colourful folk culture, traditional villages, spectacular High Tatra mountains and ancient stone castles, the latter a legacy of its medieval history of invasion and conflict. (Slovakia boasts highest number of fortified castles per capita in the world.) Like its neighbours, natural spa towns have been popular for centuries, while the capital Bratislava, on the banks of the Danube and edge of the Carpathian mountains, could be a metaphor for the country and its history: a medieval core with winding narrow streets surrounded by the colossal Soviet architecture of concrete panelak apartment housing estates.