Bratislava

Bratislava (Slovakia) was perhaps the biggest pleasant surprise of our Danube River cruise. Bratislava: Sightseeing & Travel Guide open its "Prelude" with, "Bratislava was always an underdog overshadowed by Budapest, Vienna, and Prague, but ... it is just as beautiful and possibly even more interesting." As we were signing up for this river cruise, I have to admit wondering why we were going to Bratislava instead of spending an extra day in Vienna or Budapest. I'm really happy that this river cruise introduced Bratislava to me!

One of the benefits of an European river cruise is the proximity most of the river ports have to the "old town" sections of each city. Although Vienna's port had not been particularly close to its downtown and old town area, the Bratislava port is really close! The next two photographs show the Gate 1 cruise ship we were on in both photographs and shows how close we were docked to the "New Bridge" (Nový most). The first image shows how we would sometimes need to cross through a different river cruise ship to get to ours due to multiple ships docking at the same dock.

Bratislava's Old Town is charming and full of interesting sights. One of the most obvious architectural sites is St. Martin's Cathedral.

At this spot near St. Martin's Cathedral is a solemn memorial that is described as, "a Holocaust memorial on the former site of the Neologian synagogue remembers since 1996 the murdered Jews of the city as well as the overall 105,000 Jews from Slovakia who perished during the Holocaust."

From St. Martin's Cathedral, there is a cobblestone walkway down into the historical town center of Bratislava.

The next couple of photographs depict Michael's Gate in the rear and center of the photographs. Although we did not access it, the tower is said to provide great views of Bratislava.

The Old Town Hall is an interesting landmark on the outside of the Main Square (Hlavne Namestie) area.

The Old Town Hall offers a museum and a great place to look over Bratislava's old town center. Several portions of the stairway to the tower are spiral.

The views are well worth the stair climb!

In a city with several fountains in a small geographical area, Maximilian's Fountain (Roland's Fountain) is arguably the most famous.

The next photograph shows the Slovak National Theater (opera house).

Bratislava Castle may be the most obvious and well-known landmark in Bratislava.

Although we did not enter Bratislava Castle, the climb to it was worthwhile because of the spectacular views of the Danube River, of Bratislava, and of the "UFO Bridge" (New Bridge).

Here is the "New Bridge" or "UFO Bridge" from a different perspective. This photograph was taken from below Bratislava Castle at the entrance to the bridge.

The following photographs are of some interesting things in the shopping areas of Bratislava.

One of our favorite spots in Bratislava on the warm day that we were there was Hviezdoslav Square (Hviezdoslavovo námestie). We enjoyed the tree-lined walkways, fountains, and cafes and restaurants. We ate lunch at a restaurant here and had a sweet treat from Luculus Ice Saloon. (We also purchased local pastries at Obchod v Muzeu.)

Devin Castle is actually part of Bratislava, but I will cover our visit to Devin Castle in its own post.

Our first visit to Bratislava was a reminder of one of the advantages of a trip with an itinerary planned by others more familiar with the area. Had I planned the Danube River trip, I might have easily skipped Bratislava for additional time in the more well-known cities on the river, but it would have been a shame to miss a city as interesting as Bratislava when in that area of the world.