Germany, Bratislava and Budapest road trip: How to spend 24 hours or less in Bratislava, Slovakia

Summer is the perfect time to visit Europe. Seeing how beautiful Germany can be in the summer, we have to explore adjacent countries to enjoy more of beautiful Europe! We decided to bring our baby and do a road trip again after last year's great experience through Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria. This summer, we chose to drive to Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary.

From Dresden to Budapest, it is a 7-hour drive. These four cities are en route: Prague, Brno (Czech Republic), and Bratislava (Slovakia) and the breakdown in terms of driving time is approximately like this:

Dresden --> Prague: 2 hours

Prague --> Brno: 1.5 hour

Brno --> Bratislava: 1 hour

Bratislava --> Budapest: 2.5 hours

On the road

To get to Bratislava, we have to drive through the Czech Republic. Make sure to get the vignette sticker for both Czech and Slovakia to pass the border toll. Getting this sticker is easy as there will be road signs on the way alerting drivers to buy the stickers ahead.

For the first leg from Dresden to the border of Czech, we got ours in a motor club. It was an actual sticker where we need to put on the glass window.

From the Czech Republic to Slovakia, the stickers are available in a grab-n-go convenience store. But here, the "stickers" are no longer physical - you just pay for it, give your registration information and you are automatically registered in the e-system.

Remember NOT to ignore the vignette sticker sign when you are crossing borders or you will get heavily fined for not having it. If you passed the border without the stickers and think you got under the radar because no cops was behind you, then you are wrong. In Europe, you seldom see cops run around giving tickets for violating traffic laws. When you do, you will receive a penalty letter at your home after a few weeks. Usually your car will be caught on camera and the authorities will be able to trace your home address through your vehicle information.

There were a lot of construction sites on Czech highways, leading to massive traffic jams. Even though we had intended to skip Prague, we were forced to drive through the outskirts of the city and the jam there was pretty bad. After leaving Czech, the road became a lot smoother. In the end, a 4-hour drive became a 6-hour drive and we finally arrived Bratislava mid-afternoon.

How to spend 24 hours or less in Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. Its culture and language is really a mix of Slovak, German and Hungarian. Thankfully, the city is not a big place and exploring it in 24 hours or less is entirely possible.

The following is arranged according to the direction of the city, from north to south. If you take a come from the direction of Czech as we did, you should arrive from the north side of the city. Here are the key sights you should do from north to south:

Slavin Monument --> Grassalkolvich Palace --> Bratislava Castle --> Old Town --> SNP Bridge

If you have 12 hours or less, just focus on Bratislava Castle and the Old Town (Points B to I on the map).

The below description is arranged according to importance of the sights:

1. Bratislava Castle (Point B on map)

If you only have time to see only one thing in Bratislava, the Bratislava Castle would be the one. This castle is situated on the little hilltop of Little Carpathians and as you edge close to the city from the highway, you already can see it sitting on the hilltop. Relative to the city itself and other landmarks, the castle really dominates the skyline of Bratislava. The architecture of the castle is lovely and from the surroundings of the castle, there are plenty of angles to see the impressive panoramic view of the city and the Danube River. Behind the castle, you will find a beautiful Baroque Garden, which was reconstructed and re-opened as recent as in 2016.

If you come from the Grassalkovich Palace, you will enter through the Vienna Gate. Leave through the Sigmund Gate and head to Dom sv. Martina.

When we went, the weather was generally mild with a bit of sun. Strangely, once you get to the Castle, the wind became really strong. It was so strong that it flipped over our baby stroller, with a 22-pound baby sitting on it. Luckily we caught it half way!

2. See the St. Martin's Cathedral (Point C on map)

I used to be really excited about seeing beautiful, old churches but after visiting the most glamorous ones in Rome and Milan, I am no longer too keen on the other ones. St. Martin's Cathedral (Dom sv. Martina) used to be the coronation church for Hungarian kings. Although we did not go inside, I did enjoy noting the gilded Hungarian crown at the top of the building. I really like seeing architectural details like this!

3. Visit Michael's Gate (Point H on map)

After the castle, we walked down the hill to the historic town area. The medieval streets looked well-preserved and have a lovely, charming atmosphere. Almost all the other landmarks are in the historic town - Michael's Gate, Primate's Palace, the Old Town Hall and the Slovak National Theatre. The most important sight of the city center is the Michael's Gate, with the green cooper top. This is another prominent landmark of the city. On the top of the tower, you will see the archangel Michael slaying a dragon. You can enter the tower and climb up for a nice view of the city.

4. Stroll through the medieval streets and take a coffee or meal there

After visiting Michael's Gate, continue on the narrow streets in the historic town. In Bratislava, strolling through the streets is an activity in itself because there is a special charm to it. The medieval streets, the light-colored buildings and the blue sky just blended together so nicely - it was picture perfect. This is also why European summers are the best. Without the blue sky, it simply will not be the same.

The streets are lined with cafes, restaurants and small shops that you can explore. In the summer, many cafes and restaurants have tables outside during warmer weather so sitting outdoors and people-watch is definitely a great way to spend a relaxing hour or two.

5. Check out the fountains and bronze sculptures throughout the old town (Points E & F on map)

After liberating from communist rule, the city sought to spice up its look and feel by re-painting many of its building and installing a number of bronze sculptures around town. Walk around the town and you will see a lot of funky sculptures, in addition to beautiful fountains. The most loved one is the Cumil: the sewer worker peeking out of the sewage. As to what he is doing is up to your interpretation, but he certainly makes a cute picture and kids will love love sitting on him.

Our suggested route: Get on Panska St. after leaving Dom sv. Martina. The sewer worker bronze stature is right at the intersection of Panska and Laurinska. Turn north on to Sedlarska to see the Maximilian Fountain.

6. Check out the night view (Point J on map)

After dinner, you can walk over from the historic town area to the direction of the Danube River and marvel at the night view. It is a good idea to pass by the Historic Slovak National Theatre (Point I on map) as the historic building looks lovely with the night lights on. From the riverfront of the Danube, walk toward the direction of the SNP Bridge. The castle and Michael's Gate are nicely lit up and very beautiful from a distance.

7. Slavin Monument

If you want one of the the best views of the city, a good place is the Slavin Monument as it sits above of the Bratislava Castle. The Monument is a war memorial and cemetery of the 6,845 Soviet soldiers that died in World War II. After snapping a photo of the city, head on to the Bratislava Castle as you will want to spend more time there.

Do note that there are other opportunities to take good photos of the castle so if you are really short on time and not extremely keen on war things, you can also see a panoramic view on top of the SNP Tower.

8. Check out the Grassalkovich Palace and the Slovak National Guard (Point A on map)

If you have 24 hours or more and assuming our route coming from the north, you should see this first before the Bratislava Castle and the historic town. If you only have 12 hours or less, this sight is probably not the most important. Still, it is nice to see the building. When we visited, it was closed but there was some Slovak National Guards standing outside the palace doors.

9. Cross the SNP Bridge

Most people would head to the SNP Bridge for the quirky UFO tower. Go up to the tower for a panoramic view of the city and the beautiful Bratislava castle. You can "save" on the entry fee if you go the UFO restaurant for a meal. As both the Slavin Monument and the SNP Bridge offer a panoramic view of the city, you can do just one of them instead of both.

And here is one more thing to do if you have a day or more in Bratislava:

10. Devin Castle:

This is the only site I am sorry I did not get to visit. Both the Devin castle and the Bratislava castle were destroyed by Napoleon troops but unlike the Bratislava Castle, the Devin castle was never fully restored. But that's exactly the beauty of it. The site is now a beautiful archaeological ruin, which is always interesting to see. On a good day, visitors will be able to see Vienna and the Alps. The endless flight of stairs that take you to the top looks like it would make a good hike!

The problem for us visiting such a short time is that this castle is close to 30 minutes drive from everything and located on the west side of the city, it is completely out of the way to Budapest so we did not end up going.

Where we stayed

We stayed at the Hilton Double Tree Hotel and really enjoyed our stay. Even though it is a 4-star hotel, it has punched above its weight. The complex looked new even though it has opened for five years already. The room was clean and spacious and the bed was really comfortable. They even have Crabtree and Evelyn amenities! The only slight inconvenience is the location. It was located about 10 minutes drive from the city center so if you drive, it is absolutely recommended (includes free parking outside of the complex) but if you are relying on public transport on your trip, it will be a 10 minutes walk to the main street to catch a tram to the city center. The hotel room cost around $80 per night, which is very reasonable for a hotel of this caliber.

Parking tip

Driving around Bratislava was quite easy as it was not a big city. Parking was also not too much of a problem. One tip: you should do Bratislava with a car on weekends because parking is much cheaper on the weekend. When we entered the car park, we were shocked to discover the expensive parking fees - something in the tune of 1.5-2 euro for 15 minutes (prices vary). After we came back from our tour, we were a bit afraid to look at the price of our parking ticket. To our surprise, the price was a quarter of what we expected! Why? Because those prices only apply during weekdays and the weekend prices are much cheaper. So if you are going to drive in the city, pick a weekend to be in Bratislava!

Final thoughts

For me, I was impressed with the charming medieval streets. For my husband who is on his second visit (he visited 10 years ago), he was most impressed with the development of the city. It is true - Bratislava is a boom town as many international companies has set up back offices there in recent years, presumably to take advantage of its affordable cost of everything and the good command of the English, German, Slovak and Hungarian languages.

We drove south the next morning and continue on our journey to Budapest, Hungary. I have no idea what to expect - except perhaps a good Roman bath. Little did I know, I am in to have my mind blown away yet again by the beauty of Europe.

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