June 25, 2021
I want to see more of Slovakia so I’m heading to the small town of Banska Stiavnica. I use Zssk.sk to book the train. I take the Bratislava light rail to the main train station and get on my departing train, which is late. That’s a bit anxiety inducing on its own, but worse is when I get to my connecting train station. I’ve already missed my connection. This train station is in the middle of nowhere and no one speaks English. I find what seems like the customer service desk and show her my itinerary. She understands that I’ve missed my train and prints out a new itinerary. She highlights the route I need to take. This requires waiting an hour to take a local train a few stops to another station, then transferring to a more long distance train. Again the connection seems tight, so I’m worried about going to an even smaller train station and missing my connection, as it gets later in the day and fewer trains are coming. I go back to sit down and watch as train after train is delayed. I’m thinking there’s no way I’ll get there today when I find some free WiFi near the train company’s office.
I discover that my train ticket is valid for the entire day as long as I am heading toward Banska Stiavnica, which answers one of my questions. I didn’t know why the lady had just given me an itinerary and no ticket. I also am able to get back on the train website, and I see that there’s an earlier train I can take to the other station. I hop on that local train and make my connection to the long distance train without a problem. Had I waited for the train the lady recommended, I almost certainly would have missed it.
The journey isn’t over though because I have to take one final train which services Banska Stiavnica. The train is honestly more like a bus that runs on tracks. It’s small and there’s a man on it, who is obviously mentally ill, screaming every now and then. I hope he doesn’t get off at my stop.
After about 45 minutes, the man and I are the only ones left on the train-bus, and we stop at Banska Stiavnica station. The station is empty except one pretty girl reading a book. She points me to the town, and thankfully the man doesn’t follow me.
The train station seems to be located at the bottom of the town in an industrial park. My map has thankfully loaded, and it seems I need to walk about 3 km to the top of the town to reach my hostel. When I say top and bottom of town, I literally mean that. The entire thing has one main road running up a steep hill.
I start out on my trek with my Away Carry On in hand, and by the time I’ve reached the town center I’m exhausted and have small blisters forming on my palms. It’s time for class and I’m too exhausted to run up this hill, so I stop at a restaurant and hope they have WiFi.
Kachelman Restaurant is a nice traditional restaurant. They served me a strange pancake desert, and they had WiFi that worked in a pinch which I am thankful for.
After class I leave and head to Hostel Skautsky Dom. I go inside and wait after emailing the owner like he asked. He seems very weird, but maybe it’s just the language barrier. I chose the cheapest room, which is an attic with mattresses on the floor, no lockers, small windows, and no air conditioning.
The hostel feels like a large mansion or castle, and it’s full of Slovakian families with children. It has a nice outdoor space. No one seems to speak English so I keep to myself even though three strangers sleep at the other end of the attic.
For dinner I head to Coburg, a trendy burger restaurant that was not that great, since it’s close enough to the hostel and I don’t have the energy to go very far down the hill. To make up for that I grab an $0.80 ice cream, and then head to bed.
June 26, 2021
For breakfast I head to Stara Skola and get an interesting cheese and jam sandwich on a croissant. I think the cheese might have been brie or something similar, and it was actually very good.
The entire reason I’ve decided to come here is for an open air mining museum that I read about. I start walking along the road to where it’s supposed to be and eventually stumble upon it. I find out the tour is actually only in Slovak, even though it was advertised in English (we’ll blame the pandemic for that one, I’m lucky it’s even open). The tour is still good because the tour guide was very nice and explained as much in English to me as he could between stops. The tour is kind of funny because they make you dress up like miners. The mine has not been changed very much from how it originally was so you really get to understand how it was like to be a miner.
For dinner I stop at Black M Pizzeria and Restaurant which serves up a pretty decent pizza, while I do work for several hours. I order a second beer so they don’t kick me out. I’m starting to realize I only eat pizza and tacos, but I can’t help it. I need flavor!
June 27, 2021
I was thinking of spending another day here originally, but after the debacle getting here and the weird vibes in the hostel, I decide it’s better to leave today. I need to get back to a place where I can study for my exams, and I don’t have time to waste.
I grab breakfast at Lemberg Bistro for two reasons. Firstly, I need to fuel up for my potentially long journey, and secondly, I need someone to call me a taxi to the train station. Even though it’s downhill this time, I feel like I’m starting to push my luck walking around alone with my luggage. The prices are pretty affordable here so I think it’s worth it.
After my journey, I head back to trusty Hostel Ruthensteiner like it’s my home and settle in to my dorm. I grab Berliner Doner because it’s familiar and on the way back I stop at Bortolotti for ice cream because I had been eyeing it last time but held myself back. The line is always long, and I see why. The texture is super creamy and I can tell that it’s high quality.
This weekend has made me realize how comforting it is to be around similar people, even if you’re not actively hanging out with them. Being in a small town in Slovakia was quite isolating and I didn’t enjoy being there alone. I completed my mission of touring the mine, but after that there wasn’t much purpose for me to stay. This is not to say not to visit small towns, but rather to remember two things: 1. the great thing about travel is it’s not permanent. If you don’t like something, change it, and 2. your travel goals are always changing. Don’t feel obligated to check certain boxes if it’s not something that will serve your purpose. Sometimes uncomfortable things will serve your purpose, and sometimes they simply won’t.
One more thing, Banska Stiavnica is beautiful in the summer and I hope to return here or another Slovakian town when the pandemic is over.
Check Out My Guide to Banska Stiavnica ⧉
My Google Maps Guides have all the important locations I mention in my blogs, and you can open them right in Google Maps to make it easy to plan your own trip!