Slovakia has two sides to it. One is that of a transit country. It’s easy to drive through, especially along the north-south axis. We’ve taken this route a few times on our way to the Balkans. We even stayed overnight on the outskirts of Bratislava once, but at the time it was just a quick stopover, without so much as a glimpse of the sights. The other side of the Slovak coin, however, is far more interesting – it’s an incredibly fascinating country, offering brilliant attractions and, at the same time, well-organised. We’ve already written a post about our visit to the Slovak Karst a few years ago. Now it’s time for a brand-new experience from the Slovak Tatra Mountains
Last summer, our youngest daughter fancied spending the night in a tent And as I happened to be spending a few days with her in the south of the country, we decided together that a trip to nearby Slovakia would be an interesting experience! And so it was! Short, yes, but veeeery eventful.

To start with, on our way to the campsite that had been recommended to us, we fulfilled a little dream of mine – we visited Orava Castle! It had been my dream for over a dozen years, ever since we’d passed this impressive structure in the middle of the night whilst travelling from Budapest to Kielce. This time, I made sure to set aside the whole afternoon for the visit, and it was a real hit. The multi-storey castle, beautifully preserved, with superb exhibitions inside and a stunning panoramic view of the surrounding mountains, made a brilliant impression on us!

However, we had to press on towards the campsite by the Liptovská Mara reservoir. I must admit we hadn’t expected such crowds there – the place is beautifully situated, with great attractions for children, so the crowds were understandable, but for future visits I’d recommend booking in advance…

It was a great base for day trips to nearby attractions. We went for two options – first, a short but very interesting trek in the Prosieka Valley. Our main aim was to see the waterfalls, which, as it turned out, had dried up due to the drought. The heat that day seemed to confirm that we had no business being in the mountains, so to cool off we set off to explore the nearby Demianowska Cave of Freedom. And that was an absolute highlight – a stunning cave, jaw-dropping every dozen or so metres, a real phenomenon. Ever since then, my daughter has been talking about nothing but wanting to work with rocks in the future. Just what a single visit to a cave can do to a person!

We spent both of our summer evenings in Slovakia on the shores of Liptovská Mara – very pleasant evenings indeed – with inflatable toys for the children, beer and Kofola for the adults, and a sunset over the mountains. Have I already mentioned that Slovakia is a brilliant place to visit?!