Bratislava Guided Day Trip by Coach from Vienna

Getting from Vienna to Bratislava

Vienna and Bratislava are among the closest capital cities in Europe, separated by about 60 kilometres of the Danube plain. Many visitors ask how to get from Vienna to Bratislava: on this tour you travel by comfortable intercity bus from the bus terminal at Vienna main station, Südtiroler Platz, and arrive in about 1.5 hours at the Most SNP stop under the big bridge, right at the edge of the Old Town.

We send your bus tickets and a detailed itinerary 5 to 7 days before the trip; you must show these tickets to board, as the booking confirmation is not a bus ticket. The bus ride is unaccompanied, so please get off at the first stop in Bratislava, under the bridge. After a 30-minute break you meet your guide at 12:00 in front of the riverside hotel at Rybné námestie 1.

Michael's Gate and the Old Town lanes

Michael's Gate is the only gate that survives from Bratislava's medieval fortifications. Its tower dates from the fourteenth century and received its graceful baroque top in 1758, crowned by a statue of the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon. Inside, a small museum displays historic weapons, and from the gallery you look down on the red roofs of the Old Town.

Under the gate a brass plate in the pavement marks "kilometre zero", with distances to capitals around the world, a favourite photo stop. The lane running south from the gate, Michalská, is one of the liveliest streets of Bratislava, lined with cafés, small shops and pastel baroque palaces. Your guide also shows you hidden courtyards and passages that many visitors miss on their own.

Primate's Palace and the Main Square

The pink and white Primate's Palace was built between 1778 and 1781 for the Archbishop of Esztergom and is one of the finest neoclassical buildings in Slovakia. In its Hall of Mirrors the Peace of Pressburg was signed in 1805 after the Battle of Austerlitz, and the palace also holds a rare set of seventeenth-century English tapestries discovered hidden in its walls in 1903.

A few steps away, the Main Square is framed by the Old Town Hall, with its colourful tiled roof and a cannonball still lodged in the tower wall from the bombardment of 1809, and by the Roland Fountain of 1572. Nearby you meet the bronze figure of a worker peeking out of a manhole, the most photographed statue in the city. This square is the heart of every Bratislava Old Town walking tour.

St Martin's Cathedral

St Martin's Cathedral, consecrated in 1452, is the largest church in Bratislava and a fine example of Gothic architecture. Between 1563 and 1830 it was the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary, when Bratislava, then called Pressburg, served as the Hungarian capital. A gilded replica of the royal crown still sits on top of its tall tower, a reminder of those ceremonies.

Inside, the high vaulted nave, the baroque chapel of St John the Almoner and the bronze statue of St Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar are the main sights. The cathedral is open to visitors most days outside service times; entry to some parts may require a small ticket, which is not included. It stands at the foot of the castle hill, so it is a natural start for the climb during free time.

Slovak National Theatre and the Danube promenade

On the elegant Hviezdoslav Square stands the historic building of the Slovak National Theatre, a neo-Renaissance opera house opened in 1886, with the Ganymede fountain in front. The long, tree-lined square is the city's favourite meeting place, with outdoor cafés in summer and a Christmas market in winter.

From here it is a short walk to the Danube embankment, where a modern riverside quarter and a long promenade show the new face of Bratislava. Look up at the SNP Bridge, opened in 1972, whose saucer-shaped tower top has given it the nickname "UFO bridge". The guided walk ends in this central area, close to restaurants for your included lunch, and the riverside benches are a pleasant place to rest before your free time.

Bratislava Castle and free time

With about four hours of free time, many travellers walk up to Bratislava Castle, the white rectangular palace with four corner towers that crowns the hill above the Danube. Burned in 1811 and rebuilt in the twentieth century, it now houses exhibitions of the Slovak National Museum, and its baroque gardens and terraces offer the best views over the river, the Old Town and, on clear days, Austria.

The climb takes about 15 minutes from the cathedral along stepped lanes. Is Bratislava Castle worth visiting? For the views alone, yes; entry to the exhibitions is optional and not included. Alternatively, spend the afternoon in the Old Town cafés, visit the blue Church of St Elizabeth or browse local crafts before heading back to the Most SNP stop for your return bus.