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The overlooked country that worshipped Warhol and invented the parachute
This relatively recent addition to world maps is perfect for people who hate beaches but love mountains
Today marks 30 years since Slovakia declared its independence following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia known as the Velvet Divorce. This makes it – along with the Czech Republic – the world’s joint-eighth newest country. Only Eritrea, Palau, Timor-Leste, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and South Sudan are younger.
This European country is occasionally overlooked – “The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned first-hand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas,” George W. Bush once said. Except he’d met the Slovenian minister, not the Slovakian – so what else is there to learn about it, and why might one want to visit? Read on.
1. It’s perfect for people who hate beaches but love mountains
Don’t go if you need beaches to enjoy your holiday. Because Slovakia has none. It is one of the world’s 45 landlocked countries. But what it lacks in sands it makes up for in summits. Around 80 per cent of Slovakia lies more than 750 metres above sea level, and its crowning glory is the Tatras. The highest range in the Carpathians, they form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, are a designated Unesco Biosphere Reserve home to bears, eagles, wolves and lynx, and contain 29 peaks higher than 2,500 metres, 110 high-altitude lakes, 35 valleys, and a clutch of waterfalls.
They can be explored via a network of hiking paths and The Natural Adventure proffers a one-week Slovakian Alps: High Tatras itinerary, featuring many of its most photogenic locations, from £585pp (including accommodation and some meals; flights extra).
2. Which makes it an offbeat alternative for skiers
Tired of the Alps, or simply fed up with the insane prices? Slovakia – and, more precisely, the resort of Jasna – could be the answer.
“I am not a huge fan of skiing in Eastern Europe,” said our winter holiday expert Peter Hardy recently. “There is, however, one resounding exception: the resort of Jasna in Slovakia. Never heard of it? You’re missing out.
“Jasná Nízke Tatry – to give it its full name – is located in the Low Tatras mountain range. Understandably you might think that the nearby High Tatras, with resorts such as Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso offer superior skiing. In fact, the reverse is true. Jasna has more diverse terrain and a longer vertical drop of over 1,000m.
“The skiing takes place on both the north and south sides of the rounded 2,024m summit of Mt Chopok. The modern lift system rivals that of major Alpine resorts and the tempting array of equipment and clothing that greeted us in the ski shop would not be out of place in the French 3 Valleys (and it’s half the price). If Jasna were in Austria or Italy it would rank in the top ten of that country’s ski areas.”
Read his guide for more information on what to book.
3. Andy Warhol is celebrated
The pop art master’s parents came from Medzilaborce, an obscure Slovakian town close to the border with Poland. As a result, it is now the unlikely home of the world’s second-largest collection of his works (after Pittsburg).
Jonathan Knott visited for Telegraph Travel a few years ago. “A life-size statue of the diminutive Warhol (who dropped the ‘a’ in Warhola to Americanise his surname) in front of the building, and a bus stop beside it styled as a Campbell’s soup can, mark this as the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art,” he wrote. “Warhol, who once stated, ‘I am from nowhere’, never visited Slovakia. But his brother, John, who was vice president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York, lent his help to a group of local cultural figures who wanted to exhibit Warhol’s art, visiting Medzilaborce several times from the late Eighties onwards. The museum was finally opened in 1991 by the Slovak Ministry of Culture, and today displays 160 Warhol originals.”
Other notable people with Slovak heritage include Audrey Hepburn, Jon Bon Jovi and Angelina Jolie.
4. Its capital is criminally underrated
And the perfect alternative to Prague, reckons travel writer Gavin Haines. “Estranged from Prague during the Velvet Divorce, Bratislava has long been considered a poor relation to its more popular sibling,” he says. “There are some striking similarities between the two cities, though, not least in the grand civic architecture, hearty cuisine and meandering River Danube, which, like the Vltava in Prague, slices the city in half. There’s a shared history too, of course, but you’ll find far fewer crowds in Bratislava.”
The city also stands as protector of the tree-swathed Europe of medieval lore thanks to Bratislava Forest Park: 10 square miles of treescape on the northern flank of the city, in the foothills of the Little Carpathians range, where hiking trails meander.
Fans of strange architecture won’t want to miss the Slovak Radio Building, shaped like an upside down pyramid.
See our guide to the city’s best hotels, and fly there non-stop with Ryanair.
5. It’s home to one of Europe’s most beautiful towns
According to the fine people at the Japanese Association of Travel Agents (JATA), Vlkolinec is one of the 30 most beautiful towns in Europe. Who are we to argue?
A World Heritage Site, the small hamlet is “a remarkably intact settlement of 45 buildings with the traditional features of a central European village,” according to Unesco. “It is the region’s most complete group of these kinds of traditional log houses.
With eight Unesco-listed attractions, Slovakia – a country of just under 5.5m people – punches well above its weight in the World Heritage stakes. Malaysia, Venezuela, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, each with more than 30 million residents, have fewer sites.
They include a collection of eight wooden churches built between the 16th and 18th centuries, the cave complexes of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, and the ruins of Spiš Castle.
6. It has a capital of culture
Kosice, Slovakia’s second city, was named European Capital of Culture back in 2013, and retains some of this spirit in the sculpture and painting of the Muzeum Vojtecha Lofflera (dedicated to the prominent Slovak artist, who was born in the city in 1906). Elsewhere, St Elizabeth Cathedral is a splendid Gothic masterpiece which dates to the 14th century – while gilded Art Nouveau flourishes are to be found in the likes of the Hotel Slavia.
You can fly to the city non-stop with Wizz Air.
7. They’ve cut down on their boozing
Slovakia was once one of the 10 booziest nations on the planet, according to the World Health Organisation, with the average adult previously consuming the equivalent of 13 litres of pure alcohol each year. That figure has fallen to 11.1 litres in recent times, however, putting the country in a more sober 27th position in the global league table. Curiously, their old friends across the border in the Czech Republic have found it harder to cut down, and rank third.
Borovička is the thing to order in the bars of Bratislava. The country’s national drink is flavoured with juniper berries and similar to gin. The national dish, meanwhile, is bryndzové halušky, a hearty combination of potato dumplings and soft cheese.
8. It held the record for the world’s shortest international flight
FlyNiki, based in Vienna, briefly ran what it claimed was the world’s shortest international service, a 30-mile trip from the Austrian city to Bratislava. The journey took 10 minutes by air – but both the airline, and the flight, have been discontinued. Vienna and Bratislava are Europe’s closest capitals.
9. They invented the military parachute
Step forward Štefan Banič, who constructed a prototype of a parachute in 1913 and was granted US patent #1,108,484. His umbrella-like design ended up in the hands of the US military which modified his design to create the first military parachute.
Slovakians are also credited with inventing (or contributing to the invention of) the helicopter, modern optics, wireless radio transmission and the artificial human hand.
10. It has a questionable tourism slogan
“Travel to Slovakia – good idea” (and sometimes “Travel in Slovakia – good idea”) is the country’s tourism slogan. Doesn’t exactly set the heart racing, does it?
We’ve seen worse, however:
- Hungary: “Think Hungary more than expected”.
- Lithuania: “Real is beautiful”.
- Tunisia: “I feel like Tunisia”.
- Honduras: “Everything is here”.
- Uruguay: “Uruguay natural”.
- Qatar: “Where dreams come to life”.
- Luxembourg: “Live your unexpected Luxembourg”.