Air, car rental and other transportation
Getting to Slovakia – quickly and cheaply – gets easier every season. Getting around inside Slovakia remains easy and inexpensive.
Getting to Slovakia
- Bratislava airport
- Kosice airport
- Travel from Prague, Czech Republic
- Travel from Vienna, Austria
- Travel from Budapest, Hungary
- International bus travel
Transportation inside Slovakia
Getting to Slovakia
In middle of Europe, there are many easy ways of getting here, and it gets easier every year.
Air travel connections have almost doubled almost every year recently. International flights to Bratislava airport now travel regularly all year from cities in many parts of western and eastern Europe and to the Middle East, with extra scheduled summer service to Croatia. There are also regular connections to the Tatras, to Kosice and to central Slovakia. The budget airline Sky Europe offers the most connections, but other airlines, including the Czech national carrier CSA, the Slovak national carrier Slovak Airlines, and others have been increasing service as well.
An alternative is to fly to Vienna, one of Europe’s busiest airports, and travel the one hour by shuttle bus to Bratislava. Buses run every two to four hours from early morning until late evening.
There are good connections by train between most Slovak cities and all major European cities. Most European national carriers include Slovakia train stations in their searchable databases. One of the best is the German national railway, which also has good links to the rest of Europe: www.bahn.de
Bus and coach lines also exist, but unless the traveller has a strong preference for bus travel it is probably easier to find a connection, more comfortable and possibly cheaper to take a train into the country. If you do want to travel by bus from another country, check the official website (in English) for international bus travel to Bratislava (only the main connections are listed): www.eurolines.sk.
By car, international car rental agencies still sometimes restrict travel into Slovakia, due to high rates of car theft. There is no legal restriction at the border to driving a car into Slovakia, and with an international driver’s license you may drive your car in the country for visits of up to several weeks. (Some travellers prefer to come to Slovakia by other means, and rent a car inside the country – the car therefore has Slovak license plates, and so is less of a target for potential car thieves and burglars.)
Transportation inside Slovakia
Train travel remains very good and frequent, especially to areas most visited by tourists and other foreign visitors. It has certain drawbacks, including somewhat older trains, but is maintained very well, with a safety record far exceeding those in most western countries.
Towns and villages which are not on train lines have at least some kind of intercity bus or coach connections. Buses make required rest stops approximately every two hours.
Air travel may be best for travel in a hurry between Slovakia’s regions. Flights from Bratislava to Kosice take an hour, while driving takes four to five hours, trains five or six, and buses (not recommended for such a long trip) considerably longer.
If you plan to travel by car, Slovak law requires of visiting drivers an international driver’s license. There are a number of car rental agencies in different cities, but for short-term rentals the widest selection is in Bratislava. Some agencies will deliver the car to you anywhere in Slovakia.
