Arrival

Plane

If you want to fly to Bratislava, you can choose between the city's own international airport and Schwechat airport in Vienna, which is about 45 km from Bratislava and connected by regular shuttle buses. Bratislava's airport is the biggest in Slovakia and one of the fastest expanding in Europe. Regular flights link it to other Slovak cities and many major European destinations.

Bus

To explore the Bratislava Region, there are buses departing from central bus station to every town and village of the region. Regular shuttle buses to Vienna Airport and to Vienna depart every hour.

Bratislava has a comprehensive network of public transport lines (MHD) running at regular intervals according to defined timetables. To use any public transport service in the city, you must validate a pre-purchased ticket upon boarding. Tickets can be bought at newspaper kiosks and shops, and at the yellow coin-operated machines located close to many stops.

Car

Bratislava is connected to neighbouring capitals by international multi-lane highways. Within Slovakia, the D1 motorway connects Bratislava to the east of the country and the D2 motorway connects Bratislava with Hungary to the south and and the Czech Republic to the north. These roads also form part of international routes E58 (to Austria) and E65 (to Hungary and the Czech Republic).

The D1 and D2 motorways are linked in Bratislava by a partial ring road on the south (Petržalka) side of the River Danube. Traffic jams on the ring road are rare and it is the fastest way to get from one end of the city to the other, especially if you are unacquainted with the inner-city traffic system.

Train

International trains to Bratislava's main railway station run from Vienna (1 hour), Budapest (3 hours), and Prague (4-5 hours) several times a day. There are less frequent direct connections to Berlin, Bucharest, Kiev, Moscow and Warsaw. The main railway station (Hlavná stanica) is a short distance from the centre and there is a regular bus connection; alternatively, walking takes 15-20 minutes.

Trains from Vienna also arrive at Bratislava–Petržalka station, which is to the south of the city centre across the Danube River.

Boat

Perhaps the nicest way to arrive in Bratislava is by riverboat, via the Danube. The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal links Bratislava with the North Sea; the Danube River connects it to the Black Sea.

Cruises along the Danube have been a big hit with tourists for many years. River cruises go to and from Budapest, and a scheduled passenger service, the Twin City Liner, connects Bratislava and Vienna by high-speed catamaran several times a day during summer, services are less frequent in winter.

Bratislava's passenger port is in the heart of the city near the pedestrian zone, major historical monuments, and a wide array of attractive restaurants and cafes. Around 300,000 passengers pass through the port each year.

Bicycle

Cycling is a great way to see some of Bratislava's best features. Bratislava's busiest cycle paths, shared with inline-skaters and walkers, are near the Danube. A good south-bank ride goes from under the city's Old Bridge out to the spectacular Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum near Čunovo, about 20km one-way. It's entirely traffic free, apart from the access road to the museum, and in summer there are bars and restaurants along the path. If you time it right, you can catch a riverboat back to the city from Danubiana. Alternatively, the riverside path continues – after the dam at Gabčikovo on the north bank – along the Danube as far as the town of Šturovo (168km).

For mountain-bikers, the forested hills – the Small Carpathians – north of the city, are filled with trails. And even if you don't have a mountain bike, there is a network of sealed walking and cycling paths that continues through the woods to historical towns on either side of the range, such as Stupava in the west and Svätý Jur in the east. One of the best places to access the trails is via the Železná Studienka valley, a short way out of the centre. Trains go there from the main station if you don't fancy navigating the suburbs.