Leaving Slovakia | Slovak Adventure 2025 (4/5)

The third stage of my Slovak Adventure had come to an end. It was time to leave the eastern part of Slovakia and head back towards Bratislava. It was already Thursday morning, a whole week after I had left Sweden. Early the next morning I was going to travel back to Vienna International Airport and leave Slovakia behind for this time. Luckily I had the whole day to explore some more. It started with a walk through Prešov, continued with a stop in Poprad, before ending in an evening in Bratislava.

Good Bye, Prešov!

It was still early in the morning when I checked out of the hotel. It was time for a short walk to get out of the old town of Prešov and to the train station. The sunshine was about to find its way through the clouds and it was a pleasant morning as I headed out. I did, of course, arrive at the station way ahead of my train. To be more exact, I had about 45 minutes to kill.

It was a short ride with the train to the village of Kysak. The village is the location of a larger railway junction between Prešov and Košice. Initially I had a 20 minute transit here for the train from Košice to Bratislava. Sadly that train turned out to be 30 minutes delayed, shortening my next stop quite significantly.

A Short Stop in Poprad

I had booked my tickets so that I would have two hours to explore Poprad. Due to the delay I had instead only an hour and a half to explore the city. Well, it just had to be enough somehow. I set off towards the center of Poprad, ending up in front of the Forum shopping center. I eventually ended up walking back and forth along the central square Námestie Svätého Egídia. Unfortunately I was in town too early to climb the belfry of Kostol Svätého Egídia, the church.

With about 40 minutes left I tried to find a good viewpoint of the High Tatras. After all, Poprad is the gateway of the Tatra Mountains and the white peaks were visible from the train. The belfry would have been perfect to get a more unobstructed view, but now I had to find something else. The tourist information suggested a parking spot just next to the local museum. It was better than the central streets, but still quite limited. It was actually back at the train station that I was able to get a good view from one of the platforms. I finished my short visit of Poprad with enjoying the view of the High Tatras, as my train to Bratislava rolled into the station.

Back in a Rainy Bratislava

The train from Poprad to Bratislava took about 4 hours. Enough time to have a light lunch onboard and get some sleep. I arrived back at Bratislava Hlavná Stanica in the afternoon and the sun was gone. Rain was in the air as I began walking towards the center. I did, however, go on a detour towards the Blumental Church to check out the area. Right next to the church lies the office building where we used to work when living in Bratislava. It doesn’t really look the same as it did 11 years ago, that is for sure. The building still stands, but the logos have changed a little.

I had actually booked a new capsule at the hostel where I spent the first three nights. Due to the weather I just headed out for some dinner after checking in and spent the evening at the hostel. There was an interesting discussion going on between a guy from Prešov and a tourist from Argentina. The Slovak guy tried to explain quite a lot about being homosexual in Slovakia. Unfortunately, his English was very limited and he used the receptionist as a translator. Nobody knows what he really wanted to tell us, but I admire the patience of the woman in the reception. Translating a topic without knowing how people will react can quite stressful. She really did her best in trying to explain what he tried to say. And it wasn’t made easier by this Slovak guy drinking more and more and getting more and more incomprehensible. Isn’t that the fun part of staying at a hostel. You usually never get these kinds of interactions at a normal hotel.

A Morning Walk to the Bus – Good Bye, Bratislava!

I actually had a quite good night’s sleep in my small capsule. Or is it more like a pod? Well, either way, it was time to say goodbye to Bratislava. Time to say goodbye to Slovakia. Just one last walk from Obchodná, through the Old Town, to the bus stop at Most SNP. I actually had quite a lot of time, so I didn’t walk straight through the Old Town. Instead, I walked around and enjoyed the morning tranquility. I even got to say goodbye to Čumil before I reached the bus stop. Then it was just to wait for the bus that would take me to Vienna International Airport. Luckily, it was not the end of the adventure. I still had a few days left before heading back home. It was time to meet up with Susann and Little A in Finland.