Bratislava News

Bratislava Bans Open Air Drinking

Starting from July 15th, be careful while drinking in the summer sun in Bratislava, as it will now be illegal to consume alcohol in various public spaces, owing to an amendment to the respective bylaw. The change passed by city councillors specifies...

Slovakia Softens Punishments for Drug Users

A May amendment to the Criminal Code allows suspended sentences, but only only for the possession of a drug for personal use, and if its amount does not exceed ten times a usual doze. The opposition criticised this move as playing into the...

New Law Bans Smoking in Open in Shopping Centres

Smoking will not be allowed in open air areas at shopping centres in Slovakia and higher fines will be imposed on anybody violating the smoking ban as of July, under a law that the parliament passed yesterday, Daily Slovakia portal reports....

Slovakia Remains Popular Even in Crisis

A total of 1.53 million foreign tourist visited Slovakia last year, up 4.6 percent year on year and the highest number since the breakup of the global economic crisis in 2009, according to data from the Slovak Agency for Tourism and the Slovak...

Foreigners Play But Don't Pay

Foreigners owe tens of thousands of euros to the Slovak Mountain Rescue Service (HZS), which has been able to make Czechs and Poles who are not insured to repay the money, but the situation is generally worse with Russians, Slovak daily Sme reported....

Vietnamese to Apply for Minority Status?

The prospering Vietnamese community in Slovakia is contemplating applying to be classed as a national minority, with a 5,000 strong community in the country, according to an article in SME daily. Although no official application has been lodged with...

New Live Broadcast from Parliament Online

A new website broadcasting parliamentary sessions was launched yesterday, according to The Daily Slovakia. The public can now watch their elected members of parliament online via the the website www.nrsr.tv. Four cameras record the current speakers,...

Slovakia among "10 Best Value Destinations for 2013" by World Budget Travel

American online magazine for travellers, World Budget Travel, ranked Slovakia among the ten best tourist destinations in the coming year with regard to affordability. Recently, Slovakia was included a similar list of the prestigious Lonely Planet...

Mustache Movember to raise cancer awareness

If you have spotted an increased number of men wearing mustache, this means Movember, a month dedicated to raise awareness of prostate cancer has kicked off! This is the first time ever in Slovakia this program is launched, and its idea is to get...

Slovakia Prepares for Paralympic Games

For this years Paralympic Games, taking place in London from August 29 to September 9, Slovakia has sent a team consisting of 34 members. This includes 30 physically challenged athletes, three visually disabled athletes, and one guide. They will...

Officials Find 700m Tunnel Between Slovakia and Ukraine

Slovak officials have discovered a sophisticated tunnel running for some 700 metres, linking Slovakia and Ukraine, and believed to have been used for smuggling. The tunnel was built 6 feet into the ground, and was built using sophisticated mining...

Bratislava Hotel Ranked World's Best

A small boutique hotel in Bratislava has been ranked the best in the world according to Expedia Insiders' Select, which calculated the list according to over 500 000 customer reviews from 2011. Marrol's Boutique Hotel, a five-star luxury hotel...

Slovakia Second in Hockey World Championship

Slovakias national hockey team has come in second place at the 2012 Ice Hockey World Championships, which took place in Finland and Sweden. Beating out Slovakia for top spot was Russia, who sailed through the competition with a spotless 10-0-0...

Slovak Film Awards Distributed

The Slovak Film and television Academy has held a ceremony for the biennial awards for film and television entitled the Narodne filmove ceny Slnko v sieti (Sun in Net National Film Awards). The event took place at the Slovak National Theatre. ...

Slovak Batman is a Local Hero

A man living in Dunajska Streda, 55km south of Bratislava, has made headlines across the globe as the Slovakian answer to Batman. However, Zoltan Kohari is no millionaire like Bruce Wayne - this 26-year-old man is poor and lives in an abandoned...

Historic Slovak Castle Suffers Fire

The huge castle of Krasna Horka in eastern Slovakia has suffered massive damage from a fire. It is thought that extremely dry grass surrounding the building was accidentally set alight by two boys attempting to light up cigarettes. ...

Slovak Philharmonic Return to Reduta Theatre

After nearly a year of renovations, the Slovak Philharmonic will return to its home at the historic Reduta theatre after a temporary stint at the National Theatre. The Reduta will officially re-open with concerts on 26 and 27 January, with the...

Museum of Modern Art in the Works

The first national museum of modern art is set to open soon in Slovakia, announced the Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer. The project is based on the already existing, privately owned Danubiana Museum of Modern Art in the town of Cunovo just outside...

Norway to Bratislava on a Budget

Budget airline Norwegian, the second largest in Scandinavia, has announced a brand new direct connection between Bratislava and Norway. While the airline already flies across Europe, including to Vienna, Bratislava will be the newest addition to...

International Film Festival Underway

The 13th edition of the celebrated Bratislava Film Festival is currently underway, screening a wide variety of films from across the world from both established filmmakers and emerging talent. There are both competitive (feature, documentary,...

American General Receives Honorary Bratislava Citizenship

An American General has been made the fourth honourary citizen of Bratislava, according to the Slovak Spectator. Major General Roy Martin Umbarger, commander of the US National Guard in Indiana, was selected based on his contribution to "peace and...

Bratislava’s Philharmonic Under Renovation

The Reduta Theatre in Bratislava, which has been home to the Slovak Philharmonic since 1949, is currently under massive reconstruction. The building was first designed in 1911, and construction began in 1913 with grand ideas of sumptuous gold plated...

Hockey Championships Wrap Up

The World Ice Hockey Championship was held in Slovakia this year, in both Bratislava and Kosice, and wrapped up last month with Finland beating Sweden in the finals 6-1. After a goal-free first period, Sweden took the lead in the second period...

Hockey Championships Underway

The 2011 World Men's Ice Hockey Championship has kicked off in Bratislava, the host city of the event alongside fellow Slovak city Kosice. It is the largest international sporting event hosted in Bratislava's history as part of independent...

World Hockey Championship To Take Place in Slovakia

In only a few weeks, all eyes will be on Slovakia as the international sports commuinty follows the action at the 2011 IHF World Hockey Championship. Taking place in Bratislava and Kosice, the tournament will see 16 teams battle it out through 56...

Slovakia’s Two-Headed Tortoise

As with Paul the German octopus who delighted audiences with his World Cup predictions in 2010, Slovakia has Magdalena, a two-headed, five-legged tortoise as their guide in predicting the Slovakian hockey championship. Similar to conjoined...

US Ambassador Hosts Slovak Exhibition

An exhibition showcasing the art of the eminent American-Slovak family Rudavsky is now on display at the residence of the US ambassador to Slovakia, Theodore Sedgwick. Two of the Rudavskys, sister and brother Zuzana and Ondrej, are also US...

Newspapers Fined Over Photo Mix-Up

Several Austrian newspapers must pay tens of thousands of euros of damages to a Slovakian student studying in Bratislava after mistakenly publishing her photo, found on the Facebook social networking website. One of the victims of a brutal series...

Christmas Market Opens

Bratislava's annual Christmas Market has opened to the public and is located on the Main Square in the centre. Over one hundred wooden stalls have been decorated with illuminated lights and are filled with a wide variety of wares from across...

New Statue Unveiled in Bratislava

Marking the 92nd anniversary of the establishment of the first Czechoslovak Republic, a new statue was unveiled in central Bratislava on 28 October. The newly erected bronze statue depicts the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue...

Slovak Gothic Art visits Paris

The Cluny Museum in Paris, France has just opened a new exhibition featuring a collection of Slovak Gothic art. The show, entitled "With Gold and FIre" (D'Or et de Feu. L'art en Slovaquie a la Fin du Moyen Age), was curated by Dusan Buran and in...

New terminal adds capacity at Bratislava airport

Bratislava airport's newly opened terminal means the airport can handle up to 1.5 million passengers a year. About 900,000 passengers used the airport in the past year. The new terminal was officially opened on 9th June, but operations took off on...

Slovakia out of the World Cup?

Slovakia tied with New Zealand (1-1) on 15 June then lost to Paraguay (0-2) the following week which brings their total score to 1 point.Paraguay is leading the group at the moment with 4 points, followed by Italy and New Zealand both with 2. It...

Slovakia heading to World Cup

It's been a long road since the Slovakian team played in the World Cup. To be truthful, it was actually as Czechoslovakia in 1991. Well, since then it's been a series of disappointments for the tiny Central European country. But now, after a two-year...

Ryanair wings it over its Slovak competitors

If you're planning a jaunt to Slovakia's capital city then the chances are that you'll be flying Ryanair as figures published this month show the once tiny Irish carrier now shovels more than two thirds of all passengers into and out of the Eastern...

Bratislava...is it still a bargain?

A new survey has found that Bratislava might not be the cheapo get-away that it once was, after it zoomed from 45th most expensive city in the world to 31st.The poll by finance company Mercer, looked at 143 cities across all continents and compared...

Bratislava’s Looking Beautiful

Bratislava has been given a spring clean or should that be a summer clean after 2,000 volunteers from 40 different companies and non-profit organisations took part in the third Our Bratislava event.The volunteers worked on litter picking and...

Get Your Skates On

It's going to be rollerblading and skating mania this summer in Bratislava as the city proudly hosts its fifth Inline event. Inline is a great opportunity for anyone - beginner or experienced - to whizz along the city's streets, make some new mates...

Flu Virus All Clear - For Now

For the time being visitors to Bratislava can be reassured that Slovakia remains free of the dreaded novel flu virus after two suspected cases turned out to be false alarms.The two patients had been admitted to a local hospital in the city but tested...

Smoking In Restaurants? Not Anymore...

Slovakian government passed a bill on a partial smoking ban this month. All of the restaurant owners will be obliged to create a separate, walled room for their smoking guests. What's more, over half of a restaurant's area will have to be designed...

New Plane Connections From Bratislava

Irish airline - Ryanair - announced that they're going to fly to two additional destinations from Bratislava this year. Ryanair, which is now considered the biggest low-cost airline in Europe, will be flying to Pisa in Italy and Alicante in Spain....

Bratislava International Film Festival

If you're in the Slovakian capital right now, you can't skip one of the most entertaining events - the 10th edition of the International Film Festival, which starts today. The organizers planned a delightful variety of pictures. You'll be able to...

Slovak Museums on the Rise

A recent survey announced last Sunday some interesting statistics about the cultural sector of museums in Slovakia. It seems that interest in visiting museums in this country has been steadily on the rise with 2007 hosting 4.2 million visitors in its...

Aerial Acrobatics on the Danube

This Sunday the 10th of August, downtown Bratislava will be hosting a breath-taking display of aerial acrobatics as part of the Red Bull Air Race World Series. The competition brings top class pilots to compete in various picturesque cities around...

EU Finalizes Euro Changeover

Finance ministers at the EU have given Slovakia the green light to adopt the euro as their national currency. Having enjoyed an economic boom since first joining the EU, Slovakia and Bratislava in particular have enjoyed a steady stream of...

Pohoda 2008 Around the Corner

This year's Pohoda music festival, will take place on the 18th and 19th of July at Trencin airport. Pohoda began in 1997 and is now Slovakia's largest open-air summer music festival. It also acts as a venue for theatre, literature workshops,...

Terminal Touted For Bratislava

An investor is being sought for a new terminal at Bratislava Airport. At present, airport operator Flughafen Wien AG is in the running, and Bratislava is hoping to close a deal soon. The terminal will be a joint investment, with the Slovak...

Christmas Markets Buzz In Bratislava

If you're still umming and ahhing over a last minute getaway, Bratislava's Christmas Markets have emerged as a perky new rival to the more established yuletide shindigs of Vienna and Nuremberg. Bratislava's markets run all the way until dusk on...

High Speed Highway To Vienna Open

A high speed motorway opened on Monday linking Bratislava with the Austrian capital. The new road - the A6 - has long been in the pipeline, and traffic is now putting it to the test. But just how fast is this new connection? Well, if you're...

The Sky's The Limit

No frills airline SkyEurope launched a new batch of flights last week linking Slovakia with London's Luton airport. SkyEurope is now providing a twice daily service between Bratislava and Luton, making it all the more easy to nip between England...

Last Slovaks To Leave Iraq

The last two Slovak soldiers stationed in Iraq are to return home before Christmas, the Defense Ministry announced this week. Overall, some 100 Slovak troops took part in operations on Iraqi soil. The Slovaks served under Polish command, and were...

Bathory Films Bathe In Bloody Legacy

Slovakia will soon be serenaded on the silver screen with a pair of gothic chillers. Elizabeth Bathory, the so-called Blood Countess, is destined for a double bill in 2008, with two rival projects in the pipeline from Slovak and International crews. ...

Catislava

Over 500 dandies from the cat kingdom strutted their stuff in Bratislava last weekend in a major International Show. The furry fellows competed in four categories - Exotic and Persian (long-haired), medium-haired, short-haired, and Oriental....

Mustache Movember to raise cancer awareness