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Bratislava: Stepping Into a Fairytale

1/9/2018

Lexa and I were planning a trip to Budapest to end the semester, so when I got the chance to take a day trip to Bratislava, I decided to take it. After a long overnight bus and a plane later, I arrived in Budapest and hopped on a 2.5 hour train to Bratislava. This is a really great option if you're already planning a trip to Budapest because the two cities are totally different and a round trip train ticket costs less than $40.

Arriving in Bratislava, it didn't take long to catch a fairy tale feel, which made me excited to explore more the next day (another perk: it's so cheap!!). Here's a few things I recommend.

Free Attractions/Things to Do:

Take a walking tour! If you've already read our other post about free things to do, you'll know we're big supporters of free walking tours, but I CANNOT stress this enough. Tip your guide $5 and get 2-3 hours of fun and interesting facts from the best sites in the city without having to do any of the work of planning or navigation.

Hike up to the Castle - If you walk around the Old Town, you can't help but notice the castle. Now having spent 3 weeks in the U.K., we've seen our fair share of medieval castles, but something about this one stuck out to me. So, after my walking tour, I decided to take a hike up. Tip: wear sensible walking shoes. The hike up is basically along a narrow road, and then you cross over to a steep hill covered in cobblestones (your feet will hate you), but the view is pretty cool from the top. I chose not to go inside the castle because 1. I was short on time and 2. due to a fire, the inside is all redone and converted into an art gallery (not really my thing, but if you like art and have time, check it out).

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Best Attractions in Madrid

1/7/2018

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While we might be biased since we studied only 30 minutes away from Spain’s capital, Madrid is a must-see city when traveling in Europe. There’s always something to do, great tapas and it’s super clean. Even though we traveled there at least 10 times while abroad, we discovered something new each time we explored this gorgeous city. Here are some of our favorite attractions that won’t break your budget:

1. Retiro Park: This ginormous park will absolutely take your breath away. Its upkeep is immaculate-every shrub is shaped and designed to ridiculous perfection. There are rose gardens, cafes everywhere and a small lake where you can rent a rowboat for less than 10 euro. You don’t even feel like you’re in a big, bustling city once you take some time to explore the grounds and people watch.

2. Templo de Debod: According to esMadrid, “In the 20th century, the Egyptian government gave the temple as a gift to the city of Madrid and it was transported and rebuilt stone by stone in its current location. It was opened to the public in 1972." You can tour the temple for free, but only 30 people can enter at a time. One of our favorite memories in Madrid was running through the streets to see the sunset as it went down behind the temple. It’s a very popular spot to see a panoramic view of the city, so our advice is to get there early.

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Bratislava: Stepping Into a Fairytale

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