A City With Two Identities — Bratislava, Slovakia

Photo by author

When most people plan an eastern European city break, their minds go straight to Prague. Here’s the thing about Prague: It’s pretty, it’s gorgeous, and it’s fake. The center of Prague feels like a giant tourist trap, a place where nobody actually lives. It also feels like a place where the communist years never happened.

By all means, go to Prague. We did. But I have no interest in ever going back to Prague. Been there. Done that.

But if you want something a little more real and authentic, yet equally valuable: Try Bratislava.

The brutalist Communist-era city. Photo by author.

What is Bratislava?

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. In the early nineties, Slovakia and the Czech Republic (now Czechia) split in what was known as the Velvet Divorce.

Bratislava was known alternately as Pressburg and Pozsony prior to 1919. The city is set on the Danube (and is a relatively short ferry ride from Vienna). At one point it was the largest city…in Hungary, when most of Slovakia belonged to them. At other points it belonged to Austria.