I have visited Slovakia many times during 2006, because of business, so I know the country fairly well.
First of all there is not much to see, apart from the old centre of Bratislava (you can see that in 1 hour), the rest of the city is boring and depressing; in any case is nothing compared to Prague or Budapest.
The other cities (Kosice, Nitra, Zilina etc). are rather gloomy. Trencin (with a castle as a main attraction, where you pay just to see few empty rooms) is just a joke. Piestany (a spa town) a place full of hotels (most of them dirty) from the communist years. The Tatra mountains? Nothing special, and again boring.
People in general tend to be very cold, and in some cases even rude. They are not bad, they just don’t know how to be friendly.
Of course a lot of people have nice experiences in Slovakia and they will say how excellent the country is; normally they like Slovakia because food and beer in general are very cheap, and girls usually are very good looking. So obviously when a place is so cheap everything is accepted (dirty hotels, tasteless food, rude waiters and so on).
However the main problem has always been, at least for me, driving around with a foreign plate number: no matter what, the police was always stopping me and here I give some examples:
- near the border with Hungary (just around Bratislava, the capital) I had to pay about 50 euros because I had no motorway sticker (I saw most of the cars without it). When I asked for an explanation the policeman (JOSEP VASKO, number 10098 – a real jerk) told me that others did not pay because in my case the procedure was different.
- inside the parking lot of a big supermarket (in Bratislava) I was chased and stopped to have an alcohol test (at 2 PM) and because my test was negative the 2 cops (number 11125 and 11920) wanted to fine me because I had no seat belt. When I said that we were in a supermarket and nobody had it, the answer was: we can’t stop everybody. In any case I told them I had no money, so finally they let me go.
- near a roundabout (in Nitra) I was stopped because, according to the police, I did not have the indicator on time. They asked me to get inside their car because it was raining. When I refused and told them we could go together to the police station, they warned me and decided to let me go.
I could go on and on, but these are some examples just to give you an idea. Of course corruption is very common in Eastern Europe, but in Slovakia for me it was like a nightmare.
My suggestion is: go there if you have business, drive a rented car with a Slovakian plate; if you have problem with the local police, when you think you are right, simply refuse to give them any money.
As a tourist, don’t waste your time there, Hungary or Czech Republic (neighbouring countries) have much more to offer.
For more infos on corrupted police, check this out:
http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok-489.html
The truth about Slovakia
Mar 15 2007, 08:32 PM
I don't know u guys. we've been there back in november when we tailored our brake with bumrats.com and we even visited two spas and had our teeth done while staying in a gorgeous 4* hotel upon the mountains and we loved it. I think we're now planning a party there in september and I cannot wait...
