Leaving Vienna we resumed our adventure heading east towards Budapest. To reach the Hungarian border we would be crossing through parts of Slovakia, a former member of the Eastern Block.

I knew so little about Slovakia that the only thing that came to mind was the word Souvlaki, a Greek kebab which had entirely nothing to do with Slovakia however it made me hungry thinking about it.

Shortly into the ride we followed Eurovelo 6 signs onto a scenic nature path. Although it’s always a nice reprieve to have a flat and straight road it becomes extremely boring looking at the same view for hours on end. If you stare at the below image for 3 hours you will have successfully re-lived half of our ride from Vienna to the Slovakian capital Bratislava.

When we finally turned off the groundhog day road we found ourselves staring straight into a storm which had enveloped the horizon. We took refuge under a shop awning as the rain began to crash down. Calculating it was only 10km left to our hostel we decided to leg it, throwing on our rain jackets and riding through the storm to the Slovakian border.

The overpass to Bratislava had a bike path underneath the traffic, completely separated from cars.  By the time we had crossed over into the city center the rain eased up and we reached our bed for the night at Patio hostel.

The hostel was great value for money, situated in the centre of town, and included a secure luggage room to store our bikes. In the morning we were awoken by loud snoring emanating from a fellow traveller who was sleeping on a couch outside in the shared kitchen, presumably locked out by his mates due to the severity of his noises.

As we wandered the streets we discovered Bratislava is a city full of great places to explore, eat, and drink on the cheap, hence why it is a popular European destination for bucks parties.

Church of St. Elisabeth famous for its blue colouring, surprisingly not the first blue church we had seen this week, we spotted another on the outskirts of Vienna.

In seach of food we found that the city had quite a few pop up cafes and hipster restaurants (You really can’t escape the hipster onslaught anywhere in the world). We decided on Soho, a Thai fusion restaurant and no. 2 on Trip Advisor, and it turned out to be one of the best meals we have had in a while and cheap too at €18/$25.86AUD for two including drinks.

Finishing the day we followed the crowds down an alley to Koun, a tiny gelateria in the centre of the city which seemed to be the destination of choice for both locals and tourists alike. The gelato is made locally by a graduate of the Italian Gelato Academy, and although I am unsure of what we ordered due to language barrier I can happily recommend the chocolate complete with an upside down cone in a cup. 

Daily Costs

Day 1
Accommodation: €37.65
Groceries: €12.64
Total: €50.29/$72.26AUD

Day 2
Accommodation: €37.65
Groceries: €4.12
Cafe/Restaurant: €32.15
Total: €73.92/$106.21AUD