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"The booking process was prompt and efficient and I was made to feel like a human not a number!" Debbie from the UK wrote on May 10, 2007. She spent three nights at Apartment Old Town.

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Bratislava once was the coronation city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? 11 kings and 8 queens were coronated in the St. Martin's Cathedral.

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Bratislava Nightlife, Dining, Clubs, Bars

Pubs

For the more cosmopolitan and mixed crowd, try the downtown/city centre - you will find many places and try one of the ones advertising Slovak beers such as Zlaty Bazant or Kelt. Alternatively go for a great Czech beer on tap - lagers such as Budvar or Pilsner Urquell, Kozel, Radegast, Starobrno...

Try 17s Bar on Hviezdoslavovo square 17 for great Czech beer (and good pizza served until 1 a.m.). The Dubliner's Irish Pub on Sedlárska Street is popular with tourists and the ex-pat crowd and serves Irish, as well as Slovak beers, along with pub food.

Several pubs with traditional Central European beerhall ambience can be found around the centre: try Prazdroj on Mostova behind the Radisson SAS Carlton Hotel or Plzensky Dvor on Cintorinska.

For a non-traditional presentation of Slovak traditions, visit 1st Slovak Pub on Obchodna street, composed of 14 separate rooms representing various periods in Slovakia's history that fit 650 people.

Students also crowd into the Hysteria Pub near the ice hockey stadium on Odbojarov Street in the evenings.

Bars

In the centre, the key nightlife areas are in the Hviezdoslavovo Square and around the Korzo pedestrian zone in the streets of Venturska, Panska, Michalska and Sedlarska.

The Malecon at Mostova draws crowds for mojitos and tasty food. Paparazzi at Laurinska serves modern international cuisine to a cosmopolitan crowd. The Coctail Bar on Panska is of the same flavour, as is the Greenwich Pub on Zelena, known to the locals as the Coctail Bar (sic), but neither serves food. Cocoloco Cocktailbar on top of the SNP square (near the Michael's Tower) is a stylish hangout for a slightly younger crowd. Downtown on Klariska is a hip trendy bar also serving food. Sparx in the building of the former largest beerhall in central Europe on Cintorinska draws large party crowds, with qeues on some weekend nights.

On the side of the castle hill on Beblaveho street you can find a few friendly bars clustered together, some even open quite late every night. Both U Certa, Vydrica and Andy Drink-in Gallery are well worth visiting for their laid back ambience and the local crowd, as is a growing number of newer spots in this charming neighbourhood.

Here are a few popular spots outside of the centre but well worth a taxi ride: Harley Davidson is a large and popular bar not only for bikers playing mainly rock and oldies located on Rebarborova (20 minutes by taxi).

If you want to opt for more of a local flavour, be careful. Avoid tourist traps and nasty local dives. Use your best judgment, you will learn fast.

Restaurants

If you would like to sample the traditional Slovak fare or Pressburg specialties (not really what most people eat these days), try the Slovak Restaurant on Hviezdoslavovo namestie (if you can afford it), Traja musketieri styled as "the taste of 1625" on Sladkovicova (not far from the Presidential Palace). The taste of traditional Pressburg drawing on Austrian and Hungarian culinary traditions is offered in Leberfinger, across the Danube from the Old Town (a pleasant, 10-minute walk across the bridge and a taxi ride back, as you will be too full to walk).

Another highly recommended restaurant with traditional Old Bratislava fare is Modra Hviezda (The Blue Star) located in Beblaveho street, a narrow street on the way to the castle, serving meals in the Slovak, Austrian and Hungarian traditions and great Slovak wines complemented with a little bit of history written onto the menu.

Staroslovenska krcma (the Old Slovak Pub) in the pedestrian zone on Michalska is also a solid choice, both in the winter when you eat in a tastefully decorated cellar and in the summer at one of the two outdoor seating areas.


Restaurant/caffe Prasna Basta, Bratislava, Slovakia Do try Prasna basta, it's been around for a long time and is featured in many travel guides. Try Archa around the corner from the Archbishop's Palace in Primaciálne Square, A-Klub on Panska.

For cheap vegetarian food, you will find the Vegetarianska jedalen on Laurinska (featured in Let's Go, offering a choice of about 10 meals at around SKK 60 (EUR 1.89)) and a similar establishment in City Point at Obchodna.

In the same price category, to eat what the locals eat, visit Lahodky u Sherlocka on the corner of Mileticova and Prievozska or one of the slightly more upmarket (but still very reasonably priced) restaurants on Mileticova such as Leguan or Steam & Coffee (a local chain, now also at the Radisson SAS Carlton Hotel having replaced an unsuccessful Friday's, near Pollus City Center and at the Slovak Radio upside down pyramid building).

If you are interested in the more exotic restaurant offerings (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Middle Eastern...), see our Ethnic Restaurants in Bratislava listings.

Sweets

Bratislava purports to be famous for its cakes - perhaps reflected shine from the Vienna tradition. Keep in mind the Slovak saying when picking that "Not all that glitters is gold". But keep looking, you will generally not regret it. Great cakes are served at Korzo, a traditional café right next to the New Bridge (the one with the UFO on top) and at Cafe Studio Club on Laurinska (also offering good coffee and occassionally live music). For very good ice cream and cakes visit Ice bar Luculus at Hviezdoslavovo square 19.

Cafés

Bratislava has a long café tradition. Some traditional cafés are still around and many Slovaks love to go for coffee. You order an espresso (called presso - comes in small - piccolo and large with the same amount of coffee but more water), most places also serve cappuccinos, lattes and the like. You usually get a small cookie or piece of chocolate and sometimes a glass of water with your coffee. To name but a few, try Café Mayer in the Hlavne namestie (Main Square), Roland, Café Korzo near the New Bridge, Antik near Hlavne namestie.

A young and trendy crowd can be found sipping lattes at the Cafe Central on Obchodna street, but do not miss other nice cafes along that street either. If you would like to watch or join an artsy crowd, try Café Verne with wild decorations based on sci-fi by Jules Verne in Hviezdoslavovo Square (frequented by students of the Academy of Arts located next door) or the cosy and hip Café Kút hidden in a courtyard next to the Prasna Basta restaurant. Low-key and friendly Next Apache serving gourmet coffee and selling second-hand books is located on Panenska.

For a change of pace, visit the non-smoking Radnicka Café in the City Museum Courtyard of the Old Town Hall's tower in the Main Square, a protected workplace with waiters with mental disabilities.

Two charming cafes focus on hot chocolate: literally dozens of delicious types of hot or cold chocolate are served at Maximilian on Main Square and Chocolate at Michalska (both are smoke-free).

If you prefer tea to coffee, you should visit one of the growing number of Bratislava tea-rooms. Most are non-smoking and offer a variety of premium teas. For a change of pace, try the esoteric and hip Cajovna on Zamocka street, a few minutes walk from the Hotel Ibis Bratislava Centrum, offering premium teas from around the world.

Clubs

On Laurinska, try Cafe Studio Club, which offers live music many nights of the week. Nearby Aligator is mainly rock orientated and frequently features live bands. A Cuban band plays most nights at the very popular Malecon near Reduta.

A hugely popular spot is the Cirkus Barok, a dance club and bar with several floors in a ship anchored on the Danube bank just across the road from the Devin Hotel, near the New Bridge. For something more glitzy and discoish (and a meat-market atmosphere) try La Verna on the SNP Square by the Old Town Market. For a student crowd, Unique Club at the university dormitories in Mlynská dolina is a sought after hang-out (also popular with students are the nearby Elam and Casey). Metro Music Club in the Slovenska Sporitelna building at Suche Myto offers a mixture of styles, including hip-hop nights.

The cosy, really chill, mostly downtempo Nu Spirit Bar (formerly known as Buddha Bar) on Medena features DJs on most nights - the soothing nu jazz draws a sophisticated crowd of different age groups. DJs can also be found at Radost, an underground chill-out bar and club on Obchodna, the recently refurbished Duna on Obchodna is popular with the young underground crowd. A young crowd also chills at Channels with two underground floors of varied electronica on Zupne namestie. Subclub, a former nuclear fall-out shelter on the river side of the castle hill just behind the New Bridge is a unique experience, mainly for techno fans. A more up-scale clubbing experience can be found on good nights at Trafo, a trendy club with European prices in the pedestrian zone on Venturska.

The once famous Charlie's Pub has reopened across from the Kyjev Hotel behind Tesco, connecting to its tradition of 90s tunes and hot dancing. Dopler is a large venue on Prievozska, taxi-ride distance from the centre with many dance events popular with a young crowd.

The biggest club nights, of course, are Friday and Saturday but Thursdays and even Wednesdays can get reasonably lively at some of the more popular venues. For event and party listings see BratislavaGuide.com's Bratislava Event Calendar.

Gay Bratislava

For clubbing, try the 4Pink's launched in 2006 at Zupne Square (Sun-Thu 4 pm to 2 am, weekends to 5 am), Gay Club Apollon on Panenska 24 (Mon-Thu 6 pm to 3 am, Wednesday to 5 am, Friday and Saturday 8 pm to 5 am, disco everyday except Monday from 10 pm, Sundays men only 8 pm to 1 am), Apollon Club Cafe at Vysoka 20. A gay sauna is located at Zivnostenska 4.

Information courtesy of Bratislava Guide (c) 2003-2008.