Slovakia money, Slovakia impressions

Like her old twin sister (The Czech Republic), Slovakia came 27% under budget, this deserves a celebration 

Come late September, Dora is up for sale.     If you or anyone you know is looking for a reasonably priced motorhome then please check out the following link; https://www.2wanderers.com/dora-for-sale/ or if you have any questions email us at; info@2wanderers.com Thanks

 

If you or anyone you know is looking for a reasonably priced motorhome then please check out the following link;

https://www.2wanderers.com/dora-for-sale/

or if you have any questions email us at;

info@2wanderers.com

Thanks

Slovakia is in the Euro zone. Before joining, the country was in a poor economical state. Most European countries, which had weak economies before joining the Euro, experienced a hike in prices soon after. Therefore, we were expecting the same here. But it was not the case. Slovakia is good value for money.

ACCOMMODATION

We have got the habits of parking when no one can see us and there are not NO PARKING signs. If someone had asked us to move, we would have, of course. We wouldn’t want to get in trouble with the locals. But that didn’t happen, so we have slept wild and spent no money.

REPAIRS

Dora was, once again, in good form.

FOOD

Food was quite affordable. We continued to buy at Lidl but, occasionally, we bought in Kaufland, one of the largest supermarket chain in Central-Eastern Europe. It is more expensive than Lidl, but has a wider choice, with very good quality. It has even a delicatessen section. Shame that it does not have a fish counter.  (This is not to say that Lidl is not very good quality of course. GDR)

Our meal out in the Kolia was €28 for a bottle of wine, water, two starters and  the main courses. So, not bad.

OTHERS

Communication

The 3G data card with the network operator O2 was €15 for one month. It was still a great value compared to the shitty and highly complicated deals that T-Mobile offered.

Gas

We filled Dora’s tank with gas before we entered the country. In summer, gas for cooking, showers and fridge lasts about 10 days. As we stayed in Slovakia only for a week, there was no need for re-filling.

Laundry

Laundry was over budget by €10 but we haven’t cleaned clothes for three weeks. So, there won’t be any laundry in Croatia, which will compensate.

Souvenirs

The costs under souvenirs relate to a couple of trekking maps of the High Tratas and the Raj National Park. We are going to have such a nice maps collection at the end of the trip!

Activities

We have done quite a bit of trekking in Slovakia, hence the low activity costs. The €48 relate to the cruise we did along the Danube in Bratislava, the cathedral and the visit to Spis Castle in Lekova.

So Slovakia

IMPRESSIONS

Everything we may say about Slovakia is not enough.

Driving around the countryside is a must. We got captivated by the diversity of its landscape; one minute we went through undulated, rolling hills

another across the endless plateaux

then through perfectly flat agricultural fields

and occasionally crossed some of its wide, calm, blue-sky rivers.

The countryside is also incredibly clean. Slovakians love being outdoors, hence they are conscious and look after it.

The state of the roads are amazing.

Likely, Europe money but still money well spent. We wish Italy

or Greece

had done the same. Otherwise, where has that money gone?

Slovakia, although small, has lots to offer. We will never forget the Ice Cave, a natural phenomenon, and now an attraction, that we’d never come across before.

And of course, we had seen many alpine, medieval, Austro-Hungarian style towns to be delighted by.

After being around the crowded, overloaded, over the top Praha, visiting Bratislava felt a relief. Bratislava was absolutely enchanting. There is something about big towns that I am getting hooked up on to. The slow pace of life, the charm of the people, the solitude of its streets…

But the highlight of our staying in Slovakia was the trekking. Climbing Sucha Bela and  Stredne Piecky gorges was a pleasant  surprise, a laugh and they prepared us for Via Ferrata.

These were absolutely amazing, a lovely challenge and of course we should not forget our stunning summit of Vychodne Vysoka GDR

Have we persuaded you to come?

SM