A popular day trip option from Vienna, Bratislava is the cute capital of Slovakia. With only half a day to explore Bratislava, you can still visit a lot of the city’s highlights with this half-day Bratislava itinerary.

As beautiful as Bratislava is, you can see so much of the city in just a few hours due to the compact nature of its Old Town, and close proximity of its most famous attractions. You’ll have to move quite fast to get through this list of attractions, but it’s completely do-able.

Here is your half-day walking tour itinerary of Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava.

St Michael’s Gate Tower and Street

Serving as an entrance point to the Old Town, Michael’s Gate is one of Bratislava’s oldest buildings – its medieval fortifications having been preserved for centuries. The street that the tower is on is one of Bratislava Old Town’s main streets, and is also one of Bratislava’s most iconic photo locations.

Inside the tower, you’ll find a museum and on the sixth floor, a balcony boasting views of the Old Town, Bratislava castle and the surrounding area. If you have time, seeing the view might be worth it. If you’re short on time, just pass through the gate and take in the atmosphere of the old town.

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Kostol Trinitarov

The Old Cathedral of Saint John of Matha and Saint Felix of Valois, otherwise known as Kostol trinitarov (this is one of those rare times where the English translation is more difficult to remember than the native one!) is a cute, pink-coloured church with curved architecture.

This Baroque-style church has quite a nice interior and is worth peeking through for a few minutes.

St Martin’s Cathedral

St Martin’s Cathedral is another historic church. Dating all the way back to March of 1452 when it was opened, the Cathedral stands at 85 m high and, along with being Bratislava’s largest church, it also is one of the Old Town’s most recognisable structures.

Old Town Hall and Hlavné námestie

Bratislava’s Old Town Hall is located in Bratislava’s main square, Hlavné námestie. With its central fountain and colourful surrounding buildings, the Bratislava’s main square is a great place to soak in Bratislava’s atmosphere and get acquainted with the architecture of the old town.

Primate’s Palace

The Primate’s Palace currently serves as the seat of the Mayor of Bratislava, but was built all the way back in 1777. Although the palace is beautiful inside and has an interesting historic past, we would recommend just seeing it from the outside on your half-day, as touring the palace can take a few hours.

Old Slovak National Theatre Building

This will be another quick stop on your half-day itinerary. The Old Slovak National Theatre building is a beautiful, ornately decorated yellow structure that consists of 3 ensembles (opera, ballet and drama). The Old Theatre Building stands as the second oldest Slovak theatre, and was built in 1920. The building was built in the Neo-Renaissance style, and is worth a look on your way to the next stop.

Modry Kostol

Bratislava’s tiny blue church, Modry Kostol is one of Bratislava’s cutest icons. This church is particularly unique for its unusual baby blue colour – something that is very rare in Europe, to say the least! The interior is also similarly decorated in baby blue hues and yellow pastels.

I personally loved this church, and it’s probably my favourite place in Bratislava. You can read all about Modry kostol on our blog post about it here.

View of UFO Tower/Observation Deck (Most SNP)

The UFO Observation Deck is one of Bratislava’s most unusual attractions. It sits 85m high overlooking the old town, on the Most SNP bridge, which is a road over the Danube river that connects the Old Town with the area of Petržalka.

If you want to see the view on top of the tower, there’s also a restaurant and bar there. We personally were fine just seeing it from a distance. You’ll be able to see a great view of it on your way to Bratislava Castle.

Bratislava Castle

Finally, we’ve saved Bratislava’s most famous attraction for last. Bratislava Castle is a enormous castle complex that sits atop a hill, overlooking all of Bratislava (literally – a Castle On The Hill, as Ed Sheeran sings).

From the castle, you’ll be able to see sweeping views of the Danube River, new Bratislava, and Old Town Bratislava. The mix of buildings and architecture is actually really fascinating to see.

If you want to look inside, entrance for adults is 19 Euro, and 10 Euro for Children. Seniors and students pay 12 Euro for admission. For more information on admission prices, click here.

I’ve heard good things about the Castle’s interior, but whether you go inside or not will depend on your interests and how much time you have left. We didn’t have that much time left so instead, we just walked around the castle complex – which was more than fulfilling for us.

Also read: Which city should you choose – Vienna, Prague, Budapest or Bratislava?

That’s it! How did you go? Did you manage to visit all of Bratislava’s attractions? Let us know in the comments below!