Bratislava Off the Beaten Path Tour - recommended also by Rick Steves

Lieber Martin. Was soll ich sagen? Genial! Perfekt vorbereitet, flexibel in der ad hoc Gestaltung, Fokus auf wahre Bilder der Stadt und keine 0815 Hotspot Story. Ich als gebürtiger Auslaands-Pressburger (Bratislavaer?) habe viele unbekannte Dimensionen der Stadt kennengelernt Danke!

This October, my husband and I took the three-hour "Bratislava Castle & Old Town Tour" with Katarina, and it was the perfect way to experience this beautiful capital city during our short 24-hour stay. Katarina was incredibly knowledgeable, sharing fascinating details about Slovakia's history while pointing out important buildings, sculptures, and landmarks along the way. She also added fun facts throughout the tour, which kept it engaging, and offered great recommendations for local foods to try. It was a fantastic introduction to Bratislava, and we left feeling like we learned a lot about the city's culture and history. We highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Bratislava, especially if you're short on time!

Having recently acquired my dual citizenship to Slovakia and to celebrate my birthday, my boyfriend and I planned our first trip to Bratislava end of August / early September. We both wanted to immerse ourselves in Slovak history and the culture from a local and trusted advisor. Martin's agency came through a trusted recommendation! Martin did not disappoint and made this a truly memorable experience we will never forget! His generosity, expertise, and understanding of history really made this trip everything I had hoped for and more. I look forward to planning an extended stay next year and enlisting his services again to see more of the country. Our first day we planned a private wine tasting at the National Wine Gallery and had the pleasure of exploring award-winning Slovak wines from the following producers: Vinum Nobile, Shebo Winery, Mrva & Stanko, Vinarstvo Predium Vrable, Nichta, Juran Z Modry and even J & J Ostrozovic’s Tokaj selection! I also was able to add a book by Stano Jendek to my library which focused on the Slovak viticulture (highlighting Slovakia’s 6 wine growing regions, 40 wine growing subregions and 603 winegrowing municipalities). If you're looking to understand some of the amazing producers Slovakia has to offer, highly recommend visiting the National Wine Gallery and doing a guided tour. Our second day Martin was generous and had many surprises in store for us! We were shown the best view of the city, explored the old city center, including Old Market Hall, Primate’s Palace, hidden courtyards and learned about the architectural history of Bratislava. We were also in the city for Constitution Day, getting the opportunity to explore Hrad Castle and parts of the castle only open to the public once a year! The views from the castle are breathtaking! We also learnt more about how the city is actively developing and the investments in tech contributing to a flourishing services industry in other parts of the city. Highly recommend exploring the promenade and waterfront along the Danube. Martin's team even kindly booked us restaurant reservations at Zylinder which I’d highly recommend for a dinner. It's situated under a canopy of trees and the staff are very hospitable, extremely professional and every dish was high quality. Outside of the guided tours we were able to explore the city with a more informed perspective and created some wonderful memories! Can't wait to visit again next year. All in all, this trip was a wonderful introduction to the country, to learn more about my heritage. I’d highly recommend and encourage anyone to enlist Martin’s agency. There’s a reason diplomats, professionals, couples, solo travelers and families trust him and his team!