Taking Public Transportation in Bratislava
Last week I was in Bratislava for the day, checking out many of the new changes to the city, visiting friends, and doing a little shopping. Since I was coming from another town by bus, I took public transportation all day and realized that it can be a little daunting if you are a foreigner and don’t know what to do.
Each of the larger cities in Slovakia have their own system for taking public transportation. I’m writing specifically about Bratislava in this post.
In Bratislava there are three forms of public transportation: autobusy – buses, električky – trams, and trolej busy – trolley buses (something like a bus hooked up to electricity). All forms require the same thing to ride: namely a ticket. Tickets are purchased from yellow machines that are found at most public transportation stops. The same tickets are used interchangeably between all three forms of transportation.
Before you can buy your ticket, however, you need to know how much time is needed to get from where you are to where you are going. For example, look at the table below. Say we are going to take a tram and are at Trnavské mýto and want to get to Nám. Ľ. Štúra, which is close to the Old Town.
To the left of the name of where we want to go is the time needed to get there. In this case we need 11 minutes. At the machine where you buy tickets, the ticket with the lowest time is 15 minutes and that’s what you would get. You’d put in your 50 cents and the ticket will print. If you don’t have exact change the machine will accept larger coins as payment and will return you change. The machines also sell day passes and the menu written in English as well.
Once you are on board, you must stamp your ticket. There are red machines with a time clock at at least two locations inside, usually near doors. From time to time people come on board to check if you have a valid ticket so I wouldn’t recommend getting on unless you’re prepared to pay a fine.
4 Comments on “Taking Public Transportation in Bratislava”
Hi! I'm an American who lived in Bratislava for a few years up until this past winter, and I really enjoy your blog. I just wanted to recommend this website for getting around via public transport in BA: http://imhd.zoznam.sk/ba/?w=2e25212e36212c28&lang=en The Journey Finder is very accurate and helpful. I also wanted to mention to anyone who might be traveling with children in strollers--you can only board the bus/tram/trolleybus through the door that has a picture of a pram next to it. This is because each vehicle has a special area with no seats for stroller "parking" on board, and the appropriately marked door leads you to this section. You are not expected to collapse the stroller--you just wheel the child in buggy right into the spot. Best of all, you will almost always find people to help you carry the stroller on and off the bus/tram.
June 2nd, 2010 at 07:39 PM
I'm a teacher in a high school in New York. This year I had an exchange student from Slovakia. I read your site quite a bit to learn about her culture so I could make her comfortable. I can't thank you enough for the insights and information you've included on your site. Your site was a better resource for my situation than any other travel guide I could find. Now that the school year is coming to a close, my lovely student will be heading home. I would like to give her a gift that will remind her of her experience in America. You've offered great ideas for what to bring if an American visits a Slovakian. Could you make a suggestion about what an American can give a Slovakian who is returning home? I'm pulling together a package of fun tee shirts, including several from our school, however, I was wondering if there is something exclusively American that Slovakians can't get in their country. Any ideas? Thanks, again, for your terrific site.
June 18th, 2010 at 01:07 AM
Hi Stacey, I am slovak girl and I have read your lines in this blog. So I thing, that all you could get those slovakian students are experiencies. It is the best. Try to find anything. PS: If you have no ideas, you can pack Alicia Keys, I like her music. Br, Jana, Bratislava
July 12th, 2010 at 07:36 PM
Thanks Stacey for your question and Jana for your answer :-) I wrote a blog post on souvenirs that might also be helpful.
July 13th, 2010 at 09:03 PM