Excursions

Half-day excursions

D: Open-air museum and the city of Martin

(price: 7 EUR, date: 2013-07-13)

This excursion aims to acquaint you with the city of Martin (where SES will take place) and with the history of Slovakia.

We will visit a beautiful open-air museum representing a Slovak village – the biggest open-air ethnographic exhibition in Slovakia. It shows traditional artisanry as well as the way of living in north-western Slovakia during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. On an area measuring 15.5 ha (0.155 km², 38.3 acres), there are 143 buildings, of which 22 can be entered and viewed from the inside.

Further information can be found on the site's official web site...

The city Martin (called Turčiansky Svätý Martin until 1950) is a district capital with 60,000 inhabitants, located in the Martin district of the Žilina region, in the north-west of Slovakia.

The first written mention dates from 1264. The original name of the city derives from the original administrative unit and the patron saint of the church. The municipality became a city in 1340. In 1861, there was a great gathering of Slovaks here, during which they demanded autonomy within Hungary. The city plays a great role in the modern history of Slovakia. One of the first three Slovak high schools (gymnázium) was here. The cultural institute Matica slovenská and the Slovak National Library have their seat here; the city is also the site of the national cemetery. During a walk through the city centre, we will also visit the Martin Benka museum. Martin Benka was a Slovak painter who was also an active Esperanto speaker. We will also have the opportunity to see his Esperanto drawings.

Further information in Wikipedia...

E: Orava castle and Orava forest train ride (by historical steam train)

(price: 18 EUR, date: 2013-07-14)

The railway was built by the Orava Compossessorate (a group of nobles jointly owning forest land). The main line is 22.6 km (14.0 mi) long and goes from Lokca until the municipality of Erdútka (today's Oravská Lesná). In 1971, it was officially taken out of service. Since the 1980s, there have been efforts to run trains along this route again. Part of the route has already been rebuilt.

Since this is a sightseeing journey, the carriages are open and the train moves slowly (20 km/h, 12 mph). The route passes not only through fields but also through densely forested areas where forest animals can often be seen. The journey will take you to the station Sedlo Beskyd, a distance of about 3.5 km (2.2 mi). There, you will have the opportunity to climb a tower, from where there is a beautiful vista of the surrounding scenery. The little train waits for about 15–20 minutes and then returns to the valley. The entire journey takes one hour. In the valley station, you can look at a museum exhibition, purchase sourvenirs, or visit a playground with your children.

More pictures on the official web site...

Orava Castle is one of the most beautiful castles of Slovakia. It is located in the municipality of Oravský Podzámok. The castle belongs to the national cultural heritage of Slovakia and dominates the entire Orava region. The first written mention dates from the year 1267, when Béla IV of Hungary acquired the castle. For 300 years after that, it remained a royal fortification.

The site was put to practical use again in 1868, when a Museum of the Orava Compossessorate was founded there. This museum, therefore, belongs to the oldest museums in Slovakia. Exhibitions show the way of life during the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, the history of army techniques, and the art of the various centuries. The most beautiful chamber, the Knights' Hall, as well as the castle's chapel are very popular locations for weddings.

Further information in Wikipedia...

F: Strečno Castle, Budatín Castle, and city of Žilina

(price: 18 EUR, date: 2013-07-18)

Seven kilometres (four miles) from the city of Žilina, the romantic ruin of Strečno Castle dominates the river Váh, the symbol of the former feudal power in the middle of the Považie region. Even though the castle has lain in ruins for three centuries, architectural features have been conserved that show the evolution from the Gothic to the Baroque periods. Following a partial reconstruction, the ruins have been accessible to the public since 1995. Among the permanent exhibitions is a blacksmith's forge, where visitors can acquaint themselves with the tools used by blacksmiths. The ruins are administered by the Považie museum in Žilina. In 1994, scenes of the US film Dragonheart were shot here.

Žilina is the fourth-largest city of Slovakia and the centre of north-western Slovakia. Sometimes, it is also nicknamed "Pearl by the river Váh". It received the first city rights from King Andrew III around the year 1290. Slovaks and Germans lived in the city. The first written mention of the urban community dates from 1312. An important cultural monument is the Žilinská kniha (the Book of Žilina), which contains a collection of legal codes from the German city of Magdeburg, to which Žilina was then subject.

Among the many architectural and cultural monuments of Žilina, we may mention Budatín Castle, which we will also visit. In the past, it was a castle surrounded by a moat, but later it was remodelled. Today, it is the site of the Považie museum. It is also possible to visit a tinker exhibit, and a guided trail leads through the castle park, explaining many interesting things about the nature along the way. The castle is also connected to a legend (which has been used many times in literature) about the daughter of a castle lord. It is said that the father buried her alive inside the walls of the castle tower because she refused to marry the man whom her father had chosen for her.

Further information in Wikipedia...

Full-day excursions

Note: You must choose only one full-day excursion, because they will take place on the same day (Tuesday, 2013-07-16)

A: High Tatras

(price: 27 EUR, date: 2013-07-16)

The High Tatras (in Slovak, Vysoké Tatry; in Polish, Tatry Wysokie) is the highest mountain range of Slovakia and Poland. The Tatras National Park (in Slovak, "Tatranský národný park - TANAP") is located in the northwestern part of eastern Slovakia, at the border with Poland. Today, the Tatras are the smallest range of high mountains in the world, covering an area of only 260 km². They were formed from an extremely high reliefs as a result of glacial activity. From the point of view of tourism, the Tatras are the most important mountain range. The settlement Štrbské Pleso by the lake Štrbské pleso has become an important sports centre with graded ski slopes and ski jumps. Since 1993, the Tatras National Park (together with its Polish portion) belong to one of the four areas of biosphere protected by the UNESCO program "Man and Biosphere - MaB".

This excursion will be relatively easy, without arduous mountain climbing, and there will be beautiful views of adjacent mountains. Still, we commend taking along comfortable shoes and be prepared for a hike of about 10–13 km (6–8 mi). The route will take us from the lake "Štrbské pleso" to the lake "Popradské pleso", with a stop at the symbolic cemetery (a memorial to those tourists who lost their lives in the Tatras).

Štrbské pleso is a beautiful mountain lake of glacial origin in the High Tatras. At its shore lies the settlement of Štrbské Pleso. The lake is covered in ice approximately 155 days every year. Around the lake, there are several hotels and touristical shops.

Further information in Wikipedia...

B: Bojnice – city, castle, zoo

(price: 27 EUR, date: 2013-07-16)

Bojnice is a spa in central Slovakia. The warm springs have been mentioned in documents from as early as the 13th century. In 1938, the world-famous company Baťa bought the baths; later, they belonged to the state, and since 1995 they are a joint-stock company.

The history of the spa is inseparably connected with Bojnice Castle. It is a Romantic castle with a base partially Gothic and Renaissance. The castle appears in numerous films, and is the site of the well-known Festival of Spirits and Monsters every year, which is very popular with children. Nowadays, it is administered by the Slovak National Museum. Underneath the castle, there is also an open cave, and in an adjacent large park, the oldest tree in Slovakia grows: a lime tree about 700 years old.

During the excursion, we will also visit the famous zoo. Recently, its focus has been on informing the public about endangered animal species, including the Roloway monkey and the Bongo antelope.

Further information in Wikipedia...