Košice
Slovakia
Slovakia’s second city, built along one long main street with the country’s largest cathedral in the middle of it
Photo by Tomas Trajan on Unsplash
Photos by Jean Luc Catarin and Gabi Repaska on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Slovakia
May to June, September to October
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 85mm in Jul
Where it is
48.72°N, 21.26°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Climb the cathedral tower for the view down the length of Hlavná
- Sit out the evening fountain show by the theatre
- Go down into the Lower Gate under the street
- Use it as the base for Spiš, which is an hour away and has far less to sleep in
- Eat one street off Hlavná, where the prices are for locals
Košice travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Slovakia
Good valueEuro, and cards are taken almost everywhere. If you are going on to Hungary or Poland, change nothing here — draw forints or złoty from a bank machine once you cross.
ATMs & cards
Use Slovenská sporiteľňa, VÚB, Tatra banka or ČSOB machines, which line Hlavná. Euronet is here too; decline its conversion or skip it.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- any machine offering to charge you in your home currency
Use these instead
- Slovenská sporiteľňa
- VÚB
- Tatra banka
- ČSOB
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Slovakia
Very safeVery safe in the centre. Use Bolt rather than an unmarked taxi, keep an eye on your phone in the crowd round the fountain on a summer evening, and watch your footing on the tram rails that cross the main street.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Hlavná
- the old town
- the Mestský park — in daylight
Worth more attention
- the railway and bus stations at night — quiet late at night, with unmarked taxis waiting outside
- the crowd at the singing fountain — the one place in town a pocket is worth watching
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Slovakia visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Slovakia
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for walking in the forests or the mountains from spring to autumn — it is present throughout the country
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Mountain rescue in the Tatras is charged for; check your insurance covers it before hiking or skiing.
Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Ticks in forest and meadow from April to October. Altitude and sudden weather on the high Tatra ridges, which go above 2,600m.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodPrices here are lower than in Bratislava for the same meal. Halušky, lokše and soups thick enough to be dinner are the things to order. The terraces on Hlavná charge for the view of the cathedral; one street off, they do not.
Travel tipsNightlife
A university city with its evening on and around one street: wine bars, cellar pubs and terraces on Hlavná, and a live-music venue in an old tobacco factory.
- Hlavná — the terraces and cellar bars along the main street
- Tabačka Kulturfabrik — concerts and club nights in the old tobacco factory
Closing: Bars around midnight in the week, later at the weekend.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- Against a taxi
- Usually cheaper than a street taxi, and the price is fixed before you get in.
Both run in the two biggest cities; Bolt also covers most of the regional towns. In the mountains it is a taxi booked by phone.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Bratislava — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Slovakia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works here
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Slovak
- HelloDobrý deňDOB-ree dyen
- PleaseProsímPRO-seem
- Thank youĎakujemDYA-koo-yem
- Yes / NoÁno / NieAH-no / nyeh
5 more phrases
- Excuse mePrepáčtePREH-paach-tyeh
- How much is it?Koľko to stojí?KOL-ko to STO-yee
- CheersNa zdraviena ZDRAH-vyeh
- DeliciousVeľmi chutnéVEL-mee KHOOT-neh
- GoodbyeDovideniaDO-vee-den-ya
Close enough to Czech that the two understand each other without effort, and Slovaks will not thank you for saying they are the same. English is good among the young; Hungarian is spoken along the southern border and German by some older people.
Travel tipsReligion
Roman Catholic, with Lutheran and Greek Catholic minorities
A little over half Catholic and about a quarter with no religion, more observant than its Czech neighbour and more so in the villages and the east. The wooden churches of the east, Catholic, Lutheran and Greek Catholic, are working parishes as well as UNESCO sites: shoulders and knees covered, and quiet during a service.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say dobrý deň on entering a shop and dovidenia on leaving
- Take your shoes off at the door of a home; slippers are usually offered
- Say na zdravie and look people in the eye when glasses meet
- Validate a paper ticket the moment you board a tram or bus; inspectors fine on the spot
Don't
- Do not call it Czechoslovakia, or treat Slovak as a dialect of Czech; the split was in 1993 and both sides mind
- Do not mix it up with Slovenia, which happens daily and wears just as thin here
- Do not drink before the toast has been made
- Do not walk the high mountain trails out of season; several close from November to mid-June and the closure is enforced
Where to stay in Košice
No Holistay rentals in Košice yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Košice on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Košice KSC
20 minfrom the airport· 6 km as the crow flies
Bus 23 to the station square, 20 min.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
