Spiš
Slovakia
One of the largest castle ruins in Central Europe on a bare hill, and a walled town down the road with the tallest Gothic wooden altar in the world
Photo by Victor Serban on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Slovakia
May to September — the castle is shut through the winter and the Slovak Paradise ladders want dry rock
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 95mm in Jul
Where it is
49.02°N, 20.59°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Stay in Levoča and see the square after the coaches have gone
- Go to the castle early, and check what is open — the upper castle is being rebuilt and only part of the site is accessible
- See Master Paul’s altar on one of the timed entries to St James’s, and buy the ticket at the office on the square rather than at the church door
- Stop at Spišská Kapitula on the way, which most people drive straight past
- Walk a gorge in Slovak Paradise, Prielom Hornádu or Suchá Belá, with proper shoes
Spiš travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Slovakia
Good valueEuro. Cards work in Levoča and at the castle ticket office; carry some cash for the villages and the parking.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines on Levoča’s main square, and more in Spišská Nová Ves and Poprad. Use Slovenská sporiteľňa, VÚB or Tatra banka, and refuse any offer to convert to your home currency.
Avoid these
- any machine offering to charge you in your home currency
Use these instead
- Slovenská sporiteľňa
- VÚB
- Tatra banka
Draw in Levoča. The villages under the castle have little or nothing.
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. The castle is an exposed ruin on a windy hill with uneven ground and no shade, and the Slovak Paradise gorges are walked on ladders and chains over running water — a real scramble, not a stroll, and slippery when wet.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Spiš Castle in wind or heat — an exposed hilltop with uneven ground, no shade and no shelter
- the Slovak Paradise gorges — ladders and chains over running water, one-way in places, and slippery after rain
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
GoodPlain Slovak cooking — halušky, kapustnica, pork with dumplings — at prices well under Bratislava’s. Levoča’s square has the restaurants; the villages have very few.
Travel tipsGetting around
Limited- 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 Spiš
No Holistay rentals in Spiš 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 Spiš 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
1h 15mfrom the airport· 62 km as the crow flies
About 1h 15 by hire car to Levoča — the bus takes nearer two hours.
Also worth pricing: Poprad-Tatry TAT — about half an hour by road, but only a few routes.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
