Practical Information for visiting Slovakia

Slovakia uses the euro, having adopted it in 2009 — the only one of the former Czechoslovak halves to do so, and a useful simplification if you are arriving from Vienna.

Cards and contactless work nearly everywhere, including buses, ticket machines and small shops. Cash is worth carrying for mountain huts, village pubs, small museums and the folk-craft markets, and some huts take nothing else.

ATMs are plentiful in towns and absent at trailheads. Use bank machines rather than the independent Euronet ones, whose rates and fees are poor, and always decline the conversion offer.

Tipping: round up or add about ten per cent in restaurants. Say the total as you pay rather than leaving money on the table.

Coverage for mobile networks is good across the country from Orange Slovensko, Telekom, O2 and 4ka, with 4G nearly everywhere and 5G in the cities. Valleys and the high mountains have dead spots, which matters if you are relying on a phone for navigation or an emergency call in the Tatras.

EU and EEA roaming applies at domestic rates. Prepaid SIMs are cheap for everyone else.

Wi-Fi is free and widespread in hotels, cafes, restaurants and on intercity buses and trains. Mountain huts may have none at all, deliberately.

Download offline maps before going into the mountains. The trail-marking system is excellent, but signal is not.

Slovakia is a safe country with low crime. The genuine risks are in the mountains.

• The High Tatras are serious terrain: exposed ridges, chains and ladders on some routes, fast-building afternoon thunderstorms, and rockfall. People die here every year, usually through being caught high in a storm or attempting a closed route out of season.
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• The seasonal closure from 1 November to 15 June is legal and enforced with fines. Ignoring it also voids rescue insurance.
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• Bears are present in the Carpathians and the population is large. Make noise on forest trails, never leave food out, and never come between a sow and cubs.
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• Ticks carry encephalitis and Lyme disease across forested Slovakia — see health.
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• Taxi overcharging in Bratislava; use an app.
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• Winter driving on mountain roads needs winter tyres, which are legally required in winter conditions.

Healthcare is decent, with hospitals in all the larger towns and private clinics in Bratislava and Kosice. EU and EEA visitors are covered by the European Health Insurance Card; everyone else needs insurance, and anyone walking in the mountains should check it covers mountain rescue, which is charged for.

Vaccinations: routine cover, plus tick-borne encephalitis, which is worth taking seriously — Slovakia is an endemic country, ticks are active from spring to autumn in forest and long grass, and vaccination is the only real protection. Lyme disease is also common. Check yourself after every walk.

Altitude is not a problem at Tatra heights, but exposure and hypothermia are — the weather changes in minutes and the tops are cold in August.

Tap water is safe and good, including from the mountain springs marked as drinkable.

Pharmacies — lekaren — are well stocked, with a duty rota posted in the window.

Remove your shoes entering a Slovak home; slippers will be offered.

Greet on entering a shop or a waiting room with dobry den, and dovidenia on leaving. On the trail, greet everyone you pass — ahoj or dobry den — which is universal and noticed if skipped.

Toasting: na zdravie, with eye contact.

Churches are in active use; dress modestly, stay quiet, and do not wander during a service.

Driving has a zero alcohol limit, strictly enforced, and headlights are required at all times.

In the mountains, stay on marked trails — it is a legal requirement in the national parks, not just good practice — and camping wild is prohibited.

Easter Monday involves men sprinkling women with water and a symbolic switching with willow branches, which visitors should know about before it happens to them.

Emergency numbers: 112 across the EU, or 155 for ambulance, 158 for police, 150 for fire.

Mountain rescue — Horska zachranna sluzba — is on 18 300 or 112, and covers the Tatras and the other ranges. Rescue is charged to the person rescued, and costs can run into thousands of euros, so mountain cover on your insurance is essential. Register your route where the huts offer it.

Medical. University hospitals in Bratislava, Kosice, Martin and Banska Bystrica handle serious cases. Carry your EHIC or insurance details.

Trail marking uses the central European colour system on a white band, and it is thorough — if you have gone more than a few minutes without a blaze, you are off the path.

Embassies are in Bratislava.