Bratislava Trip Report

My husband and I just spent 5 nights in Bratislava and I wanted to give a quick trip report, as it's not as well-covered at other destinations. We were looking for a relatively relaxing long weekend, and we got it! We were both extremely pleasantly surprised. Such a cute town with great food/drink options! Tourism has definitely found it, but it's a nice mix of tourists and locals even in the historic center.
We arrived and found the buses from Vienna Airport to Bratislava. Despite what I had read everywhere, the buses do sell out. We waited about 45 minutes. I didn't want to book ahead bc they don't seem to be changeable. There are three stop options and we got off at Most SNP (the bridge) which is basically in old town. It felt a little sketchy by night, but only because it's under a bridge. It was a 10 minute walk, slightly uphill, to our Airbnb right next to Michael's Gate. (By the way, this area is crazy central but also very, very loud at night.)
Places we ate/drank:
-Soupculture- takeaway soup in edible cups for about 5 euro. Vegan and veg friendly. Friendly staff and super delicious soup.
-Mecheche Snack Bar- recommended in RS book. It was pretty good. I love Spanish food. The gambas Al ajillo were meh, montaditos (open sandwiches) were good, pork belly was fantastic (but def more Mexican than Spanish).
-Bratislava Flagship Restaurant- recommended by RS and our Airbnb hosts. The food was pretty good for local Slovak food, dark beer was fantastic, and it's in a super cool old theater. Definitely go despite how touristy it is. We liked the beer and atmosphere so much that we went twice.
-Fach- recommended by our Airbnb hosts. Small, vegan/veg friendly menu. Everything we saw we wanted to eat. Drink menu seemed a bit short and stuffy, but it's a brunch/ lunch place only. They close at like 5 or 5:30. I wanted to try the whole menu.
-Luculus Ice Cream was the best I've had in a very long time. We went to a few places and this was easily best.
-Old Fashioned Bar- recommended by our host. Has a speakeasy vibe, I didn't feel hip enough to sit outside but they have a lovely, more relaxed balcony. No sign. It's above Urban House, take the stairs on the left that look like they're part of Urban House. Fantastic cocktails but not cheap.
-100 Piv- this is a beer/bottle bar we found online on some blogs about beer in Bratislava. They had a nice selection and the guy behind the counter was very friendly and helpful. Very small, maybe 4 tables, and mostly locals.
-Mille Baci- recommended by our hosts. Home cooked Italian in an old house, 3 minute walk from Michaels Gate outside the old center. Grandma did the cooking and her son/ grandson took orders. There is no menu and he tells you the options for that day. There were like 2 raviolis, 2 risottos and maybe something else to choose from. We had two pastas and a bottle of wine plus dessert and it was 75 euro. The food was the best I've had outside Italy (for pasta) in a looooooong time. We were the only tourists, I think.
-Mondieu- several locations, recommended by our hosts. Good, not amazing, for breakfast.
-Vycap u Ernoho- this was our only (really) negative experience. It's a craft beer bar (listed in RS book) that we were really excited to try. They were supposed to open at 4pm and there were about 10 people waiting outside until about 4:10, when the bartender let them in. We followed (or tried) and the bartender literally took a chair and blocked our path. We thought we were just in the way, went around him and inside. He apparently asked us something,.we didn't hear. Once inside, we realized the other people had gone into some sort of private room and they weren't over yet. We made a comment like,."Oh sorry, we thought you were open" and he started screaming at us, berating us for not listening, and literally chased us out. A simple 'we are closed" would have sufficed. My husband was too mad/ embarrassed to go back later. Anyway.