Trying again with a less wordy post on my itinerary (& leaving accommodation questions for later) . I’d be happy for any input on my tentative plan for a September 2024 trip to Slovakia. There will be 3 of us—myself & two younger spritelier people. We will fly into Vienna & spend a few days there. Then:
Bratislava via bus, train, or boat. We’ll have an afternoon on our first day to explore, & the aim is for the next (full) day in Bratislava to be a Saturday. Market day in the morning, visit Nedbalka Gallery, bus or boat to Devin Castle, & finally observation deck/restaurant at Most SNP (the “UFO bridge”).
Sunday a train to Poprad, then the little “električka” from Poprad to Stary Smokovec. The “northern route” on the train (about 4 ½ hrs to Poprad on Railways of the Slovak Republic [ZSSK]) is supposed to be nice. Yes?
Seven days/8 nights in Stary Smokovec will allow us—particularly the young people—to explore the mountain area when the opportunity (and weather) allows. At this point I plan to have a guide/driver. Some of this time we will be visiting with relatives in our home village of Vikartovce (a little SW of Poprad). But other activities:
Full day: Skanzen/museum (either in Stara Lubovna or Liptov—recommendations?), & maybe a farm tour if we can find one
Full day: Wooden rafts on the Dunajec, Pieniny Park & Červený kláštor (Red Monastery)
Possibilities: cable cars to top of Lomnicky Štit if good weather (or maybe instead Lomnicke sedlo, because no advance registration/payment needed?), Slovak Paradise, ice cave (Dobšinska or Demänovská cave?)
At this point the young folks need to make their way home, flying out of Budapest. Anyone have experience with the Flixbus on this route? Flixbus shows a departure about midnight from Stary Smokovec, which gets to Budapest airport in early morning. I (being retired) may stay up north or make my way to Košice for a few days. It looks like I could take a shuttle to the Budapest airport from Košice.
Thanks for any insight you can give!