Overlooked by guidebooks, Slovakia is a worthy European destination without the crowds

Ilja, do you have any "backdoor" places other than the ones in the article?

Well, Stan, with the exception of Bratislava everything else, even Vysoke Tatry (High Tatras). Examples: Mala Fatra, Velka Fatra, Rohace, Nizke Tatry, Sulovske skaly, Vihorlat, etc. Those are mountains. IMHO the best guidebook in English about Slovakia - Lucy Mallows: Slovakia. It's in edition Bradt.

Hi,

I would also suggest not leaving out Moravia, which has towns well worth of one's time to visit and explore both culturally and historically.

Well, OK, Fred, that's a good idea. Czech Republic consists of western part called Bohemia and eastern part called Moravia. Capital of Moravia is Brno - second largest city of the Czech Republic. Towns in Moravia you can find in Rick Steves book Prague & the Czech Republic: Olomouc, Kromeriz, Roznov, Stramberk, Velke Karlovice, Trebic, Telc, Mikulov, Valtice, Lednice, Pavlov. In addition I would recommend Brno, Znojmo, Zlin, Ostrava, Karlova Studanka, Uherske Hradiste, Jihlava. And Fred, I must not forget Slavkov (Austerlitz). http://www.moraviasilesia.cz . You can switch most of the website into English. Some pages take a little time to figure how.

@ Ilja...thanks for the list, some of the places I recognise by their Czech names, other places I would have to look up their German names since historically that is the name used in the anglophone historical writing, such as (the most well known), Austerlitz for Slavkov, Brünn (the birthplace of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, if you're into music) for Brno, Olmütz for Olomouc, etc, etc. Now, you can help me out by providing this info: what is the Czech name for "White Mountain?" That is what the event is called in English. In German, "Weißen Berg" ? I'm not sure.

Fred, just literal translation: Bila Hora. Fateful battle in 1620. After that Czechs lost their independence and became part of Habsburg Empire. Bila Hora (White Mountain) is now inside Prague. In German Weissberg.

@ Ilja...Exactly, it was the battle I was referring to when I asked what it is known in Czech history. Thanks for the info, in German too. That saves me from looking up the event in a German language text.