Choose Slovakia for your Erasmus

If you enjoyed the previous post about my most favourite restaurant in Košice, I would like to tell you more about this lovely city, and share some tips on what to see and do there. If you are a student planning to do Erasmus somewhere in Europe, I can only recommend Košice. In recent years we have had a lot of students coming from different parts of the world, enjoying our hospitality, nature and good education system. Local people from Košice are known especially for their very friendly and open character; if you are new in the city they are always pleased to show you around and try with you our traditional foods and drinks. I had a few chances to talk to Erasmus students in our university when I was a student myself, and they all agreed that Košice is a great place for students, because it is considerably cheaper than any other city or country around; there are a lot of activities to do on your days off, plus they all appreciated vivid social life.

What to see

Košice is the second biggest city in Slovakia and metropolis of East Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád, and it has something around 250 000 inhabitants. It is a city with long history and you are indeed exposed to it everywhere you go in Košice. If you are coming to the city centre from main train station, you will pass by Jakab palace, which is a Neo-gothic building from 19th century. However, you can only enjoy this architectonic masterpiece from outside since it is not open for public from inside.

Jakab Palace.

Right in the middle of the city centre there is St. Elisabeth Cathedral, a Gothic church from 13th century, which is the largest church in Slovakia. The cathedral is breath-taking from outside, as well as from inside; a true masterpiece. Right in front of the cathedral you can find another historical landmark, St. Urban Tower. It is a Baroque bell tower and together with nearby 19th century building of Theatre, and Sculpture Immaculata which is a Baroque pillar commemorating 18th century plague epidemic, they allcreate one of the most beautiful historical city centres in Slovakia. You can admire this beauty from the surrounding restaurants, coffee shops and a park with a singing fountain. The singing fountain is a popular attraction in Košice, whether for tourists or locals. There is no better relax than sitting on a bench, listening to the sound of splashing water, accompanied by fine music on a warm sunny day. In winter the fountain is decorated with Christmas ornaments and the park is used for ice statues exhibition. Every year throughout December the city centre changes to Christmas market, where people, while listening to tunes of Christmas songs, enjoy the view of the Cathedral covered with snow, with a glass of hot wine and a proper typical Slovak sausage with mustard and a loaf of bread.

St. Elisabeth Cathedral in winter.

Enjoying Košice Christmas market with my friend Michaela.

Park with the singing fountain.

Sculpture Immaculata.

Main street in historical city centre, Košice.

Historical city centre, Košice.

Historical city centre, Košice.

Dominican square is another must see in Košice. The square is named by the Dominican church “Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary” and it is the oldest church in Košice. It was built in 13th century and the building is the combination of Romanesque and Gothic style. The square has its unique atmosphere especially thanks to a small farmers´ market which is located right in front of the church. It is open in the mornings and always packed during the weekends. The farmers from Slovakia and Hungary sell their home produced fruits and vegetables, flowers, walnuts, honey and many other seasonal products.

Where and what to eat

On the Dominican square the two of my most favourite places are located: restaurant Villa Regia (you can read more about this restaurant in my previous post) and San Domenico caffé. This cosy coffee shop has the outside tables right next to the stands with fresh and colourful flowers and as such it creates a lovely scenery to enjoy your morning coffee or afternoon snack. It is an excellent place for breakfast as they have many healthy and delicious options, such as smoothies, porridges, wholegrain toasts and many others. During the day you can enjoy their home-made cheesecakes which are definitely the best in the city. They know how to make a proper coffee, how to serve it and how to create an unforgettable experience for the customers. It is a place with style and a lot of love for what they are doing.

With my sister in San Domenico caffé.

Traditional Slovak food can be found in many restaurants across the city, but there is one which specializes in Slovak and Polish cuisine, and it is called Med Malina. They have their philosophy of “slow food” with the emphasis on the quality dining, promotion of local products and on preservation of old and forgotten recipes of our ancestors. The restaurant is conveniently located in the city centre, right on the main street. Another top restaurant in Košice is Camelot. As you can guess by the name, the restaurant creates a typical castle atmosphere. They serve their dishes on the original earthen plates plus they have excellent wine and beer.

As you can see, a historical character of Košice can be felt not only in the architecture, but in gastronomy as well, because the majority of the best restaurants in the city are all characterized by their efforts to some extent preserve the past in form of traditional recipes and flavours.

In addition to traditional restaurants there are many Italian and Asian restaurants; plus a lot of fast food chains. For all the burger lovers, I definitely recommend trying Restart Burger restaurant where you can enjoy beef, chicken and veggie burgers, as well as their famous pork ribs, whether it be in chilli, honey, barbecue or original garlic marinade. Another option with its own peculiar taste would be street food. Food-truck Robin Street Food has been very popularly recently. If you like hot dogs then you should absolutely try their unique combinations.

What to do

Another popular way to get to know Košice, Slovak culture and art is visiting the museums. If you like technologies and you are interested to see the predecessors of today´s computers, phones and radios or you would like to learn more about steam engines, physics, chemistry and other industries I recommend the Slovak technical museum, which is located right in the city centre, so you can visit it while you are sightseeing. Near the Košice international airport you can find the Museum of aviation, which is one of the branches of Slovak technical museum.It focuses on the development of Slovak and European aviation; and exhibits old transport and military aircrafts, engines, as well as some vehicles of road transport.

In East Slovak museum you can find the chronological exhibitions of art, nature and rocks, as well as gold and silver coins as they had been found in Košice throughout the centuries. This museum is one of the oldest ones in Slovakia; it was founded in late 19th century.

Košice is a great place for shopping as well. There are three big shopping centres: Aupark, located in the city centre, Optima which is a little bit on the outskirt but still you can get there very easily by tram or bus; and then Galéria which is the smallest from these three, also located outside the city centre.

Košice has very well organized public transportation, consisting of buses, trams and trolley buses, and cheap taxi services so there is no problem at all moving around. You will love this city, because you can get wherever you need very quickly without wasting your life in traffic jams, as it is often the case with bigger cities.

For going out I recommend Smelly cat bar and restaurant which is praised for delicious food and they often have live music nights, so it is always a lot of fun. There are two night clubs you should definitely visit, Retro cult club and Jazz. They are both located on the same street, called “Kováčska” and it is almost in the city centre. If you are on Kováčska street definitely pop into a bar called Cuba Libre Rum & Cigar house and have one of their great cocktails.

Summer is the best season to enjoy Slovak nature which is abundant in lakes, rivers, and green forests. My top summer outdoor activities would be visiting Košice Zoo, located in the city part called Kavečany. It is the largest Slovak zoo with animals mainly from Europe and Asia, including some exotic species as well. You can get there very easily either by car, taxi or from the main train station you take bus number 29 and you get off on the terminal station, called Zoo; there is no way you can mess up on that. Botanical garden is another great idea for a day trip. Make sure you go there when it is not raining so that you can enjoy a nice relaxing walk among the flower gardens, plants and trees.

If you just want to chill out with friends and do nothing, then I suggest you spend a day at Košice lake. It is located in the south-west part of Košice and the area is called “Nad Jazerom”. This mini lake resort is well maintained, it has kind of sandy beach, and bars where they sometimes have open air events with live music. It is great place for relax, sun-tanning and socializing.

Places of interest near Košice

Only 50 minutes away lies one of the most famous castles in Slovakia: The Spiš Castle. It is nine centuries old and it belongs to UNESCO. Spiš Castle is definitely a must see if you are visiting East Slovakia. If you are based in Košice, I would recommend getting there by a car in the morning, spend a day on the castle and visit a small town called “Spišské Podhradie”, lying right at the foot of the hill of Spiš Castle. For dinner you can go to “Spiš Salaš” which is a traditional Slovak restaurant where you can experience not only all our most popular dishes, but an authentic Slovak atmosphere as well.

Košice is only 2, 5 hours away from Budapešť, the capital of Hungary. This city is definitely worth visiting. It is so much bigger and busier than Košice but there are many similarities between these two cities because Slovakia used to be influenced by Hungary in many aspects throughout the history. You can get there very easily, either by train which leaves from Košice main railway station and goes directly to Budapešť, you can take the bus or arrange car transport. There are a few reliable companies in Košice which facilitate comfortable and not very expensive transit between these two cities.

Slovakia has very developed train and bus system. You can take a direct train from Košice to Prague, or travel to Bratislava, the capital and then to Vienna. Or you can travel to the North and go to Poland. Slovakia is located in the heart of Europe so it makes it very easy for you to base yourself in Slovakia and from there travel to neighbouring or close countries.

Last but not least, here are some basic Slovak expressions you might find useful. “Ďakujem” read as /dakuyem/ means “thank you”; “prosím” read /prosim/ means “please”; “dobrý deň” /dobri den/ means “good afternoon”; and “dovidenia” /dovidenia/ is “good bye”. If you need more tips and recommendations about Košice, do not hesitate to comment and ask me. I´ll be happy to help.

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