Banská Štiavnica

Banská Štiavnica takes 1–2 days: both castles and Holy Trinity Square sit in the core itself, while the Calvary, the Bartolomej mine and the Klinger tajch each need a short walk beyond it. The town has no station or airport of its own — the hub is Zvolen, regional bus (IDS BBSK, line 115, SAD Zvolen), about 45 min away.

No railway or airport of its own reaches the town. The hub is Zvolen, from where regional bus (IDS BBSK, line 115, SAD Zvolen) runs to the centre in about 45 min, a ticket about €2.50. Bratislava is an alternative, with a change in Levice, Žiar nad Hronom or Zvolen itself — slower without a direct line, but with more departures. From the bus station it's a short walk uphill into the core.

The walk naturally starts on Holy Trinity Square, right in the centre. It's dominated by a Baroque plague column of 1759–1764, the tallest of its kind in Slovakia, raised as a votive offering after an epidemic. The square is open and free, and the easiest spot to work out the rest of the day.

Just above the square stands the Old Castle, once a Gothic-Romanesque church from the 13th century, turned into a fortress in the 16th century as the Ottomans advanced. It's now a museum with a view over the core's rooftops, €8 (€4 reduced, €20 family), open Wed–Sun 9–17, closed Monday, Tuesday.

On the next hill, a little further from the core, is the New Castle — built in 1564–1571 purely as a watchtower against Ottoman raids, without a single residential room, known for its white four-storey tower. Entry is €5 (€2 reduced, €12 family), open Tue–Sat 9–17, closed Sunday, Monday. Both castles and the square fill the first half of the day.

The second half goes further out. The Calvary is a Baroque pilgrimage complex from the mid-18th century, with a row of chapels climbing to the top of a hill — one of the most complete calvaries in Central Europe, summer (Jun–Sep) mostly daily; off-season mostly weekends, free to enter. Anyone staying a second day still has the Bartolomej mine, an open-air museum with a descent into a real adit, 90–100 min underground for €14 (€7 reduced, €35 family), and the Klinger tajch, an 18th-century artificial lake built to power mining machinery, where swimming is allowed, free of charge.