Košice

Košice takes 2 days: the historic core around Hlavná Street, with its cathedral, tower and gold treasure, is walked in a day, and the second leaves time for a trip into the surrounding area. The hub for arrival is Košice Airport (KSC), about 20 min into the centre by bus.

The city is entered through its own airport, Košice Airport (KSC), just six kilometres from the centre. bus line 23 (DPMK) to the centre runs straight to Hlavná Street, about 20 min for €1.20. The street is a pedestrian zone running the length of the old core, so the first sight waits just around the corner.

Hlavná Street runs through the middle of the core, with the singing fountain halfway along it and stalls and cafés lining its whole length. Walking through is free, at any hour.

Halfway along the street stands St Elizabeth's Cathedral, the largest church in Slovakia and the easternmost Gothic cathedral of its style in Europe; construction began in 1378 and took more than a century. Entry is €6, open summer (May–Sep) Mon–Sat 9–17:30; winter (Oct–Apr) Mon–Sat 10–17:30. Right beside the cathedral stands the Urban Tower, a former 16th-century bell tower; its large bell from 1557, damaged in a 1966 fire, now stands in front of the tower, and the tower itself is visited for €5, open summer (May–Sep) Mon–Sat 10–17.

A few steps further along the same street, in the cellar of the former finance directorate, workers dug up almost three thousand gold coins, three medals and a Renaissance gold chain in 1935 — the Košice Gold Treasure, one of the largest gold coin finds in Europe. It has been on permanent display at the Eastern Slovak Museum since 2013, entry €8, open Apr–Oct: Tue–Sun 9–17; Nov–Mar: Tue–Sat 9–17, Sun 13–17.

Further from the core, in a former Austro-Hungarian army barracks complex from the late 19th century, now stands Kulturpark: the courtyard is free (courtyard), while exhibitions and concerts in the buildings are ticketed separately. The complex was rebuilt in 2013, when Košice was European Capital of Culture. The same part of town also holds the Löffler Museum and the Executioner's Bastion with its Rodošto replica, two more ticketed places still waiting for their own page.

The street ends in the south at the City Park, founded in the 1860s; a pavilion from 1857, built for Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi, still stands among its paths today. Entry is free. That closes the loop for day one; the second is for a trip into the surrounding area, to Slovak Paradise or Bardejov, say, both reachable by train or bus without a car of your own.