Bratislava Travel Forum

Hello

I will arrive in Bratislava coming from Budapest, Octuber 25, on Mlynské Nivy bus station : Platform number - 14, and departing late at night from main train station.

My question is: which are the shorted and fasted way to go from bus station to Main Square and to the Castle, and from Main square at night (19 hours) from trains sation??

Thanks in advance

"late at night" was a funny experience for us lately and keep it in mind.

We were waiting for the train, but there were several very happy people around us. One guy wasn't very happy. Very unsure in his walking, he came to us and begun to pull the bag of my wife, complaining, what she did to him. Police was there.... they came, we complained. They tried to act logically, and asked the guy, is his wife Hungarian or American? He told, neither. But than, they (police argued) how come he does think, my wife is his wife? He was confused, but than insisted, regardless, he may have Hungarian or American wife.... whatever, but she took away his money and he cannot buy any PIVO (beer) anymore. Police asked, did he drink some PIVO already? The guy was unsure... and said "malko" (a little). Here police did disagree with him, he was smelling like a vinery yard crossed with beer brewery. He was politely escorted away, but in roughly ten minutes he did show up on the platform loudly complaining, his American-Hungarian wife took away his money and he can't buy beer. He was really and honestly sad.

At the end train came, we bought two beds in the sleeper from the attendant and went to sleep. The very sad gentleman still complained at the platform that he has no money because his wife ( = my wife) is so bad and that there is no justice because even the police does not listen to him.

End of the story - but keep in mind, at late evening or around midnight you can get any number of husbands there - if you buy them beer and not much is, what police can do. They are completely harmless, rather funny, but it's also sad.

During the day it seem to be 100% OK,just around evening these poor souls have to find some place and sadly, the railway station seem to be such a place.

Same applies to Brno (personal experience), Katowice (I was told, did not experience). Also keep in mind, Vienna Westbahnhof is now under renovation.

We are still puzzled, what would happen if... I don't know, my wife missed the opportunity to begin a new life, now it's to late probably.

Reading your question, sorry, please re-arrange your program.


If you plan to go to Budapest, you follow the worst possible strategy: going "there" by bus (one-way) and back by train (one-way).

As a result:

- you begin your day tired because as I did notice, these busses (tried Student Agency from Jihlava to Brno) may look beautiful, but have awful seats and very little leg room. If Orangeways does the same (probably!) you will arrive to Bratislava very tired.
- you miss the "round-trip" discount. The one-way train price is almost twice the round-trip price. Just letting you know.
- going back in the evening you will miss the scenery across Sturovo/Esztergom because it's dark.


Much better: do like most, just buy the 16 Euro round-trip train ticket, arrive early and go back roughly at the time of sunset, before friendly drunkards take over the Hlavna Stanica.

You do not need any reservation and the earliest train from Budapest has very nice German couches.

just in case I would add here, that Orangeways are quite unreliable company...

- Agree, they canceled Uzhgorod, Beograd, and-who-knows what else.
- we call such stations "Bomzhatnik" by the way. BOMZH = "bez opredelionnogo mesta zhitelstva" ("a person without fixed place to live"). A while ago, Budapest Déli was a major "bomzhatnik", now it seems, the "bomzh-meetings" are in the north. It's like they have their own "VT meetings" maybe?

Curious, what they discuss. :-/