Banská Štiavnica, Kremnica and Pohronie — in the footsteps of miners
Silver Banská Štiavnica, golden Kremnica and the castles above the Hron form a compact loop through central Slovakia's mining towns. Everything sits close together, so you can afford a slow pace — a mine tour in the morning, a swim in a tajch reservoir in the afternoon and halušky on the main square in the evening. Spring and autumn are more pleasant here than the baking summer, and the UNESCO-listed lanes are quiet at that time of year.
From Prague the route runs via Brno and Bratislava and then along the R1 expressway, which follows the Hron up to the foot of the Štiavnické vrchy. The last stretch to Banská Štiavnica climbs in hairpins, so plan to drive it in daylight. In the evening a walk around Trojičné námestie with its plague column is enough, and the rest of the town can wait until morning.
The whole day belongs to this UNESCO-listed town. Starý zámok, the Old Castle, grew out of a fortified church and shows how the town defended itself against the Ottomans; Nový zámok, the New Castle, stands opposite across the valley and served as a watchtower. In the afternoon walk up to the Calvary, a Baroque pilgrimage complex above the town, with views of the peak of Sitno and the surrounding hills.
The open-air mining museum takes you below ground through the Bartolomej adit — a helmet and lamp are lent to you on the spot, a miner's cloak can be bought at the ticket office, and the tour lasts around ninety to a hundred minutes, so it is not something to rush. In the afternoon pick one of the tajchy, the artificial reservoirs the miners built to power the mine machinery. Among the busiest is Počúvadlo below Sitno, where you can swim in summer.
In the morning drive down to Zvolen for the Gothic castle, today run by the Slovak National Gallery with a permanent exhibition of early art; it is closed on Mondays. Heading north, stop in Hronsek at the wooden articular church of 1726, also on the UNESCO list — from May to August it is usually open daily, while out of season a visit is arranged in advance through the Lutheran parish office. End the day on Námestie SNP in Banská Bystrica, dominated by the most tilted clock tower in Slovakia.
Kremnica has been striking coins since 1328 and its story is told by the Museum of Coins and Medals on Štefánikovo námestie; check the opening hours in advance, as they change with the season. Above the square stands the town castle with the church of St Catherine and walls that look out over the whole basin. In the afternoon cross the Kremnické vrchy to Horná Nitra — Bojnice already lies in the Trenčín Region — and settle in below the castle.
Bojnice Castle was given its fairy-tale look at the turn of the twentieth century, when Ján Pálfi had it rebuilt in the style of the French châteaux of the Loire. The tour fits comfortably into the morning, and children will enjoy the neighbouring national zoo, the oldest in Slovakia. After lunch simply head home via Trenčín and Brno.
Up to 3.5 t: Slovak motorways and expressways require an electronic vignette — roughly €8 for a day, €11 for ten days, €17 for thirty days and €90 for a year. You buy it in advance at eznamka.sk or in the app, and the day vignette is valid only until the end of the chosen calendar day, not for 24 hours. Over 3.5 t: motorhomes registered in category M1 still pay only the e-vignette, but if you tow a trailer and the combination exceeds 3.5 t, a second vignette is needed for the trailer; motorhomes over 3.5 t that fall outside categories M1 and N1 belong to the SkyToll electronic toll system and must carry an on-board unit. For the journey out and back, add the Czech e-vignette for the D1 and D2. There is no toll mountain road, tunnel or ferry anywhere on the route — the R1 from Nitra to Banská Bystrica and the rest of the loop are covered by the ordinary vignette.
Camping Studenec, Banský Studenec near Banská Štiavnica — pitches for motorhomes and caravans, 230 V hook-up, a new sanitary building; they take no reservations, so check availability by phone or e-mail · Autocamping Neresnica, Zvolen (Neresnická cesta) — grass pitches for motorhomes with electric hook-ups, open from May to the end of September · Autocamping Tajov – Veľký Dvor, Tajov near Banská Bystrica — open all year, around twenty-five pitches for caravans and motorhomes, electric hook-ups · Stání pre caravany pod farou, Bojnice (Rybníčky) — twenty-three pitches directly below the castle, electricity and water hook-ups and a waste point, open from April to the end of October · Autocamping Bojnice, Bojnice — a seasonal site with pitches for caravans and trailers, sanitary facilities with hot water, open in the summer months
Do not drive into the historic centre of Banská Štiavnica in a motorhome — the lanes are narrow, steep and one-way, and there is nowhere to park. Use the park-and-walk car parks P1 below Nový zámok, P2 on Mládežnícka or P3 on Dolná and continue into the centre on foot; you pay through the ParkDots app, by SMS or with a QR code, and a full day works out at around ten euros. For the night count on a campsite — proper motorhome pitches are scarce in the region and the only comfortable one lies in Bojnice.
The best-equipped place on the loop is the parking area below the parish house in Bojnice: it has a water hook-up as well as a waste point, and it runs from April to October. If you travel in April or October, when the seasonal sites near Zvolen and in Bojnice may not be open, head for water and electricity to the year-round Autocamping Tajov – Veľký Dvor above Banská Bystrica. Drinking water is also available at Camping Studenec, which serves as the base for the Štiavnica part of the trip.
Adria Compact Max
In the version under 3.5 t, the Compact Max gets by on a vignette in Slovakia, so you never have to deal with a toll on-board unit, and it still carries a small family for a whole week. At the same time it fits the park-and-walk car parks below Banská Štiavnica and the narrow road over the Kremnické vrchy to Bojnice, where a longer vehicle would start to get in the way.
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