Group excursion from Bratislava
North Slovakia: Čičmany & the Vrátna Valley
The painted village, the carved Slovak Bethlehem, a cable car to 1,524 m and the home of UNESCO-listed fiddle music.
- Max 13 hours
- Coach and on foot
- Guides in 6 languages
- Net rates on request
The excursion
What this day is
The longest day in the catalogue and the one that reaches furthest, into the mountains of north-western Slovakia. It is also the day that shows the folk tradition rather than the royal history, which is what makes it worth the hours on the road.
Čičmany is the village of dark log houses painted with white ornaments — the pattern that has become the country’s unofficial emblem. Terchoí is the birthplace of Juraj Jánošík, the outlaw who in legend took from the rich and gave to the poor, and the home of a fiddle tradition on the UNESCO list.
A similar route runs for individual travellers under our retail brand, Bratislava City Tours, as the Vrátna, Čičmany and Žilina tour.
Hour by hour
How the day runs
The order can be changed, the day can be shortened, and it can be joined to another excursion — tell us what you need and we re-quote it.
Departure for Čičmany
The guide meets the group in your hotel lobby in Bratislava for the drive north.
Čičmany
One of the most famous villages in Slovakia: dark wooden houses painted with the white ornaments known as the Čičmany pattern.
Rajecká Lesná
The largest wooden crèche in Slovakia — a carved panorama of the country’s villages, trades and folk traditions, much of it moving.
The Vrátna Valley
Through the spa town of Rajecké Teplice to the most beautiful valley in the country, and the cable car up to Snilovské sedlo at 1,524 m.
Terchoí and Žilina
Terchoí is a summer and ski resort, the birthplace of Juraj Jánošík and the home of fiddle music listed by UNESCO. Then a walking tour of the historic centre of Žilina before the return to Bratislava.
Optional
What you can add to the day
Each of these is quoted per person and added to the excursion only if you want it.
Coach for the day
From 14 up to 49 seats, held for the duration of the tour.
Cable car to Snilovské sedlo
The ride up to the saddle at 1,524 m and back.
Lunch
A two-course menu, booked for the group along the route.
The rate for this excursion covers the licensed guide for the duration shown.
The coach, the entrance fees, the tastings and the meals are quoted separately and added only where you want them.
Net rates
Tell us the dates, the group size and the language
Send us the date, how many people and which of the six guide languages you need, and we come back with the net rate for this excursion — normally within one business day.
Coach, entrances, tastings and meals can be quoted with it, and accommodation and transfers put on the same contract.