Uprisings and Reconstruction

Take a short walk from the hotel to the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, which presents an interesting historicial exhibition within eye-catching brualist architecture.
The permanent exhibition is entitled "Slovakia in the anti-fascist resistance movement of Europe in the years 1939-1945" which documents that fierce anti-fascist resistance that developed locally during World War II.
Open Hours:
May - September Tuesday - Sunday: 09:00 - 18:00 Monday: closed
October - April Tuesday - Sunday: 09:00 - 16:00 Monday: closed

Pick up your car at the hotel and go on your adventures.

Enjoy lunch by choosing from a wide selection of traditional Slovak cuisine, like their Kezmar pork slice or stuffed chicken steak with broccoli and niva cheese. Alternatively, the restaurant offers a daily lunch menu that always proves popular.

The site of Kežmarok Castle was inhabited since before 1251, the date when the church of St. Elizabeth was founded. But it wasn't until 1447 that the castle was mentioned in historical records.
It seems highly likely that the castle was built following the Hussite Wars, which concluded in 1434, a period that marks the third phase of castle building in Slovakia. The wars prompted a spate of castle building and reinforcement, with the advent of gunpowder forcing a rethink on how castles were designed.
The castle burned down in 1575, and was rebuilt by 1583, only to be reconstructed a further three times in 1628, 1658 and 1960.
Open Hours: Daily: 09:00 - 17:00 Note that entrance is every 60 min, on the hour.

Spiš Castle dominates the landscape, rising over 600 metres above the surrounding countryside. The sheer scale of the stronghold is impressive, sprawling over 4 hectares, making it one of the largest castles in Central Europe.
Spiš is an excellent example of a fortification that has developed significantly through each stage of the historic periods of Slovakian castle building.
Inhabited since the Stone Age, the first tower was built sometime in the 11th and 12th centuries. The tower that can be seen today, however, was built after the Mongol-Tatar invasion towards the end of the 13th century.
The large courtyard and the smaller fortress on the slope below the castle were laid down in the years after the Hussite Wars. But by the end of the 17th century, the owners of the castle, the Csáky family, stopped living in the castle, deciding rather to build several, more comfortable, manor houses. Fire then ravaged the castle in 1780 and it was only during the later half of the 20th century that the painstaking reconstruction of the battlements commenced.
Open Hours: November – March Closed
May – September Daily: 09:00 - 18:00
April & October Daily: 09:00 – 16:00

Take a break from driving and stretch your legs along the Muránska Plain where you will be able to see and even feed the large colony of ground squirrels. Their season runs from March to the end of September, and have grown used to being feed by humans.

Stop to take a sample of the mineral waters. This natural spring water is on tap and free of charge.

Enjoy your well deserved dinner at the Halič castle hotel.

Enjoy your dinner and an overnight stay at this stately castle in the small village of Halič.
There were likely some sort of fortifications on this site from the 12th century, but it wasn't until 1386 that the Lossonczy family gained royal approval to construct a stone castle.
The castle saw a massive change in 1762 when it was renovated and converted into more of residence than a stronghold, a move that was replicated throughout the country around this time. A columned entrance hall, double-wing staircase and many frescoes were added to make Halič Castle a more comfortable dwelling.