Life in Slovakia

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Sport

There is plenty of opportunities to get active in Slovakia, be it in spring, summer, autumn or winter. Below, you can find tips on what to do to get your body moving during your stay in our country.

Summer Sports

In Slovakia, there is a wide range of facilities for summer sports. The most popular are cycling, water sports and hiking.

Water sports

Thanks to a large number of natural or artificial lakes, reservoirs, rivers, springs or other water areas (except the sea) Slovakia offers a wide range of water activities to choose from.

Large reservoirs such as Zemplínska šírava, Oravská priehrada, Liptovská Mara, Sĺňava near Piešťany, Ružín at the River Hornád and Domaša at the River Ondava along with artificial lakes like Slnečné jazerá near Senec and Zlaté piesky in Bratislava offer visitors a chance to enjoy water sports. Many Slovak rivers are navigable and canoeing is very popular among young people.

Find a complete and detailed guide and tips on water sports at Slovakia.travel webpage.

Hiking

Slovaks are very proud of our mountains and rightfully so, as they are one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Central Europe. To add, more than 30% of the area of our country is covered by forests, so you are always only a few steps away from a hiking path. 

Our highest mountain range is the High Tatras, with the highest peak Gerlachovský štít reaching 2,655 masl. High Tatras offer steep rocky trails and majestic views and are home to the chamois population (mountain goats).

We have 9 national parks with many areas of the highest level of protection that offer sights of extraordinary biodiversity.

To see waterfalls, gorges and rock formations and enjoy exciting hikes and climbing ladders above rivers and waterfalls visit Slovak Paradise, Pieniny, or Súľovské skaly cliffs.

Grassy hills, meadows with endemic flora and karst formations are to be found in the Muránska Planina and Slovak Karst National Park.

Poloniny National Park, on the other hand, offers absolutely pure nature, ancient forests with the highest degree of protection and even the Poloniny Dark-Sky Park (one of only 20 dark sky parks in the world) where you can watch the starry sky with zero light pollution.

Find out tips on the best trails in Slovakia on Alltrails website. Except hiking, white water rafting, adrenaline sports and paragliding are also available in our natural parks.

TIP: you should also know, that due to extreme winter weather, many trails and hiking paths in Slovakia are closed app. from November to May/June, so always check before you decide to go on a hike.

Cycling

If you are familiar with the name Peter Sagan (professional cyclist from Slovakia, at the moment one of the best cycling talents in the world) then you should easily understand why Slovaks are obsessed with cycling. 

There are many bike touring paths among towns, villages and cities, and many Slovaks do cycling as a hobby. 

Find a list of some cycling routes on Alltrails (in English) or at Mtbiker (only in Slovak).

On the Cyclists welcome webpage you can find tips on cyclist-friendly places in Slovakia (accommodation, catering, touring tips, etc.)

However, if you decide to travel Slovak roads on a bicycle you should know, that cyclists in Slovakia are expected to follow the same rules as other vehicles participating in the traffic.

For those who prefer green lawns and white sport dress, there are many possibilities to play tennis at tennis clubs or at public courts or golf in clubs or resorts. Horse riding is becoming more popular, with stables for the public existing in many towns.

More information about:

Winter Sports

Thanks to its mountainous nature, Slovakia offers great opportunities for downhill and cross-country skiing, as well as snowboarding. The mountains enjoy over 80 days of snow per year which often reaches a level of 2 m in the “Nízke Tatry” and “Vysoké Tatry” (Low and High Tatras). In these high mountain regions, there is snow on the ground for 130 days each year. Please, note that children under 15 years are obliged to wear a helmet while skiing or snowboarding. Ice hockey and ice-skating are also very popular sports that can be practised in closed stadiums, as well as outdoors.

More tips on where to go to practice different types of winter sports visit Slovakia.travel website. 

To find out current snow conditions in Slovak ski resorts visit the On the Snow website.

Mountain Rescue Service Insurance

As of 2006, tourists bear the cost of search and rescue operations that require the Mountain Rescue Service (“Horská záchranná služba”), excluding the costs covered by health insurance. Insurance companies offer products that cover the potential risks. You can get the insurance online or via SMS.

EMERGENCY NUMBER OF MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICE - 18 300

For more information, please, consult a commercial insurance company. You can also download a mobile rescue app allowing calls to be made to the emergency call number 18  300 of the Mountain Rescue Service and emergency SMSs sent, using the current GPS position to quickly locate the caller in the mountain environment. Using the application, you get up-to-date information on avalanche danger and alerts in individual mountains in Slovakia.

More information is available at:

Indoor Sports

Sports centres offer opportunities for fitness, aerobics and sometimes squash. These centres are often equipped with saunas or other body care services.

In bigger and university towns you can also generally find indoor swimming pools that provide opportunities for swimming, saunas and massages.

You can also rent a gym-hall to play squash, indoor football, volleyball, basketball, handball, etc. These gyms are mostly associated with primary or secondary schools or universities/faculties.