Public Transport in Bratislava

***Please note, I've got a more updated (March 2012) and in depth post about public transport in Bratislava which you can find on this blog here. Thanks.***



Hi everyone,

One nice thing that I really like about living in Bratislava is the profusion of public transport options available. I was living in Frederick, Md for the last year or so and I think that wasn't a bad spot for public transport options. That said, the system here is much more befitting a capital city and it makes my non-driving life here a lot easier.

Basically speaking, the day to day public transport is covered by three options: the electric trams, the electric trolley buses and the regular buses.

A tram. I like seeing all of their tracks around the city.


Electric trolley bus. Now this is a great way to electrify transport within a city.


Just a regular bus. A nice one though ;-)


The ticketing system here is different to what I'm used to. You have to buy a ticket (or tickets) from a vending machine available at most bus stops before you get on the bus. Luckily I didn't get caught when I first got here and rode the bus while looking for the ticket machine aboard as being ticketless carries a 50 euro fine. Once you have your ticket you must get it punched by the little machines aboard, which mark the time.

The time is the key thing here since these tickets are not sold with a fixed destination, but rather a duration of validity. For 70c you get a 15 minute ticket and you can ride any bus on any route as long as the journey is completed within the time limit. The next step up is the 90c ticket for 60 minutes on the bus and you can chop and change buses if you need to within the time limit. It's a very nice system and much more to my liking than the tickets where you have to buy for a specific location, especially if you find out that it's not the exact place you need to be.

One bonus of my employer is that I get a bus pass paid for by them while I work there. We teach English in many different places around the city and it's a rare week when you're not jumping on a bus to some place or other. I'm much happier not having to worry about having the right length of bus ticket or missing a bus because I need to buy a ticket before getting on if it arrives when I'm using the ticket vending machine.

Aother thing that is a lot of fun with the buses here is that many of them are of the bendy / accordion type where there is a hinged section in the middle. It helps on the big commuter routes because you nearly double the capacity of the bus and it's actually something of a fun ride to stand in the middle part of the bus when it's cornering....yes I'm still a kid at heart.

Of course, it is not a perfect system here and buses do run late, break down or not even show up at all from time to time. It's not so bad for me now since the weather is nice and my teaching schedule doesn't have me changing locations too much but I'm sure there will be a time or two when I get frustrated and annoyed. Waiting for a bus that's late in the middle of winter will be less fun too I'm sure.

Thanks for reading everyone and look out for more posts soon. I'll be moving towards the teaching side of things as soon as I have time to put my thoughts together and make sure I'm ready for all of my lessons first.

Pete

Chilly!

Bratislava - a city of architectural juxtaposition.

First of all, my apologies for a big delay between posts. I've been ensconced in the three summer camp trips for the language school and neither boredom nor free time are to be found in any measure ;-)

In the time I've spent in Bratislava as a newcomer though, I have noticed a real divergence in architecture that is fascinating. Essentially I've seen three broad styles of buildings and that they occur in such close proximity and are frequently intermixed is fascinating.

The first style is the old-European architecture that I've seen before in cities like Paris, Salzburg and Barcelona. It's very elegant, beautiful and really makes you recognise the history that has happened in each place. The old town in Bratislava has a lot of this architecture and it makes a day in the city really enjoyable.

Some of the Old Town buildings

One of the oldest streets in the city near Katedrála svätého Martina (St. Martin's Cathedral)


Another major style of the city is what I would consider stylistic remnants of the communist era of the former Czechoslovakia. The style is quite imposing, heavy on the concrete and very powerfully built. A good amount of the apartment blocks here are of the Panelák style, derived from the Slovak panelový dom (panel house) and consist of large units of pre-fabricated and pre-stressed concrete panels. While they can look quite forbidding from outside, the apartments inside are (to my limited experience) nice places and according to Wikipedia are predominantly inhabited by the middle classes.

One of the theatres in the city.

Petržalka apartments and shops. An example of panelák building

Two apartment blocks of divergent styles right next to one another in the Old Town.


The final style that I've noted is one that I've been told is growing in Bratislava and shows the modernisation and development that is ongoing. There is a real growth in the more modern styles of architecture with bright colours, renovation of the panelák facades to match the interiors and the typical glass and steel construction that you find in many financial and shopping districts in the world.

The view from the language school where I am working.

Colourful panelák buildings on display in Petržalka.


So there end my brief observations on the buildings in this new city that I'm experiencing. Quite frankly I find the mix of styles exhilarating to walk through as I'm always looking twice and seeing new things as I go places. That freshness of perspective is something I've been missing for a while and I'm glad to be in a new place to get it back again.

Thankyou for reading and for anyone who knows the city more than I do, please get in touch as I'd love to hear other perspectives on this fascinating city.

Pete :-)