Banská Štiavnica
The oldest mining town in Slovakia, its streets climbing between two castles, and more than forty reservoirs dug in the hills to drive the pumps of the silver mines.
- Arrival
- M. R. Štefánik, Bratislava · BTS
- To the town
- About 130 km from the airport, in a straight line
- Private jets
- BTS, open round the clock; Sliač is military only
- Best time
- May to September
The city
Silver, water and two castles.
Banská Štiavnica was founded in the thirteenth century on gold and silver, and in the sixteenth century its ore region yielded more than three hundred tonnes of silver. By 1782 it was the third town of the Kingdom of Hungary, after Pest and Pressburg. Empress Maria Theresa gave it a Mining Academy, the first school of its kind in Europe, and the whole town with the works around it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1993.
The mines needed water to drive their pumps, so in the eighteenth century the Hell family built more than forty reservoirs in the wooded hills, the tajchy, linked by ditches. They are still there. In summer, with afternoons of eighteen to twenty-three degrees, you can walk out to them, and the town fills with visitors going between the Old and New Castles.
- The Old Castle The heart of the sixteenth-century fortifications above the town, under restoration since 1932.
- The New Castle A Renaissance watchtower built into the same system of defences, looking across the roofs.
- The tajchy More than forty mining reservoirs in the forest around the town, the most modern water system of its kind until the nineteenth century.
Arriving
By way of Bratislava.
Sliač, the airfield closest to the town, has been closed to civilian traffic since 2021. Flights land at Bratislava, about 130 kilometres to the west as the crow flies.
- Milan 1 h 25
- Rome 1 h 30
- Marrakech 4 h 10
- Toronto 9 h 25 long-range jet
- Shanghai 11 h 05 long-range jet
When to go
May to September.
A hill-town climate: from May to September the highs run from eighteen to twenty-three degrees, with June the wettest month. Winters are cold, close to freezing in December and January, and the snow settles on the steep lanes.
- -1° J 49
- 2° F 49
- 7° M 47
- 13° A 56
- 18° M 77
- 21° J 102
- 23° J 91
- 23° A 86
- 19° S 59
- 13° O 54
- 6° N 69
- 1° D 63
Where to stay
On the square, and by a mountain lake.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Boutique Hotel ERB Twenty-four rooms and suites for adults in a listed building on the town square, with its own brewery, a pool and a view of an old mine adit from the garage.
- Wellness Hotel Salamandra On the shore of the Horný hodrušský tajch, with a ski slope of 1,450 metres a hundred metres from the door and an indoor pool.
Flying to Banská Štiavnica?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.