The cobbled historic heart of the city is in sharp contrast with parts of modern Bratislava with communist-era squares drab buildings, hectic traffic and overheard wires (a photographer's eyesore).
Slavín
Slavín is a neat place to visit if you want to see some spectacular panoramic views of Bratislava and clear views of Bratislava castle. Spectalur view is to see especially in the night.
How to get there: Walk from the Presidential Palace. You can also take trolleybus 208 from Hodžovo nám (Presidential Palace) and go two stops to Šulekova, but you’ll still have to do some walking up hill from there.
Links: Wikipedia.
Bratislava Castle
Bratislava Castle sits on a hill top and dominates the city. It is an uninspiring, amber-coloured, turreted building, damaged in a fire early 19th cent, bombed in WW II and rebuilt in the 1950s by the communists and definitely not an architectural gem. It houses the Slovak National Council and the National Museum with a collection of archeological finds.
The view from the castle is for photographer better than the castle itself: the Danube river, the spire of St Martin Cathedral, the New Bridge and Austria, 3 km to the southwest.
If you want to take good picture of castle istself, the best view is from other side of Donou river (Petrzalka side). As well you can have some nice details of the castle with slovak flag from the castle's front yard.
The New Bridge
The New Bridge is an a-symetrical, cable-stayed structure. It has two pillars topped by a flying-saucer-like restaurant. The bridge is very photogenic and I took many photos to add to my bridges collection.
Try to find the Museum of Clocks. From this point you have a good view of the New Bridge, not all that new as it was built between 1967 and 1972. It is a good place to watch the traffic crossing the bridge, see the boats on the Danube. Taking photos is a bit challenging because of all the overhead wires.
Good spot for photos (especially night) is from the middle of Zidovska street. You will find bridge accrost the main road leading to the old city walls. The night shots with moving cars are beautiful.
Good point to take pictures of the bridhe is as well from Petrzalka's side of river, from the base of the brigde pillow.
You can take a longer walk at the Appolo bridge from where you wil get nice photos of Bratislava scennery with bridge, castle and St. Martins dome. If you move even further to the Pristavny bridge (Port's brtige) you can include to the photo even Appolo bridge.
The city's main square
The heart of the old town is Hlavné Namestie. The city's main square where tourists gather round a splendid fountain or enjoy a drink or a meal in one of the many pavement cafés or restaurants.
The square is lined with burghers' houses. I especially like the Art Nouveau buildings on the northwest side of the square. I was there in the afternoon and the light was not perfect for a photo, I came back in the morning and found out that the façades are never entirely in the sun.
I found these houses more interesting than the old Town Hall, a cream-coloured complex with a mixture of styles. It started as a burgher's house in the 14th cent and was extended and rebuilt over the next centuries. The green-roofed annexe is the Municipal Museum with an exhibition of the city's history and torture chambers in the basement.
Good shots are taken in the sunset, because the town hall is illuminated quite well.
Primate's Palace
Next door to the Municipal Museum on Primacialne Namestie is the Primate's Palace, an all pink edifice, richly decorated with marble statues (at least I think it was marble). The palace is topped with a flying saucer which, in fact, is a cast-iron bishop's hat. The major attraction of the palace is a visit to the Hall of Mirrors, the place where Napoleon and Franz I signed the treaty of Pressburg (Bratislava's former name).
In the inside yard you can find the statue of St. George fighting with dragon.
Hviezdoslovo Namestie
Hviezdoslovo Namestie is a shady tree-lined square that leads to the Danube. On the landside it is dominated by the Slovak national Theatre. I took my time to study the façade including a chariot complete with a team of horses.
Another architectural beauty is neo-baroque Reduta on Mostova, built as a dance hall but now the Slovak Philharmonic.
Take your time by wisiting this square in the night, because there are many interesting buildings to photograph. The nicest building for photographer, tourist or visitor is SLovak National Theatre. You will spend a lot of time there looking for the best spot to take photo with fountain and illuminated facade.
Then point your photograper's eye to Carlton hotel (Radisson SAS) with huge clock watch in the front. Nice business like photos can be taken here.
Photograpy off the beaten path
If you are interested to take interesant photos, but not especially tourist ones look for these places:
- Appolo bridge with its huge blue arch
- try to visit the viewpoint at the UFO restaurant - the top of New bridge
- restaurant in TV tower at the Koliba hill, which is the highest place to take photos in Bratislava (through the dirty window only)
- for some business photos you can walk in the Eurovea area (now in the process of building)
- walk in the streets of Old town looking for some intereting scenes, especialy part Klarisky and around the St. Martin's cathederal.
Tourists and photographers especially like three bronze statues:
1. Cumil, the peeper, is the most photographed one. It is a helmeted man peering from a street manhole. You can find him at the corner of Panska and Rybarka Brana streets
2. Equally famous is the French soldier, looking like Napoleon, who leans on a bench in Hlavné Namestie, the main square. It's difficult to take photos without tourists sitting next to him
3. A life-size photographer peeping round the corner of a café on Laurinska is the third statue. No special need to look up the street as you will meet him anyway as you are bound to walk the streets several times because the city centre is very compact.