Camping in Slovakia - The Perfect 7 Day Route

For us, one of the most beautiful destinations where you can go with your camper is Slovakia. The landscape is simply breathtaking and if you like hiking, this is the right place for you. By the way, the traditional cuisine of Slovakia has also absolutely convinced us.

We went to Slovakia with our camper for a total of 7 days, but would have loved to stay longer - so it was certainly not our last camping trip to the Slovak Republic.

Below you can find out more about our destinations!

Our travel destinations:

1. Malà Fatra 2. High Tatra 3. Slovensky Raj 4. Bratislava 5. Travel costs

Length of our route: 516km

Costs (total., w/o Camper): 664€

Number of visited campsites: 3

1. Malà Fatra

The Malà Fatra (wich means "little Fatra") is a mountain range in the Carpathians and was our first stop in Slovakia. Actually, we wanted to stay there only two nights, but we liked it so much that we stayed another one.

But let's start at the scratch: our plan was to go hiking at Malà Fatra, therefore we decided to stay at the campsite "Camping Belá" in Nižné Kamence, because this place is very spacious and you can easily take the bus (or bike) to get to the starting point of many hiking trails as well as to a gondola lift.

In addition, the campsite is fully equipped (showers, washer and dryer, as well as small communal kitchens and barbecue areas) and for those of you who come by car: there are also cute wooden cabins to rent and stay overnight.

Furthermore, there is a soccer field and tennis court. Shopping facilities and restaurants are not necessarily within walking distance, here you should better get on your bike or use your car.

The hikes in this region are SO beautiful, but you should be slip-proof, because an "easy" or "family-friendly" hiking route in Slovakia is not necessarily the same as an "easy" hike if you are used to e.g. German or Austrian standards.

Those who travel to Malà Fatra probably go there because of the great nature and the awesome hiking opportunities. Please note, however, that these hikes are (in our opinion) partly more demanding than we are used to from our family-friendly hiking tours in Germany and Austria.

We did e.g. the hike "Jánošíkove diery" - which is absolutely recommendable!

On this route you hike over rough and smooth, along small streams. You will also have to cross smaller gorges with the help of paved paths and bridges.

Conveniently, there is even a small refreshment stop on the way, where you can enjoy, for example, a delicious local soup.

If you want to get a first impression, you can watch this video, which we found by chance on Youtube. It will offer you a good insight into the tour.

2. High Tatra

Since Slovakia is home to the European brown bear, it was clear to us that we had to go on a bear watching tour. We did so in the High Tatras - the highest part of the Carpathians.

Our starting point was the parking lot Podbanské, which is located directly on a small, beautiful river - here you can park for free and also stay overnight.

During our stay it was no problem to get a parking space. Locals told us, however, that in "normal" times (e.g. without Corona) it is much busier here.

Podbanské is definitely worth a stop because you can start many hikes from here as well as a guided bear watching tour.

At the parking lot of Podbanské there is also a restaurant where you can get some local food and drinks, but it is relatively touristy there.

...so this is how our bear watching tour went:

Together with our guide Eric from Adventoura Slovakia and two other people we started our tour in the early morning in order to see some brown bears. Along the way our guid Eric told us a lot about the local flora and fauna and the natural habitat of the bears. Equipped with binoculars, we were always on the look-out, hoping to catch a glimpse of the brown giant.

And suddenly: a female bear with her three cubs appeared who was foraging on the opposite side of the mountain and we could watch them from distance.

For photos, however, the bears were too far away from us - for this we probably needed a 400-600mm telephoto lens. But in the end we had discovered a fresh bear footprint, which was also a great souvenir of this wunderful experience.

The 8-hour bear watching tour costs 120€ per person and we were overall very satisfied.

3. Slovensky Raj (Slovak paradise)

Slovensky Raj - the "Slovak Paradise" - is, as its name implies, truly paradisiacal. We have chosen the campsite Podlesok because it is located directly at the national park and thus the starting point for many hikes around the Slovak paradise. In addition, it is very idyllic and a fully equipped campsite.

Besides hiking trails, there are also bike trails in this area - conveniently, you can rent bikes and e-bikes right next to the campsite.

What we can truly recommend is a hike through the beautiful Suchá Belá gorge. But one thing should be said upfront: you should be free from giddiness, because the ladders you have to climb are partly very steep.

For the ascent you need about 2 hours - but you have to descend via another route, because it is only a one-way path.

Alternatively, you can also rent bicycles at the destination and ride them back down the mountain - so that will make you of course much faster than on foot ;-)

You can end your evening in one of the restaurants around the campsite, they are all relatively touristy and have a similar menu, but are overall very nice.

Another option would be to buy some food in the small supermarket right at the beginning of the campsite. That's what we did a few times.

4. Bratislava

Slovenia's capital Bratislava is definitely worth a stop. Here you can experience Slovakian city flair and indulge in the culinary delights of the countless restaurants and bars.

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5. Costs of a trip to Slovakia

In Slovakia, the cost of living is well below the German level. You can eat here very cheap - even cafes and supermarkets are cheaper than in Germany. For example, we dined in Malá Fatra for 19€ for two people and got two appetizer soups, two main dishes and two drinks.

The gasoline prices are also much cheaper in Slovakia than in Germany. The toll prices in Slovakia is absolutely fair - for 10 days you pay 10€. In Italy, for example, you have to pay much more. The road conditions in Slovakia were (as far as we can judge) overall good.

However, the costs for campsites and excursions are quite similar to those in Germany or Austria. For one night at the campsite we paid an average of 18€ in Slovakia.

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Overall Slovakia is our absolute favorite in terms of price and thus the price-performance winner of our European trip with the camper - so it is definitely suitable for a low budget vacation.

Have you ever been to Slovakia? Feel free to write us in the comments or via the contact form, which destinations you can recommend to us! :-)