The gem of Bojnice is the ”fairy-tale” Bojnice Castle, one of the most visited and most beautiful castles in Slovakia (entrance 13 EUR, parking 5 EUR). The Castle stands on a large travertine monticule on the site of a medieval castle from the 11th century. In the past, the most famous Hungarian noble families owned it and the last of them was the family of Pálfi. Count Ján Pálfi had the structure reconstructed by the architect J. Hubert from Budapest at the end of the 19th century following the pattern of romantic castles of the Loire in central France. The typical silhouette of the romantic image of a medieval castle is enhanced by steep roofs of the palace, chapel, and towers. Collections of the artistic and historical museum are concentrated in the interior of the castle. Among them is the original furniture and the art collection of the Pálffys from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the most valuable item of national importance is the Late-Gothic altar of Bojnice made by Nardo di Cione Ortagna, an artist from Florence in the mid-14th century. The visit to the castle includes a visit to a dripstone cave under the Castle that is connected with the 26-meters deep castle well. An extensive park and landscape park are the inseparable parts of the castle area. The 600-year old lime tree of Bojnice of King Matthias with a 12,5-meters trunk circumference stands in front of the castle entrance. Just a few meters from the park is the town center with cozy restaurants and cafes (two scoops of tasty ice cream 1,8 EUR, Slovakian hot-dog 3,8 EUR, Kofola 0,5 l / 1,30 EUR).
Parking location – Bojnice: 48.776501N 18.578514E (🚻)