In April, we started with our Meet the Nytros series where we introduced Snezhi, our team member of Nytro Marketing, and the city she lives in and works. Continuing in a similar fashion, let us introduce Monika who comes from a city coincidently named very similarly to our brand name Nytro, the western Slovakian city Nitra.

Nitra is the fifth biggest city of Slovakia, situated on seven hills like Rome. Nitra offers a little of everything that makes every citizen or visitor fall in love with this small city: rich history, culture, beautiful architecture, wonderful park, possibility to hike as well as a variety of places to get together such as bars, restaurants, pubs, shopping malls etc.

To start off the day, I would like to take you for a morning tea at the Teahouse of Good People (Čajovňa dobrých ľudí), a soothing little cozy tea room. You can choose from an exhaustive menu of teas and sip them beneath Tibetan prayer flags while listening to eastern music and watching a video slide show of images from Nepal. I love this place due to the good vibes you can feel all around. Maybe it is not a coincidence that it is called the Teahouse of Good People.

After soaking up the energy at the Teahouse, I would recommend you to walk through the pedestrian zone up to the Nitra´s castle and observe the first historically and culturally important monuments and buildings on your way. If you do not want to walk that much, you can also take a little tourist train which will show you the best sights of Nitra. The first impressive sightseeing stop is right next to Teahouse. It is a huge synagogue constructed in 1910-1911. Today, it is the home to a permanent exhibit on Slovakia’s Jews in the Holocaust. It also hosts concerts and art shows. On the pedestrian zone, you can try to pull out the bronze sword from the ground. According to the superstition, it is waiting there for the real knight 😉

The walking direction up to the castle offers a picturesque view of the city below and the hills in the distance. Close to the castle there is also a nice park to chill on the hammock and drink cheap but very good Slovakian beer or kofola (Czechoslovak non-alcoholic drink similar to coke. Slovaks love it).

Continuing to learn something about the Slovakian culture, let me invite you for Bryndzove halusky (gnocchi with sheep cheese), Slovak national dish at authentic Slovak restaurant “Izba starej matere” (translated: Room of grandma). In “the restaurant of grandma” one can experience the real nostalgic taste from the Slav youth when they visited their grandparents and enjoyed culinary specialties of their cuisine. Dishes are prepared exclusively by domestic production and quality ingredients.

If you are into hiking, you have several possibilities here and the beautiful view of the city is guaranteed. For me, hike reminds me of childhood. Taking advantage of breathtaking and untouched nature of Slovakia, I used to hike every summer with my family when I was a kid. Must-do hike when visiting Nitra is a hike on the Zobor Hill and Kalvaria. Zobor Hill is visible from everywhere in the city with its huge, hideous TV tower. Kalvaria is a mystique and religious place, but even if you are not religious, I am sure you would enjoy the spirit of this place, again with an amazing view of the city.

Later, have a great dinner at Paladium which offers incomparably quality meal for a reasonable price. Personally, I love to sit outside on the Paladium terrace and enjoy the night view of Nitra. I cannot miss to emphasize that Nitra is also known for its fabulous wine. As a result, you can find different wineries or wine bars all around such as Buganka, Wine Bar&Caffe, Stredoveka Taverna etc.

I hope you enjoyed the virtual walk of my hometown Nitra and I also do hope some of you will make it here when visiting Slovakia. If you are interested to see more of Nitra, check out the tourist promotional video.