The Carpathian region is famous for its history sleeping in the ancient walls of the castles, fortresses, monasteries and hiding in the chimerical sculptures and castle ghosts.
The wars between Mongolians and Tatars caused a great deal of damage to many of the great strongholds, found primarily in the Lviv, Ternopil and Transcarpathian regions. Reconstruction efforts are ongoing. The castles of the area typically feature fortifications, high walls, banks and bell towers, and many now house museums with exhibits on local folklore and history.
The Carpathians are also very popular for trekking. The best time for walking tours is from May through October, although at either end of this season you are likely to encounter snow at higher elevations and very low nighttime temperatures.
A good place to visit is Driny, the only fissure cave in Slovakia, whose rich decoration was created by the falling water. After climbing up to the cave and taking the tour, you can enjoy the local wine and delicious home-made lunch in a restored 17th century water mill. After lunch the excursion continues to the best preserved historic sight of the region to the Červený Kameň Castle. You will tour 24 rooms of the castle furnished with the pieces ranging from the Renaissance up to Art Nouveau, an exhibition of weapons and armour, a medieval pharmacy, and library and the castle undergrounds with the huge multi-storey cellars, the largest ones in Central Europe. The excursion finishes in Pezinok, a former royal town with a long tradition of wine making. Visiting the Small Carpathian museum presents the history of wine growing and wine making, unique historic casks, and wine cellar inventory from 19 century.
The region of Bratislava is situated in the south-west of Slovakia and its southern part stretches along the Danube, follows the Slovak-Hungarian border while its western extreme traces the Morava river and simultaneously the Slovak-Austrian border. The mountains Little Carpathians and the lowland Podunajská nížina cover the prevailing part of the territory.
The landscape spreading east of the Little Carpathians is characterised by two things - wine and water. In order to get the true image of this portion of Slovakia, we should also add the sun. The chain of little towns and villages situated east of the mountain range are typical for vine growing. This is the largest vine-growing region in Slovakia. Lovers of nature, folk culture and wine normally chose the route of their trips also referred to as the Malokarpatská vínna cesta (The Wine Route of the Malé Karpaty Mts.). It runs below the sunny slopes of the range skirted by fertile vineyards (on the area of more than 4,000 hectares) and wine cellars. All towns and villages have their wine cellars and offer pleasant sitting in the atmosphere typical for this region.