Bojnice castle

Attractions
Bojnice (pronounced BOY-nee-tse) offers tourists, including children, the very best of Slovakia’s castles. In all seasons, costumed performers stage executions, sword fights, spooky antics and period music. Expert falconers and various craftsmen demonstrate their trades. Booths with food and drink encircle the castle. The zoo, originally started by castle owners, is one of the country’s largest (with over 2000 animals) and best despite also being its oldest; its playground and other children’s attractions are especially popular. And all this is before you get to the castle itself. The castle is a flamboyant mix of the architectural styles of many centuries, with all the details maintained in grand style. The extensive furnishings and ornamentations, mostly collected by Count Jan Palffy over a hundred years ago, fill room after room with large artifacts from all over Europe (including huge pieces from Italy and Serbia) and the world. All this, and many an architectural rarity besides, is ably described by what may be Slovakia’s best tour guides. Ample accommodations and restaurants are in the castle’s immediate vicinity.

History
The first written record of this pride of all Slovakia’s castles places it in the ownership of a Benedictine monastery in 1113. Starting about a hundred years later, it passed into a series of noble families of Hungarian, German and Polish origin, winding up with the Palffys in the 17th century. By this time its original fortress had already been augmented by a palatial residence, and the Palffys continued with embellishments in the 17th and 19th centuries.

Location
This worthwhile attraction is somewhat remote, so visitors travelling from Bratislava need to plan a journey of several hours by car or bus, making it a long day trip. It’s an easier day trip to central and western Slovak regional centres, about halfway from Trencin to Banska Bystrica, or from Nitra to Zilina. The town of Prievidza (which has no direct rail service to major towns) has a local bus link to the castle.