Illustrative image. (source: TASR)
If you find yourself in need of doing some quick shopping, your last chance before Christmas will be on December 24 until 11:00. Around that time most groceries, chain stores and shops will close so that their employees have time to be with their close ones on Christmas Eve.
When to go shopping
The Billa, Lidl, Tesco, Kaufland, Terno, COOP Jednota, Kraj chain stores will be open in the early hours and will close after 11:00, although there may be changes in some local stores. You can check the opening hours of your stores by clicking on individual links and typing in your location. In the case of Kaufland and Lidl you will find the opening hours in their respective electronic leaflets.
Shops will remain closed on December 25 and 26.
There are some exceptions. Shops at stations and airports, souvenir shops, ticket offices, pharmacies, and petrol stations may be open, while small shops staffed by owners - not employees - can also remain open.
Between December 27-31, stores will return to ordinary opening hours. On December 31, most will be open, but will close earlier than usual and remain that way on both January 1 and 6, 2025.
Check schedule before you travel
Public transport in Slovak towns will also see some changes in its schedule.
On regular workdays between December 23 and January 7, the public transport in Bratislava will follow the 'Workdays, School break schedule'.
On December 24, lines will follow the 'Non-workdays' schedule and will operate until around 17:00. From 18:00 onwards, night services will operate in 30-minute intervals until midnight. Between December 25-26, lines will follow the regular 'Non-workdays' schedule.
On December 31, night services will become more frequent, operating every 15 to 30 minutes. From 22:00, trams 1 and 4 will be redirected from the city centre, meaning that they will not stop at Jesenského and Námestie Ľudovíta Štúra. Instead, they will be redirected through the tunnel under Bratislava Castle. Trams 3 and 9 will operate until 04:30 in the morning of January 1, with the latter all the way to the Dúbravka borough.
Also, most ticket vending machines throughout the city will be inoperable on December 31. Do not forget to buy some tickets in advance, use your bank card at ticket machines in lines, or if you have a Slovak phone number, get an SMS ticket.
For the public transport in other towns, click here and choose your town in the upper left corner.
