Spiš Castle, one of the largest in central Europe (source: SITA)
ALMOST 30 Hungarian journalists and tour-operators visited Spišská Nová Ves on April 19, where a four-day information trip connecting the former royal towns of eastern Slovakia began, the TASR newswire wrote.
After an official welcome in the town-hall, they were shown monuments and historical places in the Spiš metropolis, which has an historical ‘lenticular’ (lentil-shaped) square and the highest church tower in the whole of Slovakia. The goal of the trip, entitled Slovak Royal Towns, was to present some of the cultural, historical, and natural attractions of Spiš and other regions in eastern Slovakia to Hungarian tourists.
Part of the programme was a tour of one of the biggest castle complexes in central Europe – Spiš Castle – as well as the small church town of Spišská Kapitula. The visitors then travelled to the towns of Levoča, Kežmarok, Stará Ľubovňa; received a guided tour of the Červený Kláštor monastery, Pieniny National Park - including a rafting trip on the Dunajec River; and experienced a traditional Goral evening. The Gorals are a people who live on the mountainous border of Poland and Slovakia.
They were also able to enjoy a sightseeing tour of Bardejov and its nearby spa. “This info-trip will probably be the only approved info-trip for Hungarian tour operators in Slovakia this year,” Zuzana Kóšová of the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in Spišská Nová Ves, who guided the Hungarian guests, said.
The event was prepared by the Slovak Tourist Board in cooperation with the TIC in Spišská Nová Ves.
Author: Compiled by Specator staff from press reports
