Where to take your children in Piešťany and its surroundings

In September 2004, the Museum of Military History in Piešťany opened up a permanent exposition entitled "Weaponry of the Czechoslovak Army 1945 - 1992". In three halls and in the museum exterior, visitors can see more than 400 individual museum objects - weaponry, equipment and army technology. The exterior part of the exhibition consists of artillery, engineering, tank and armored machinery, as well as aircraft and anti-aircraft technologies.

This museum specializes in the history of spas and spa care in Slovakia and features a generous exhibition of historical objects, archeological discoveries, first written documents, as well as architectural artifacts. A great attraction offered to children is a preserved peasant house with a straw roof and complete with furnishings. Archeology enthusiasts will be pleased to find mammoth tusks, a copy of the Venus of Moravany, and a miniaturized replica of a grave belonging to a Slav prince. Apart from the main exposition, the Museum of Balneology also administers the Ivan Krasko Memorial Room on the Váh River waterfront and the Dr. Liska Villa on Štefánikova Street.

10 km away from the town of Piešťany lies the village of Krakovany with a private ethnographic museum. The museum exhibition documents the life of people not only from Krakovany but also the surrounding villages. The farmyard part of the exhibition hosts tools and equipment used in the past in farming, food production, and in various jobs around the house and farm. In the residential part, visitors can find not only the usual furnishings, but also an impressive collection of ceremonial textiles, beautiful folk costumes, and bobbin lace. The type of bobbin lace made - in the past and in the present - by women from Krakovany and its vicinity is unique on a worldwide scale. A large part of the museum and overall attention is dedicated specifically to this delicate art form.

In the past, there used to be approximately 150 castles in Slovakia. A handful of them have been restored, quite a few of them had been reduced to ruins, and many of them disappeared completely. A number of these castles were still thriving only three to five hundred years ago, ruled by mighty feudal lords, nowadays remembered in legends and tales. If you wish to see medieval castles in their former glory, pay a visit to the grounds of the elementary school in the village of Podolie.

The Court is an important archeological site, only 6 kilometers away from Piešťany. This Great Moravian court is a fortified estate of a land magnate from the 9th century with a chapel (rotunda) and living and farm quarters. The reconstructed court documents the beginnings of Slovak national history. Illustrated descriptions are provided on information boards located directly on site, the area is public.

The city library is a cultural, informational and educational institution which obtains, processes, protects and provides access to its book collection and provides library-related information services. Young and adult visitors may borrow books, view exhibitions, participate in creative workshops, and attend meetings with writers. A specific program of individual events is published on the library website.

The Fontána Cultural and Social Centre contains a large cinema with 3D technology. Lists of available shows are available on billboards and posters around the town.

The House of Arts hosts concerts and other cultural and social activities, such as theatre performances, movie screenings, recordings of TV shows, congresses, and exhibitions.

Karibik
A. Hlinku Street, Piešťany is open on workdays, from 8.00 until 12.00 in the mornings and from 15.00 until 19.00 in the afternoons. It caters to children up to 6 years of age accompanied by adults.

Multifunctional playground with artificial grass on the grounds of the elementary school at the A. Trajan housing projects contains a basketball court, mini-soccer goals, as well as a volleyball and tennis court (net poles, lines). In the evening, it is illuminated by four halogen lamps. It is fenced by a one meter high barrier, with protective nets at both goal ends. The playground is open all day long - it serves the elementary school for PE classes in the mornings, sports clubs in early afternoons, and then it is available to the general public.

Other reconstructed playgrounds in the town: Trajanáčik Playground at the A. Trajan housing projects, Inčučuna Playground on Potočná Street, Spa Island playground, playground on Javorová Street, and playground behind the Fontána Cinema.

The course on the Spa Island in Piešťany was opened on 21 July 2004, on the anniversary of the opening of the first golf course on the Island, established 90 years before. The course provides another opportunity for quality free time activities in the town not only to professional golfers but also to other - current and possibly future - aficionados of this sport.

The Hotel Balnea Esplanade on the Spa Island boasts a luxurious water and sauna world with outdoor and indoor swimming pools with thermal water and several types of saunas.

Apart from these opportunities to enjoy thermal water, the right bank of the Váh River is home to several hotel facilities with their own pools with regular water. In the Hotel Sorea Sĺňava, you can find an indoor half-size (25 meters) Olympic pool; hotels Park, Magnólia, and Sandor Pavillon also open their smaller-sized swimming pools to the public, and Penzión Diana offers a heated outdoor pool.

The course on the Spa Island in Piešťany was opened on 21 July 2004, on the anniversary of the opening of the first golf course on the Island, established 90 years before. The course provides another opportunity for quality free time activities in the town not only to professional golfers but also to other - current and possibly future - aficionados of this sport.

The water skiing facility is located on the left bank of the Sĺňava Lake on the River Váh, near the village of Ratnovce. The water skiing tow area also provides slalom buoys, a jumping ramp, and a wakeboarding ramp.

This rickshaw cart is a closed, man-pulled vehicle which was once used in Piešťany to transport spa guests from houses, hotels, and guest houses to their treatments and back. Nowadays, visitors can relive the experience and ride in a replica of the original rickshaw. It is available for rent at the Sandor Pavillon Hotel.

This tourist train cruises through the streets of Piešťany and the Spa Island. It stops at appointed stops where passengers can get on board or leave the train at will. A full circuit takes approximately 30 minutes. The train usually operates from mid-April until the end of October, with the exception of rainy or bad weather.

All equestrians and horseback riding fans can order riding lessons at the riding location beyond the Iron Bridge. Phone orders can be placed at the following contact numbers.

A ship moored by the Colonnade Bridge is used for sightseeing trips on the River Váh and the Sĺňava dam lake. It is possible to choose from two cruises of either 55 or 85 minutes - the shorter one will take you to the Bird Island and back, whereas the longer one will take you on a circuit around the Bird Island, into the Ratnovce Bay, by the Drahovce Dam, to the Rybársky Dvor restaurant complex and back to the Bridge. Passengers are free to negotiate or order a stopover during the cruise. The ship also provides sale of refreshments.

Should you feel like spending time away from the rush of the town in a beautiful mountainous environment, you can find it just a mere 5 kilometers away from Piešťany, at the Bacchus Villa turn off the road to Havran mountain pass. This is where the Furman Restaurant is located, living up to its waggoner heritage - the restaurant and its well-kept grounds are decorated with wagons, carts, and wheels, overflowing with flowers. The complex consists of, not only a restaurant serving traditional Slovak specialties, but also a wine cellar, a winter garden, and a seasonal summer terrace with an excellent view of a playground and a game sanctuary with fallow deer, roe deer, and horses. Your children will no doubt appreciate just how close the animals are and that they can simply watch or take pictures of them.

Do not forget to visit Rybárska Bašta in the village of Bašovce. Out in the open, on the bank of a fish pond, you can spend pleasant moments with your loved ones on a terrace with a dance floor, a private lounge, in the grass by the grill, or fishing. The extensive grounds of the fishing resort offer, not only opportunities for fishermen, but also pleasant walking paths and entertainment for children, including a trampoline and a playground. To get to the Rybárska Bašta Restaurant in Bašovce from Piešťany, drive in the direction of Veľké Orvište, at the centre of Veľké Orvište turn right in the direction of Pobedim, and once you get to Bašovce, take a right turn in the centre of the village. Navigation is made easier by road signs.

The idea to build thermal ponds in the Spa Island Park occurred to the Bulgarian ex-tsar Ferdinand I of Coburg during a walk around the park with the former owner of the Spa, Imrich Winter. The ponds were constructed between 1928 and 1930 and became home to green water frogs, red-eared slider turtles, aquarium fish, and Japanese Koi carps. Ruling over the ponds is Victoria Regia - a water lily from tropical rainforests considered to be the largest and the most beautiful water lily in the world. Its flower lives for only 18 hours, and its bowl-shaped leaves float on the water and grow to a diameter of as large as 2 meters. In the ponds of the Piešťany Spa Park, the Victoria Regia lilies bloom from July to October.

The 'Devil’s Furnace' cave is located at the foot of the Nad Lipovcom Hill, approximately 8 km away from Piešťany, next to the road to Topoľčany, at an altitude of 253 m above sea level. It is a former cave dwelling from the Paleolithic era. It was inhabited by Neanderthal-type humans and it is the oldest known cave settlement in Slovakia. In 1981, it was declared a protected natural landmark. The cave is 27 meters long and accessible from both ends. You can reach the cave by a 3-minute walk along a marked path leading from a roadside restaurant located by the road between Piešťany and Radošina. Free admission.

Beckov - the ruins of a border guard castle from the 13th century towering above the village of Beckov. The castle, which withstood attacks by the Tatars and Turks and in the 18th century was almost destroyed by fire, underwent extensive reconstruction between 2010 and 2012. In addition to a external and internal museum exhibition, visitors are also attracted to the castle by the numerous and regularly organized cultural events. Distance - 26 km from Piešťany, direction to Nové Mesto nad Váhom.

Čachtice - village, which has the ruins of a castle above it. Its history goes back to the 13th century, when the castle belonged to a system of border guard castles. In 1708, it was conquered and burnt down, since then it has been deserted. The castle was made famous by the bloodthirsty countess Elisabeth Bathory. Distance - 17 km, direction to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, turn in village Horná Streda, and continue, direction to Pobedim, Podolie and Častkovce.

The spa park spreads across the Spa Island from the Krajinská Street bridge to the outskirts of the golf course at its northern end. In the east, it is bordered by the bypass of the River Váh. Right across the river, on its right bank, is the town park. When the parks were established, numerous Asian and American species of trees found their way into their groves and this variability of species has been gradually and purposefully cultivated since. Most of this greenery thrives in its new environment and it is not rare for some of it to reach the ripe age of 150 years. In both parks tourists can find informational signs describing individual rare trees and the town park signs also describe the various species of birds living there.

It soars from the steep rock above the town of Trenčín. A famous sign carved into the castle rock proves that its origin stretches back to the Roman Empire. In the 11th century it was a royal guard castle. At the turn of the 14th century the castle belonged to Matúš Čák, who made various improvements. He built a residential palace and the Matúš tower, which still dominates to this day. The present day shape and appearance of the castle is due mostly to the additions made during the 14th and 15th centuries and the further building activity carried out by the Zápoľský family in the 16th century. At the end of 18th century the complex was destroyed by a fire, and since the 19th century there has been continual renovation and preservation work being done. Along with the aforementioned tower, the contemporary castle also consists of a complex of palaces. The legendary Well of Love has also been preserved, which, according to legend, was dug by the love-sick Omar with his bare hands, to free his love, Fatima, and to eventually buy her from the lord of the castle. The interior of the castle also houses many valuable, historical collections. It is 45 kilometers from Piešťany.