I’d give Orava, in northern Slovakia, at least four days, and even in that time I didn’t fit everything in. The places I wouldn’t miss are Orava Castle, the boat trip to Slanica Island, Kubínska hoľa and the Oblazy mill in the Kvačianska Valley. I’d stay in Dolný Kubín, which puts everything within easy reach.
- How many days
- Four days, and I still missed a few places, such as the forest railway and Istebné
- Where I stayed
- Hotel Park in Dolný Kubín, a short walk from the main square; I really appreciated the wellness area after full days on the road
- Orava Castle
- Self-guided with the app, guided tours for individual visitors only in July and August; walk through Oravský Podzámok too, as the castle looks different from every side
- Slanica Island
- OG SLANICA boat from port 2 in Slanická Osada; the cruise takes about an hour and a half
- Museum of the Orava Village
- For me the most beautiful part of Orava, about 3 km from Zuberec; I especially recommend the Goral Settlement
- Oblazy mill
- About 40 minutes on foot from the car park in the village, then about 10 more minutes to Ráztocký Waterfall
Contents2 chaptersHideShow
- 01Things to do in Orava: my tips on where to go
- Dolný Kubín: what to see and where to stay
- Orava Castle
- The Orava Reservoir and the boat to Slanica Island
- Rio de Klin and the statue of Christ
- Kubínska hoľa: chairlift, Puchmajerová Pond, mountain trikes and Tarzania
- The Museum of the Orava Village, an open-air museum in Zuberec
- The Oblazy mill in the Kvačianska Valley
- 02What I didn’t manage to see in Orava
I wrote this article in 2018. Back then I came to Orava on a media familiarisation trip (a FAM trip). Prices, opening hours and connections may have changed since then, so check them before you go.
What is there to see in Orava? They don’t say ‘in Orava it’s good, in Orava it’s healthy’ for nothing. Ah, Orava… I spent exactly four days travelling around the region and still didn’t fit in everything I wanted. Here’s what to see in Orava and where to go, plus a few tips on where to stay.
Tip from Milan I’d recommend booking your accommodation as early as you can, because rooms in a good location at a fair price go first. Here you’ll find accommodation offers in the area valid today.
Things to do in Orava: my tips on where to go
- Dolný Kubín
- Orava Castle
- The Orava Reservoir
- Slanica Island and the boat trip
- Rio de Klin
- Kubínska hoľa
- The Oblazy mill in the Kvačianska Valley
- The Orava Forest Railway (I didn’t make it)
- The wooden articular church in Istebné (I didn’t make it)
Dolný Kubín: what to see and where to stay
Dolný Kubín is the ideal base if you want to travel around Orava and still stay ‘close’ to everything. I stayed at Hotel Park in the town and have written a full review of it. What I valued most was the wellness area, which I enjoyed on both evenings after dashing all over Orava.
Dolný Kubín itself has a pretty centre and main square (Hotel Park is only a short walk away). In and around the town you’ll find the memorial house of the writer Martin Kukučín in Jasenová, cycle routes, the Orava Museum and the Colonnade Bridge (Kolonádový most). The bridge is beautifully lit in the evening, and I’d recommend it for a romantic stroll.
Orava Castle
Orava Castle (Oravský hrad) is the one place in Orava you really can’t skip. I’ve known about it since I was a child, because the cult horror film Nosferatu was shot here. Today the film is pretty much unwatchable: it’s a silent film from 1922. But if you’re a Dracula fan like me, it’s definitely worth seeing. You’ll find the whole film below.
Orava Castle looks genuinely dramatic. I loved Revište Castle, and Orava Castle didn’t disappoint either. I’d recommend a walk through Oravský Podzámok, the village below the castle: the castle looks different from every angle, and always better. I have about a million photos. In 2018 you could choose a long, a medium or a short tour, all of them guided. They had it cleverly organised: you waited at the castle’s entrance gate, and someone announced the start of each tour over a microphone by the door. Today (2026) there are three routes: the basic circuit (A), the small circuit (B) and the grand circuit (A+B), which combines the two. The small and grand circuits are open from May to October. You walk round the castle on your own with the Oravský hrad app, and guided tours for individual visitors run only in July and August. I’ve heard many times that it’s one of the most beautiful castles in Slovakia. I haven’t seen them all yet, but so far I’d agree.
Nosferatu: watch the full film online
The Orava Reservoir and the boat to Slanica Island
When I asked my readers on Instagram what to see in Orava, many of them agreed that I should take a boat trip on the Orava Reservoir (Oravská priehrada) and visit Slanica Island (Slanický ostrov). Everyone in Slovakia knows that five villages lie flooded beneath the Orava Reservoir: Slanica, Osada, Oravské Hámre, Ľavkovo and Ústie. Námestovo and Bobrov were partly flooded too.
Today only Slanica Island remains as a reminder that people once lived here. It used to be a hill between the villages, the only one left sticking out of the water, and a small church and part of the Stations of the Cross survived on it. I’m not really one for churches, but this one caught my attention because of its story. The Stations of the Cross are incomplete, and part of them lies under the water. What’s more, the church doesn’t look like other churches in Slovakia. There are no pews and no altar inside; there’s a gallery instead. In 2026 the church and its exhibition were closed for a complete renovation, so check before your boat trip whether it has reopened. It all gave me goosebumps. I can’t imagine being in the shoes of someone who’s told that their house, and the cemetery where people they knew are buried, will end up at the bottom of a lake.
Filling the Orava Reservoir took a year. The idea of building it here came about mainly because the rivers often flooded the villages that stood here. Read on for more of what to see in Orava.
The OG SLANICA boat to Slanica Island leaves from port 2 (prístav č. 2) in Slanická Osada. In the 2026 season it sailed daily from 1 May to 4 October at 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 4.30pm, with the last sailing at 3pm from September. Check the current timetable on lodslanica.sk. The island is closed to visitors in winter. In 2018 an adult ticket cost €6. According to the current price list, the cruise including entry to the island costs €11 for adults, €6 for students and €3 for children aged 3 to 15. The trip takes about an hour and a half, and the ticket includes a sightseeing cruise around the Orava Reservoir. Another company also runs boats here. It moors on the other side of the island, and with them you pay extra to get into the gallery. I didn’t look into it much and went straight for OG SLANICA.
If the weather is bad (rain, or a storm on the way), I’d call the port first to check whether the boats are running (+421 905 915 108). The Orava Reservoir was drained in 1989. Here’s what the bottom looked like:
Rio de Klin and the statue of Christ
When I first saw a picture of Rio de Klin, I couldn’t believe it was in Slovakia. It’s a statue of Jesus Christ, almost 10 metres tall, standing above the village of Klin. The statue has been here since 2008, though. So how did I only find out about it ten years later? Either way, it’s a nice stop on a trip around Orava, even if you’re not religious.
Similar statues of Christ stand in several places around the world, such as Lisbon and, of course, Rio de Janeiro, whose statue everyone knows. The one in Klin also has Stations of the Cross along the path up from the car park. I’d definitely recommend it, because the view over the whole of Orava and the Orava Reservoir is unreal. See for yourself:
Kubínska hoľa: chairlift, Puchmajerová Pond, mountain trikes and Tarzania
If you too have always thought of Kubínska hoľa mainly as a ski resort, I have good news: it runs summer activities as well. I’ve written a separate guide to what to do at Kubínska hoľa. I had an absolute blast here, and in the evening I enjoyed the wellness area at Hotel Green, which I’ve also reviewed.
Kubínska hoľa really is fun in summer. I’d go for the mountain trikes, the chairlift or the Tarzania rope park, which is right behind Hotel Green. They’ve also built a fairly dense network of cycle routes, and I met plenty of cyclists here, including families with children. Judging by that, the routes must be really easy and not too demanding. There’s also a lake where you can go boating, and the protected Puchmajerová Pond (Puchmajerovej jazierko), which has several legends attached to it.
The Museum of the Orava Village, an open-air museum in Zuberec
For me, the Museum of the Orava Village (Múzeum oravskej dediny) is hands down the most beautiful part of Orava. I’ve been here twice, and on my last visit a folk ensemble was even singing traditional songs, which made the Orava atmosphere all the stronger. It’s a collection of houses brought here from different parts of Orava. I’ve said before that it would make a perfect set for a film like The Village.
You’ll find it about 3 km from Zuberec, and it has more than 50 houses of folk architecture. They represent the different parts of Orava and how people here used to live. I especially recommend the Goral Settlement (Goralské lazy). Right on site there’s a small snack bar that makes the best langoš (fried flatbread) in the world. I’d also recommend trying the toilets next to it, and you’ll see why. If you’re looking for a list of what to see in Orava, you wouldn’t expect a toilet on it, would you?
Tip from Milan Brestovská Cave (Brestovská jaskyňa) is right opposite the Museum of the Orava Village. So what to see in Orava? The museum, and the cave too.
The Oblazy mill in the Kvačianska Valley
There’s a lovely watermill in the Kvačianska Valley (Kvačianska dolina) that deserves a stop on your trip around Orava too. There used to be as many as three mills in the valley, but floods took their toll and only two survived, the upper and the lower mill. Getting there makes a great hike, because the nearest car park is down in the village, about 40 minutes’ walk away. It’s well worth it, though. I found it fascinating to see the mill still working, and to see how people managed without electricity in the past. The original machinery runs non-stop, powered only by water. The mill at Oblazy is part of the Prosiecka and Kvačianska Valley nature trail.
Plus, from the mill it’s about a ten-minute walk to Ráztocký Waterfall. Go and see it. When I was there it hadn’t rained much, and the water trickled out like a tap that hasn’t been turned off properly.
What I didn’t manage to see in Orava
Other stops I didn’t get to:
- The Orava Forest Railway
- The wooden articular church in Istebné
On my next trip, though, I also want to try the raft rides on the Orava river, Bobrova raľa, the lookout tower above Tvrdošín and the observation tower in Zákamenné, Mačie diery in Zuberec and Lúčky Waterfall (Lúčanský vodopád).
A Slovak travel blogger who has been getting Slovaks out of their office chairs since 2013. Author of the book Influencer and founder of the Bez Mapy blog. "Bez Mapy" is Slovak for "without a map".
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