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Authentic Slovakia
– tours beyond the ordinary
This is a small alternative tour operator run by two brothers born and based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In addition to various short and whole day tours of Bratislava and its immediate environs, they also offer longer tours into the countryside. Their unusual portfolio is quite varied, but there is a good overlap with the special interests of dark tourists.
For instance they run “post-socialist” tours of Bratislava, for which there's a separate feature on this website. But some of their other tours also overlap with dark aspects, especially their Iron Curtain Bike Tour and the Bratislava Hike and Drink Tour, which incorporates exploring the abandoned missile base at Devinska Kobyla Hill. Outside of Bratislava they offer tours e.g. to Carpathian castle ruins or to abandoned arms factories and things like that (see under Slovakia in general).
When I used “Authentic Slovakia” in October 2015, they offered me two specially-tailored tours, one in and around Bratislava which combined the “post-socialist”, Iron Curtain and abandoned missile base elements into one long full-day tour. We did this with Peter as our guide (who is also a Lenin lookalike!). Then his brother Brano took us (my wife and me) and a friend on a specially-tailored two-day explorative tour of central Slovakia.
Both are cool guys, knowledgeable and great fun. As many reviews on TripAdvisor point out: it's more like being shown around by friends on their home turf – quite different to the usual standard guided tours. Not only do they go to more exciting off-the-beaten-track places, their personal style is also exceptional.
From my own personal experience I can wholeheartedly recommend them!!!
Note that beyond their standard off-the-peg tours they are also very flexible. So if you contact them sufficiently well in advance then they (or one of the other guides they work with) can tailor their services to your specific individual needs. Just ask. They are very quick to respond. Prices are reasonable for what you get. They also have partners in the east of Slovakia where they also offer a similar post-socialism-themed tour of Košice.
Please remember that when you do book a tour with them, make sure you mention that you saw them here on dark-tourism.com! It helps supporting this website and it may also give you extra perks on the tour. See also this general explanation of sponsored pages.
Here is the link to Authentic Slovakia's own website (external link – opens in new window).
