The best of Eastern Slovakia (small group minimum 2 people & maximum 8 people)

Today we will travel to Levoca, a medieval town built between the 15th and 17th centuries. It is the biggest religious pilgrimage centre of Slovakia. In Levoca visitors can see a well preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the highest wooden altar in the world carved by the most famous medieval carving masters, master Pavol of Levoca, among other Renaissance buildings. In the city centre there is a special medieval object from the 16th century, the shame cage. It used to be a place of punishment for people who disobeyed the law. After visiting the city centre with its well preserved merchants medieval houses, we will travel to Marianska Hora mount, where visitors can appreciate a beautiful view of Levoca and see the Basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built between 1906 and 1922. Pilgrims come here to see an ancient statue of the Virgin Mary. Pope John II celebrated masses on the field outside the basilica. From there we will travel to Spisske Podhradie. Podhradie means under the castle. Here we will visit the ecclesiastical centre of Kapitula, formed by San Martin cathedral, an old monastery, and the main street of the complex, which formed the administrative centre of the church in the 12th century. After visiting Kapitula, we will stop at one of the spots of Spis Jerusalém, the Slovak Jerusalém. We will finish our trip at the biggest castle ruins complex of central Europe, Spis Castle, built during the 12th century. It was an important political, economic and cultural centre of the Hungarian Kingdom. Several movies were filmed here, such as Dragonheart and The Last Legion. Levoca, Kapitula and Spis Castle are listed as part of UNESCO World Heritage.

Today we will visit the most beautiful mountains in Slovakia, High Tatras. We will travel from Poprad by train using the services of Tatra electrical railways, an ecological transport company. Our first stop is Štrbské pleso, a picturesque glacial lake and a top tourist destination in this region. It is the second largest glacial lake after Veľké Hincovo pleso. It can reach up to 20 metres depth. It is fed by underground springs and has no visible outflow stream. Its surface remains frozen for around 155 days per year. In the winter Štrbské Pleso offers excellent skiing conditions, attracting people who love alpine skiing, downhill skiing or cross-country skiing. After visiting this amazing place, in the afternoon we will take a train to Starý Smokovec. Its name means "Old Smokovec". It is a popular resort for skiing and hiking. It also forms the junction of the Tatra Electric Railway train line, connecting Poprad, Tatranská Lomnica and Štrbské Pleso. The Sanatorium and the Grand Hotel (established in 1904) are amongst the more important buildings in the area. For visitors who are interested in unique tourist attractions, they can visit Tricklandia in Starý Smokovec where they will have fun with its trickart. Trickart is the art that creates visual illusions, showing pictures that appear to exist, but are only two-dimensional drawings.

Today we will spend the morning at Lubovna castle and wooden village. The castle and village complex is a wonderful open air museum that exhibits a traditional and unique architecture which is typical of this region.

The castle stands on a limestone cliff of 711 metres high. It was built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. A lot of famous kings used to meet here, specially from Poland and the Hungarian Kingdom. The castle was also the place where the polish coronation jewels were hidden in the past. A famous adventurer and king of Madagascar, Moric Benovsky was imprisoned here. The most interesting building in the village is the Greek Catholic church built in 1833. For those who love history and ancient buildings this is the place to be. After lunch, we will travel to Nestville Park whisky distillery. There you will learn the secrets of producing and storing whisky as well as seeing the biggest carved wooden panel of Europe. This region is famous for having distilleries from the 18th century. In Nestville Park the tourists can experience the crafts history and tradition, and get to know the tools these skillful local people used in the past, as well as taste the first slovak whisky matured in oak barrels.

Today we will visit one of the largest ice caves in Europe, Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. To reach the cave, tourists will arrive at the village Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa and walk for 30 minutes through a sightseeing trail of 515 metres length. The cave is 1,232 metres long and 112 metres deep. It was discovered by the mining engineer I. Ruffini in 1870 and opened to public in 1871. It was the first cave in the Kingdom of Hungary with electric lighting. Some famous people visited the cave, like the Bulgarian Tsar and the King of Serbia. In 1890, a concert in honour of an Austrian monarch was held in the Grand Hall of the cave. Another touristic attraction we will visit today is the manor house Betliar. It is a majestic hunting manor surrounded by a wonderful English park with an artificial cave and waterfall. In its interior visitors can appreciate a picture gallery, music and hunting halls, a library, antique furniture and exotic collections. The main library is one of the most incredible attractions of the manor house which has more than 14 thousand volumes of theological, historical, geographical and philosophical literature from the 15th to 19th century written in 6 different languages.

Today you will have some free time to enjoy the city of Poprad or relax at your hotel before we take you back to Kosice Airport. In Poprad you can visit the Podtatranské museum and the Tatra Gallery. In the square Námestie v. Egídia you can find a variety of shops, restaurants and cafes. Not far from it you can visit the medieval part of Poprad - Spišská Sobota. Spišská Sobota is one of the best preserved medieval urban units in Slovakia. Its square is bordered by burgher houses built on narrow medieval plots. A common characteristic of these houses are the tall shingled roofs with massive shingled cornices. You can also find a Roman-Catholic church built before 1273 in the Late-Romanesque style, the church of St George. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style in 1464. The church contains five beautiful Gothic altars.