Travel guide

Banská Štiavnica

Silver-mining town in a collapsed volcano

🗓️ Best time: May–October💰 Budget · ~$50/day📍 Slovakia

🏨 Find hotels ✈️ Search flights 🎫 Tours & activities

About Banská Štiavnica

A UNESCO town built inside the caldera of an extinct volcano, once one of the richest silver-mining centres in Europe and home to the world's first mining academy. Steep lanes, two castles, and a chain of artificial lakes the miners dug to power their machinery.

⭐ Things to do in Banská Štiavnica

Old Castle and New CastleOpen-air mining museum (go underground)Calvary hill baroque complexTajch lakes swimHoly Trinity squareSwimming in Klinger tajch, a 18th-century mining reservoirGlanzenberg tunnel under the townSitno mountain viewpoint

🍽️ What to eat in Banská Štiavnica

Signature local dishes worth seeking out.

Bryndzové haluškyŠtiavnické pagáče sconeLocal honey liqueurKapustnica

✈️ Know before you go

🚕 Getting around

Walkable but steep; car useful for the lakes.

💡 Local tip

The underground mine tour issues overalls and a lamp and goes into real 17th-century workings — book ahead in summer.

🛡️ Safety

Very safe.