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Bratislava or Pozsony in Hungarian and Pressburg in German, is the capital and largest city in Slovakia. It has a population of almost 450,000 and is the administrative, cultural and economic centre of the country.

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Bratislava (before 1919 known as Prešporok in Slovak) Pressburg in German has a very pleasant medieval inner city with tiny, narrow winding streets, a hill-top castle next to the river Danube, and many historic churches and buildings to visit. The old town is centred on two squares, Hlavne namestie (main square) and Hviezdoslavovo namestie (Hviezdoslav square, named after a famous Slovak poet). Of a rather different architectural character are some of the communist-era buildings found in the modern parts of the city; a prime example is Petrzalka housing estate, the biggest Communist-era concrete block housing complex in Central Europe that stretches on endlessly just across the river. Move further east and there are plenty of rural places to explore. Farms, vineyards, agricultural land and tiny villages are situated less than 50 kilometers to the north and east of Bratislava.
Today, Bratislava and its surroundings form the second-most prosperous region in Central and Eastern Europe, with a per capita GDP of around 129.3% of the EU-25 average (after Prague).