Slovakia
Kosice
Slovakia's eastern capital: a Gothic cathedral, one grand main street and the castles and gorges of the east on the doorstep.
Slovakia's second city and the capital of the east, built around one long, lens-shaped main street lined with baroque and art nouveau facades. At its centre stands St Elisabeth Cathedral, the easternmost Gothic cathedral in Europe and the largest church in the country. Kosice is compact, unhurried and good value, with medieval foundations open underground, a cultural scene that grew from its year as European Capital of Culture, and Spis Castle, the Slovak Paradise gorges and the Tokaj wine country all within reach.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
Slovak
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Kosice
The main street Hlavna is a long pedestrian promenade of cafes, palaces and churches, with a singing fountain in front of the theatre.
St Elisabeth Cathedral A soaring Gothic cathedral with a tiled roof, a climbable tower and the crypt of Hungarian hero Francis II Rakoczi.
The east on the doorstep Spis Castle, Levoca, the Slovak Paradise gorges and the karst caves are all easy day trips.
Easy pace A walkable, good-value city where the Old Town fits into an afternoon and the evenings are spent outdoors on Hlavna.
Best time to visit
Apr-Oct
15-27° days
48.717° N, 21.250° E
UTC+2 · Europe/Bratislava
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Weather & when to go to Kosice
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Apr-Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Kosice
December to February is cold, grey and short on daylight, and the day trips into the hills and gorges are harder going. December does bring the Christmas market down Hlavna, which is the reason to come then rather than the weather. Many attractions keep shorter hours outside the warmer season.
Top things to do in Kosice
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St Elisabeth Cathedral - nave, tower and Rakoczi crypt
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedThe city's Gothic centrepiece, with a richly carved north portal, a great carved altar, a tower climb over the rooftops and the crypt where Francis II Rakoczi lies.
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Hlavna - walk the main street and Singing Fountain
culture arts scenic 👍 PopularThe spine of the Old Town, closed to traffic and lined with palaces, churches and pavement cafes; the Singing Fountain in front of the State Theatre plays to music on summer evenings.
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Urban's Tower and St Michael's Chapel - the cathedral's neighbours
historyA free-standing Gothic bell tower and a small Gothic chapel on the former cemetery ground beside the cathedral, together forming the city's medieval core.
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Lower Gate - medieval city underground
history ⭐ Highly recommendedExcavated foundations of the old town gate, fortifications and a stream crossing preserved beneath the southern end of Hlavna, walked through on a short underground circuit.
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East Slovak Museum - the Kosice Gold Treasure
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe regional museum's vault holds a hoard of medieval and Renaissance gold coins found during building work in the city, alongside archaeology and local history.
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Executioner's Bastion and Rodosto - Rakoczi's exile house
historyA surviving stretch of the city walls beside a replica of the house in Ottoman Rodosto where Rakoczi spent his last years in exile, with his furnishings inside.
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Hrnciarska - Craftsmen's Street
culture arts shoppingA quiet lane of low houses just off Hlavna given over to small workshops, where potters, smiths and other craftspeople work and sell.
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Kasarne Kulturpark - culture in the old barracks
culture artsFormer military barracks west of the Old Town turned into a cultural centre for the European Capital of Culture year, with galleries, workshops, concerts and family events.
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Children's Railway - the Cermel valley line
nature wildlife scenicA narrow-gauge forest railway in the hills on the city's edge, running in the warmer months and a long-standing favourite with local families.
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East Slovak food and Tokaj wine
food 👍 PopularHearty home cooking: bryndzove halusky, pirohy, kapustnica cabbage soup and roast meats, with sweet and dry Tokaj wines from the Slovak side of the border.
Best areas to stay in Kosice
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Old Town (Stare Mesto)
First-time visitors $$Pedestrian main street and historic lanes
Explore hotels in Old Town (Stare Mesto) →
Railway station and City Park
Day-trippers $Practical edge beside the stations
Explore hotels in Railway station and City Park →
Bankov
Quiet stays $$Wooded hillside above the city
Explore hotels in Bankov →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Kosice
Getting to & around Kosice
Getting there
Fly into Kosice airport just south of the city, or ride the main rail line across Slovakia
Flight
Kosice International Airport (KSC)
The airport lies just south of the city; taxis and a city bus reach the Old Town in around 15-25 minutes.
Train
Kosice railway station
The end of Slovakia's main east-west line from Bratislava via Zilina and Poprad, around 5-6 hr, with direct and overnight trains from Prague and services from Budapest via Miskolc
Coach
Kosice bus station
Domestic and international coaches arrive at the bus station beside the railway station, a short walk from the Old Town
Getting around
Walk
The Old Town, the stations and City Park are all within a few minutes' walk of each other
Free
Tram
Trams skirt the Old Town and link the station with the outer districts
TBC
City bus
Covers the airport, Bankov and the suburbs the trams miss
TBC
Taxi and ride-hailing
Inexpensive and easy to book by app, useful for the airport and late nights
TBC
Day trips from Kosice
Spis Castle and Levoca
Full dayCastle and walled town
The vast ruined Spis Castle on its limestone hill, one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe, paired with Levoca's walled square and Master Paul's towering carved altar.
Getting there
car | tour | bus
About 1-1.5 hr west by car or tour; buses run via Presov
Slovak Paradise
Full dayGorge hiking
A national park of narrow limestone gorges climbed by ladders, chains and footbridges over waterfalls, with Sucha Bela the classic route. Best in the drier months.
Getting there
train | bus | car
About 1 hr by train to Spisska Nova Ves, then a local bus or car to the trailheads
Slovak Karst caves and Betliar
Full dayShow caves and manor
Show caves in the karst plateau on the Hungarian border, such as Domica and Gombasecka, combined with the Andrassy family manor and park at Betliar.
Getting there
car
About 1 hr west towards Roznava by car
Bardejov
Full dayGothic square and wooden churches
A walled town with one of the most complete Gothic squares in the region, plus wooden churches and an open-air village museum at the nearby spa of Bardejovske Kupele.
Getting there
bus | car
About 1.5 hr north by bus or car
Tokaj wine region
Full dayWine villages
Volcanic hills and tuff cellars straddling the Slovak-Hungarian border, where small villages pour Tokaj wines, including the sweet aszu style, in cellars cut into the rock.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1-1.5 hr south-east by car or tour
A little history of Kosice
Kosice grew up on the trade route between the Hungarian plain and Poland and became one of the richest towns of medieval Hungary, known in Hungarian as Kassa. Royal privileges, a ring of walls and a coat of arms granted by charter in 1369 marked its standing, and the great Gothic church of St Elisabeth rose at its centre over more than a century. A Jesuit university followed in the 1600s.
The city passed to Czechoslovakia after the First World War, back to Hungary in 1938 and to Czechoslovakia again in 1945, which is why Slovak, Hungarian, German and Jewish strands all run through its past. Communist-era industry, above all the giant steelworks south of the city, multiplied its size. Since 1993 it has been Slovakia's second city, and its turn as European Capital of Culture in 2013 renewed its arts scene.
First written mention of the settlement
King Louis I grants the city a coat of arms by charter
Work begins on St Elisabeth Cathedral, completed in the early 1500s
The Jesuits found a university in the city
The remains of Francis II Rakoczi are reburied in the cathedral crypt
The first Kosice Peace Marathon is run, now among the oldest marathons in Europe
The Kosice Government Programme for post-war Czechoslovakia is proclaimed in the city
Slovakia becomes independent; Kosice becomes its second city and seat of the Constitutional Court
Kosice is a European Capital of Culture
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Limited
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / E
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+421
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Kosice
▸ When is the best time to visit Kosice?
April to October is the best stretch, warm enough for cafe terraces on Hlavna and for day trips into the gorges and castles of the east. December to February is cold and grey; December's Christmas market along Hlavna is the main reason to come in winter.
▸ How many days do you need in Kosice?
One full day covers the Old Town, the cathedral and the underground. Two to four days lets you add Spis Castle and Levoca, a hike in the Slovak Paradise or a wine day in Tokaj.
▸ Can you visit Spis Castle from Kosice without a car?
Yes, buses run towards Spisske Podhradie and Levoca, usually via Presov, but connections are slower and less frequent than driving. Many visitors join a tour or hire a car for the day to fit in both the castle and Levoca.
▸ Is Kosice expensive?
No. Eating out, accommodation and transport cost noticeably less than in Bratislava or Vienna, which makes Kosice one of the better-value city breaks in Central Europe.
▸ What languages are spoken in Kosice?
Slovak is the main language, and Hungarian is widely understood in the region given the city's history. English is common among younger people and in hotels and the Old Town's cafes.
▸ Is Kosice worth visiting if I have already seen Bratislava?
Yes. Kosice has the grander historic centre of the two, and it is the natural base for the east, which holds much of Slovakia's best scenery and its UNESCO castles, towns and wooden churches.
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