Grand Matej Banská Štiavnica
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Štiavnica on foot

Štiavnica starts on Kammerhofská.

The hotel stands on Kammerhofská street, a few minutes below Trinity Square. The square, both castles, a mine adit and dinner are all within walking distance. The reception will tell you where to go next.

First day

Arrived in the afternoon? You can still see the town today.

First evening: the two-castle loop

Wherever you walk in Štiavnica, it is probably uphill.

One loop, two castles, and an hour later you know where you are. Leave the car at the hotel and wear comfortable shoes.

  1. Start

    Kammerhofská

    From the hotel door, walk up the street towards the square.

  2. A few minutes

    Trinity Square

    The plague column, the lyceum and the burgher houses. This is where the town opens up.

  3. Uphill

    The Old Castle

    Carry on from the square to the Old Castle. You get a little out of breath and the town appears below you.

  4. Early evening

    The New Castle

    Cross to the other side, to the New Castle. Late in the day you see red roofs and the hills all round.

  5. Downhill

    Back to the hotel

    From the New Castle it is downhill all the way back to Kammerhofská.

  • The loop takes about an hour on foot
  • On foot, no car
  • No booking. Castle hours are on the museum site.
  • muzeumbs.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
Rooftops of the historic centre of Banská Štiavnica with Hotel Grand Matej and a church

Morning: breakfast, then on foot

The morning needs no plan.

Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 10:00 in the hotel’s own restaurant.

Then head out on foot. The plan that works in Štiavnica is a simple one: set off and let the town slow you down.

  • On foot, no car
  • Breakfast is not included in the room rate. Breakfast costs €12 per person.
The Calvary on its hill above Banská Štiavnica at sunset
Views

The Calvary

If you climb one hill in Štiavnica, make it this one.

The Baroque complex was built between 1744 and 1751. In 2007 the Calvary was on the list of the world’s hundred most endangered monuments, and its restoration is still going on.

On the way up you pass chapels and churches. At the top the whole town is in front of you: roofs, towers, both castles and the hills around.

Go in the early evening and wait for the lights to come on below. The last stretch is steeper.

  • About 30 minutes uphill on foot from the hotel
  • On foot, no car
  • No booking
  • kalvaria.org (checked 4 October 2026)

Photo: Martin Katler , Unsplash License

The white tower of the New Castle with its corner bastions

Photo: marco677 , Pixabay Content License

Views

The New Castle

Lookouts once watched for the Turks from here. Today you can see almost all of Štiavnica.

The New Castle was built between 1564 and 1571 as a fortress and watchtower against the Turks.

Inside are life-size figures of Turkish soldiers, sabres, guns and painted shooting targets. Children do not need persuading to stay a little longer.

From the hotel you walk through the centre; the last part is uphill. If small legs run out of energy, the square is on the way.

  • On foot through the centre
  • On foot, no car
  • No booking. Hours and tickets on the museum site.
  • muzeumbs.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
The story walk

Six stops. The first is outside the hotel door.

The route runs from Kammerhofská up to Trinity Square and back down to the mine adit and the academy. Each stop has one story.

  1. Illustration: the long Renaissance Kammerhof building on a cobbled street

    Kammerhofská street

    The first big building next to the hotel was once something like a ministry of mines.

    It is called the Kammerhof, and the whole street is named after it.

    In the 16th century it was the seat of the chamber count, the man in charge of the mines across the region: silver, gold, people and money.

    Read the whole story

    A little further down the same street you can walk underground. The Glanzenberg adit runs beneath the historic centre.

    So your morning coffee walk follows a street where silver was counted almost five centuries ago.

    • Outside the hotel door
    • On foot, no car
  2. Illustration: miners in a quarry as a blast breaks the rock

    The Kammerhof

    In 1627 Štiavnica went off with a bang.

    According to the town, its miners were the first in the world to blast rock with gunpowder, in 1627.

    The Kammerhof was where the mine bosses sat. While the miners dug below, the decisions on where to dig next were made here, over the maps.

    Read the whole story

    Today the building holds the largest mining exhibition in Slovakia. Lamps that lit the dark. Machines driven by horses, water and later electricity. Hand-drawn maps of the underground.

    It also explains why there are dozens of lakes around Štiavnica.

    An hour is enough, and you read the town outside differently afterwards. It works well early in a stay, before you go down a mine.

    • A few steps up the street
    • On foot, no car
    • No booking. Hours and tickets on the museum site.
    • muzeumbs.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
  3. Illustration: a Baroque column in the middle of a sloping square

    The Holy Trinity column

    Not even mining money helped against the plague.

    The plague of 1710 hit Štiavnica hard. As soon as it retreated, in 1711, the town put up a simple Baroque column on the square.

    In the second half of the 18th century it was replaced by the sculpture group that still stands here.

    Read the whole story

    Among the saints on the pedestal are Sebastian and Roch, protectors against the plague, and Barbara, patron of miners. Plague and mining, the town’s two great worries, on one pedestal.

    Try to find the miners’ patron saint. Then carry on up the square to the lyceum.

    • Trinity Square, a few minutes on foot
    • On foot, no car
    • No booking
    • banskastiavnica.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
  4. Illustration: three students in period coats walking towards the lyceum

    The Evangelical Lyceum

    Petőfi lasted half a year here. Sládkovič fell in love here. Mikszáth waited 158 years for his plaque.

    The lyceum stands on Holy Trinity Square and its roots go back to the 16th century. Pavol Dobšinský, who wrote down many of the Slovak folk tales, taught here.

    Three plaques hang on the façade: Petőfi, Sládkovič and Mikszáth. All three studied at this school, each at a different time.

    Read the whole story

    Petőfi arrived aged fifteen and left after six months. He left behind a poem in a student notebook; the Hungarian Lutheran Church describes it as his first known poem in his own hand.

    Alongside his studies, Sládkovič tutored in the Pischl family and fell in love with Mária. They never married; she married another man. Sládkovič wrote Marína, a poem Slovak students still read.

    Mikszáth studied here until 1866. He got his plaque next to Petőfi and Sládkovič in May 2024.

    The building is not usually open inside. You see the façade and the plaques from the square.

    • The upper end of Trinity Square
    • On foot, no car
    • Not usually open inside
  5. Illustration: visitors in a mine gallery with memorial plaques below the town

    The Glanzenberg adit

    In 1751 an emperor went down beneath Štiavnica.

    Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, went down into the Glanzenberg adit. A memorial plaque went into the wall after his visit, and more followed for later distinguished guests.

    Štiavnica’s visitors’ book, kept underground.

    Read the whole story

    The entrance is on Kammerhofská, a short way down the street from the hotel. You step off the street into the mine and walk beneath the town while an ordinary day goes on above you.

    The open section is about 500 metres long and ends at the Kaufhaus shaft, 32 metres down.

    Tours run on certain days only and must be booked ahead. The emperor had an entourage; you get a guide.

    • A short way down Kammerhofská
    • On foot, no car
    • Booking ahead is required
    • muzeumbs.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
  6. Illustration: Mining Academy students raising beers above the town

    The Mining Academy

    First-years were not allowed to drink when the others drank. And they had to look sad about it.

    Those were the rules of the šachtág, the students’ evening gathering at the Mining Academy. It was led by the “praeses”, the wittiest of them, while the “counterpoint” repeated his every word.

    Maria Theresa founded the academy in 1762. The town describes it as the first technical university in the world.

    Read the whole story

    Freshers then faced the leap over the leather. Their “godfathers” asked them trick questions, gave them a new name, doused them in beer, and the first-year jumped over a leather apron above a tub of water.

    The students also left the Salamander, a procession that winds from one side of the street to the other like a salamander. The town revives it every year in early September, and šachtágs still take place.

    The academy buildings stand in the grounds of the upper Botanical Garden.

    • By the Botanical Garden
    • On foot, no car
    • No booking
    • banskastiavnica.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
Order of the stops
  1. 01 Kammerhofská street
  2. 02 The Kammerhof
  3. 03 The Holy Trinity column
  4. 04 The Evangelical Lyceum
  5. 05 The Glanzenberg adit
  6. 06 The Mining Academy

The diagram shows the order and direction of the walk. Distances are not to scale. The whole walk takes about an hour.

Underground

Štiavnica stands on its mines.

You can walk into a mine in town and just outside it. Bring a sweater, even in August.

The museum gives 8 to 10 °C in the Bartolomej adit all year round.

Two stops on the story walk go underground too: The Kammerhof (stop 02), The Glanzenberg adit (stop 05).

Visitors in helmets and coats at the entrance of the Bartolomej adit

The open-air mining museum

A helmet, a lamp and 130 steps down into the Bartolomej adit.

It can be 30 °C outside; in the mine it is 8 to 10 °C. The tour takes 90 to 100 minutes.

Narrow galleries, rock, darkness, and the conditions miners worked in here for centuries. If you dislike confined spaces, the museum advises against the visit.

Bring a sweater. After an hour and a half underground, the hotel sauna makes a lot of sense.

  • About 1.7 km from the hotel, roughly 25 minutes on foot, below Klinger lake
  • On foot, no car
  • Booking ahead is recommended
  • muzeumbs.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
Water and bikes

Lakes, an e-bike and a train for the hills.

Klinger lake from above, surrounded by forest

The tajchy and Klinger

In 1851 women bathed in Klinger in the morning and men only from noon.

That was the bathing order. The tajchy were built to hold water that drove the mining machinery, and by the 19th century they had become summer bathing spots too.

Klinger is the closest to the hotel. The walk takes you out of the centre to the water and the forest. Coffee in town in the morning, towel over the shoulder, then Klinger.

Počúvadlo and Veľká Vodárenská are further out; take a car or a bike. The lakes are natural bathing with no lifeguard, so check the water before you go.

  • About 30 minutes on foot to Klinger
  • On foot, no car
  • No booking
An e-bike outside Hotel Grand Matej
Hotel service

An e-bike from the reception

Everything is uphill. On an e-bike that is an advantage.

Price
€49 a day
Deposit
in cash
Where
at the hotel reception

Rent an e-bike at the reception and you are out of the centre in a few minutes. One afternoon gets you to the lakes and up the forest tracks above town.

When the road climbs, turn up the assist. In the evening, hand the bike back at the reception and take your legs to the spa.

  • Starts at the hotel door
  • On foot, no car
The Štiavnická Anča road train on a street in the centre

Photo: Štiavnická Anča

The Štiavnická Anča train

See the town from Anča first. Then you know where to go back on foot.

The first Štiavnická Anča was a narrow-gauge train that puffed uphill from Hronská Breznica to Štiavnica from 1873. Local legend says it got its name for being slow.

Today’s Anča is a road train. It runs through town to the open-air mining museum, the Calvary, the Botanical Garden and Klinger lake, with an audio guide on the way.

The ticket is valid all day. Get off wherever you like and catch the next Anča on.

  • Boards on Holy Trinity Square
  • On foot, no car
  • Runs in season. Ask at the reception too.
  • stiavnickaanca-vlacik.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
Rainy day

Let it rain.

A museum on the square, hot water in a cave, and at the end of the day a sauna on the fifth floor.

  1. A girl wearing a virtual-reality headset at Cesta v čase

    Photo: Cesta v čase

    Cesta v čase

    Virtual reality where you expect glass cases.

    An exhibition on Holy Trinity Square. Put on a VR headset to see the Štiavnica supervolcano erupt, meet dinosaurs and visit the mining town of old.

    For more history, the Kammerhof is a few steps from the hotel. Children with energy left over after culture have the Hoplandia play centre in town.

    • Trinity Square, a few minutes on foot
    • On foot, no car
    • Hours and tickets on their site
    • cestavcase.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
  2. Two bathers in the thermal water of the Parenica cave bath

    Photo: Kúpele Sklené Teplice

    Parenica in Sklené Teplice

    It is pouring outside. You sit in a cave in 42-degree water.

    Parenica is a natural cave filled with hot thermal water. You stay in for at most 20 minutes, then rest for 20 minutes wrapped up dry in a quiet room.

    For ordinary swimming, Vyhne has thermal pools nearby. A museum in the morning, hot water in the afternoon, back in Štiavnica for dinner.

    Parenica is not suitable for children under 12. The spa advises against it for people with heart or circulation problems or high blood pressure.

  3. The hot tub in the private spa at Hotel Grand Matej

    The hotel’s private spa

    Štiavnica is walked. By evening your legs will remind you.

    The spa is on the 5th floor of the hotel, with a balcony overlooking the whole town.

    The price covers the whole spa just for you: the hot tub, the Finnish sauna, a shower and the balcony overlooking the town. In advance at the reception. The entire spa is reserved exclusively for your group during your booked session.

    Price: €20 per person for 1.5 hours. Arrange a time at the reception, ideally in the morning.

A skier on the slope below the Salamandra chairlift

Photo: Salamandra Resort

Winter

On the slope in the morning, in town by evening.

Salamandra Resort

The Veterné sedlo run is 1,450 metres long with a 271-metre drop. A four-seat chairlift takes you up; beginners and children have a drag lift.

The resort has a ski school and rental. Ski in the morning, warm up in the sauna in the afternoon, walk into the snowy centre in the evening.

  • About 20 minutes by car
  • Car needed
  • Snow and opening on their site
  • salamandra.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
Evening

Evenings in Štiavnica are on foot.

Banská Štiavnica lit up in its valley at night

Photo: Tomáš Malík , Unsplash License

An evening walk and Restaurant Matej

Once it gets dark and the day visitors leave, Trinity Square goes quiet.

Take a short loop up through town from the hotel. Lit lanes and half an hour with nowhere to be.

Then dinner at Restaurant Matej, Akademická 4. It is a separate restaurant in its own house a few steps away, open daily 12:00 – 21:30.

Book a table at the hotel reception: +421 903 404 533. The car stays parked all evening.

  • Akademická 4, a few steps from the hotel
  • On foot, no car
  • Tables via the reception
  • Restaurant Matej
The RUINbar courtyard at night, stone walls and guests at tables

Photo: RUINbar

RUINbar in the Limpacher palace

A drink in a five-hundred-year-old palace.

RUINbar is on Holy Trinity Square, in the Limpacher palace. The old walls and the Renaissance courtyard were left almost untouched.

The bar’s terrace sits below the Holy Trinity column. It is a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.

  • Trinity Square, a few minutes on foot
  • On foot, no car
  • Hours on their site
  • ruina.sk (checked 4 October 2026)
More tips

If you have time left.

  • The Old Castle

    A fortress above the town with mining museum exhibitions.

    ViewsRainy dayNo car

  • Guided town walk

    Lanes, burgher houses and mining history at first hand.

    First dayNo car

  • Botanical Garden

    Sequoias and exotic trees beside the old Mining Academy.

    No car

  • Svätý Anton Manor

    A Baroque manor with a hunting exhibition, just outside town.

    Rainy day Car needed

    • msa.sk (checked 4 October 2026)

  • Crystal quarry

    Find a crystal of your own.

    With kids

  • Počúvadlo

    The best-known lake: boats, pedalos, restaurants.

    Water and bikes Car needed

  • Richňava, Evičkino, Vindšachta…

    A network of mining lakes linked by trails.

    Water and bikes

  • Sitno

    The highest peak of the Štiavnica hills, with a view of the whole region.

    Views

  • Vyhne spa

    Thermal pools a few kilometres from town.

    Water and bikesRainy dayWinter Car needed

  • Indoor shooting range

    Short and long firearms, paper and metal targets.

    Rainy day

  • Bowling

    An easy evening for groups and families.

    Rainy dayEvening

  • Pražovňa

    A bar on Kammerhofská with live music and craft beer.

    EveningNo car

Coloured houses and roofs below the Old Castle in autumn

Leave a gap in the plan

We would rather not give away all of Štiavnica’s best places.

The Old Castle, the lakes and the mine are easy to put in a plan. Štiavnica is at its best when the plan goes a little wrong.

You turn into a lane, look through an open gate into a courtyard, find a small gallery or a view between two houses. Suddenly you are an hour away from where you meant to be.

Keep a few hours of your stay free. Step out onto Kammerhofská and walk whichever way looks best.

Photo: ALENA , Unsplash License

Your room is on Kammerhofská. The rest is on foot.

Book your stay directly with the hotel. The reception will help with routes, the spa and e-bikes.

Partners’ opening hours and prices change. Links go to their official sites, checked on the date shown. The reception is glad to help too.

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