Levitating towards Spis Castle

Driving in Central Europe is nothing like driving in Western Europe. Highways are practically non-existent and rest stops are not so easy to find. The drive from  from Budapest to Levoca took us quite a while, and we were glad when we finally arrived in Levoca.

We spent a night in Levoca as it was the nearest town to Spis Castle. It was quite an experience arriving in Levoca since we got there really late. The town was really really tiny and we were lucky that the hotel owner was nice enough to wait for us to arrive. If not, we might have had to spend the night in the car instead!

Other than being located near Spis Castle, Levoca also had a tourist attraction in its own right, St James Church, which has the largest Gothic altarpiece in Central Europe. There was a school excursion when we were there, but even without the school kids, we wouldn’t have managed to see it. It was under restoration so it was covered up and you can’t see the full height of it.  In any case, it was just somewhere we dropped by before heading to Spis Castle, the appetizer before the main course so to speak.

Spis Castle

Spis Castle is one of the largest castle complex in Europe and also on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. It was a bit of a hike up from the car park but totally worth it. We also got to whip out our hiking sticks. Since it wasn’t summer yet, it wasn’t crowded which was nice for exploring the place. Still it was a pity that it wasn’t summer, cos apparently that’s when the castle has night tours and people dress up as in medieval times. Nevertheless, it was pretty pleasant to walk around the castle and enjoy the view. It may be in the middle of nowhere but definitely worth paying a visit for.

Our hiking sticks