Bratislava's main station
Bratislava Hlavna Stanica is Bratislava's main station, usually abbreviated to Bratislava hl.st.. Hlavna means main, Stanica means station and is pronounced staneetsa. All major train routes radiate from here.
Bratislava Petrzalka is a secondary station, further from the city centre and south of the river. An hourly regional service links Vienna & Bratislava Petrzalka, but it's better to stick with the trains linking Vienna to Bratislava Hlavna.
Overview Station plan Location map
In 99% of cases your train will arrive or depart from Bratislava Hlavna Stanica, the city's main station. It isn't huge, just 6 platforms served by 10 tracks. The modern foyer at the front was added in 1987 as a temporary measure but it's still in use today, known locally as the Skleník or greenhouse. Behind lurks the original 1905 station building, heavily remodelled in 1960 when the impressive mural was added.
Bratislava Hlavna Stanica, forecourt.
Bratislava Hlavna Stanica, main entrance into the Skleník (greenhouse). Note the winged railway wheel on top of the original 1905 station building.
Inside the Skleník (greenhouse), added in 1987 as a temporary measure but still here today. The domestic ticket office is in the background with (on far left) the yellow Regiojet ticket window. Turn right here for the tram station.
Steps up from the Skleník (greenhouse) concourse to the original 1905 booking hall.
The original 1905 booking hall, with an impressive mural dating from 1960. The ticket windows on either side are for more complex bookings including international tickets & reservations. The left luggage office is through the exit in the far left corner. Platforms are straight ahead, down the steps under the mural into the pedestrian subway. For a lift down to the subway, go onto platform 1.
Bratislava Hlavna showing platform 2 (left) and platform 1 (right).
Which platform for your train?
Slovakia, like Poland, confusingly numbers both tracks (koľaje) and island platforms (nástupišťa), with different sets of numbers. Just remember that the platform numbers used on all the summary of departure boards are those of the nástupišťa, the island platform.
Bratislava Hlavna Stanica is a through station (not a terminus) with 6 platforms served by some 10 tracks, see station plan. Platforms 1-5 are numbered 1 to 5 with platform 1 next to the station building. Platform 6 is a small terminus platform at the eastern end of platform 1.
There are no ticket gates or barriers, just open & easy access from street to concourse to platform to train.
From the 1905 booking hall you go down steps into a narrow pedestrian subway under all the tracks, with steps up to each platform. There are in fact two such subways linking all the platforms, some 100m apart.
If you don't want to use steps with luggage, walk from the booking hall onto platform 1 and turn left. Look for the lift down into the subway (see the photo below left). Once in the subway there are lifts up onto each platform.
Incidentally, trains to Vienna & Prague head out of the station to the west, which is to your left when walking into the station towards the platforms. Trains to Budapest leave to the east (to the right).
Platform (nástupišťa) 2, with track (koľaje) 4 on one side and track (koľaje) 2 on the other.
Tickets & reservations
Domestic tickets: The Slovakian Railways domestic ticket office is in the Skleník (greenhouse), open all day from before 04:00 to after 00:00.
Complex ticket windows: There are ticket windows for more complex transactions such as international tickets, reservations, couchettes & sleepers on both sides of the 1905 booking hall, up the steps from the greenhouse. Open every day from early morning to late at night.
Travel centre, open every day, 07:20-18:25: For a more relaxed booking experience for international tickets, reservations, couchettes & sleepers, ZSSK has a travel centre with open counters, easier than shouting through a window in a noisy booking hall. Go up the steps from greenhouse into the 1905 booking hall and turn right into the passageway pictured below right. You'll find it with distinctive orange signage on the right.
Regiojet (the open-access operator running Bratislava-Prague trains in competition with the national operators) has its own ticket window next to the domestic ticket offices in the greenhouse, with Regiojet's distinctive yellow branding.
Two of the four 'complex ticket service' windows in the 1905 booking hall.
Left luggage
There is a staffed left luggage office and self-service lockers in various locations if you need to leave your bags while you visit the city, see the luggage lockers page for opening times & prices.
Coming from outside the station, walk through the Skleník (greenhouse) and up the steps into the 1905 booking hall. The staffed left luggage office is in a short passageway leading from the far left corner of the hall, see the photo below left. Coming off a train, walk into the old booking hall and turn right.
Walking, taxi or tram to the city centre
Walking
It's 1.6 km from Bratislava Hlavna to St Michael's Gate (Michalská ulica) in the old town, walking takes 19 minutes.
Taxis
Taxis are usually plentiful outside the station. Taxi fare calculator.
Tram 1 to the city centre:
Tram number 1 runs every 8-15 minutes from its terminus outside the station to Námestie SNP tram stop closest to the old city, journey time 9 minutes, fare less than €1. The Bratislava public transport website is imhd.sk/ba/public-transport.
The tram terminus is on the east side of the station forecourt, one level down in a sort of open pit. You can't get down into this pit from the forecourt, you reach the tram terminus down steps or escalator from inside the station.
When arriving on a train, walk through the old station hall and down the few steps into the Skleník (greenhouse). Once in the greenhouse, turn left into a short and rather gloomy passageway. At the end of this passageway there are escalators and steps down to the tram station, it's marked on this station plan.
You can pay the fare with a contactless bank card, simply touch your bank card against the contactless reader until it registers. The fare will be deducted from your bank account. Or you can buy a ticket from a newsstand or ticket machine, remembering to stamp it in the validator machine on board the tram.
The 'tram pit', viewed from the forecourt above. You access the trams down escalators from inside the station.
To reach the trams, walk along the passageway above left, from the greenhouse to the escalators down to the tram station (above, right).
Travel tips
There is a rather basic waiting area with free WiFi upstairs in the foyer, zsr-hotspot.
There are various ATMs and many food kiosks and shops around the station. There are also various small cafes selling coffee or beer.
For a decent meal the Moree restaurant (moree.co) has been recommended, just 2 minutes outside the station, see walking map.
If you've time to kill before your train, a coffee or beer in the quiet and civilised bar on the ground floor of the Clarion Congress Hotel at the foot of the station approach road might be better than waiting in the hustle and bustle of the station. It's a few minutes away, walk down the station approach road and do a wide u-turn a few metres up the next road over to your left, see walking map. It also has has free WiFi.
The original 1848 station
The original Vienna-Bratislava railway station from 1848 still stands, a terminus used before Bratislava Hlavna was rebuilt as a through station. It's at the foot of the station approach road, in the photo below left that's the left turn into the approach road up to the current station immediately to the right of the 1848 station. The original station is now used as offices for the Slovak railway police. There's a small transport museum on the old terminus tracks behind it, for details go to stm-ke.sk and under Branches select Museum of Transport in Bratislava.
Hotels near the station
For a good hotel near the station with great reviews go for the Clarion Congress Hotel or Hotel Matysak.
For something cheaper, the inexpensive Hostel Brickyard is a stone's throw from the station with good reviews.
Hotels in the old town
If staying longer, I'd book a hotel in the old town nearer all the sights. Top choices include the Arcadia Boutique Hotel or Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, both of which get 9 out of 10.