Devin Castle

I am a fan of Game of Throne. And this castle looked like a part of Westeros.I was supposed to go to Vienna today, but it was impossible to find accommodation. It also seemed impossible that there was literally no vacancy anywhere in Vienna. As I extended my trip, I met backpackers who came to Bratislava from Vienna because they could not find any place to stay. I guess it was possible, apparently.

But this incident resulted in the visit to Devin Castle, a castle at the border of Slovakia and Austria, that a friend of mine told me a few years ago. I unexpectedly discovered a starred location on my google map while looking for directions around Bratislava.

Just less than an hour of a bus ride from the capital, the city setting changed into small villages, and from a small town to a panoramic ancient ruin that was Davin Castle.

At first, I thought that the castle was one of the filming locations of the GOT series, but I realised it was not. Although it looked really similar with Astapor where Daenerys freed the Unsullied, the castle was much smaller than I imagined.

According to Google, the castle was closed on Monday. I was afraid that this detour of mine would end up with disappointments. However, it was because of that, nobody appeared to visit the castle that morning, but the castle was opened. Some reviews also said to visit in the morning as the crowd usually kicks in in the afternoon. Note, that the location is also popular with the locals.

I was at the castle by myself. While I enjoyed the whole I-have-the-whole-castle-to-myself feeling, I could not ask anyone to take a picture of me.

As it turned out, the location was more than just the castle itself. The entire area had a medieval feel to it. The old townhouses at the foot of the castle, the huge rivers of Danube and Morava and forest areas already mapped out for explorers alike. Apparently, visitors could also come to the castle by boat from Vienna and there were multiple docks by the river to accommodate ferries. The place could actually be really full of people. I was just really in luck to enjoy the scenic view of nature, albeit with the majority of restaurants closed.

I spent the entire morning exploring the castle, walking out and read a book by its garden. I walked by the river to the nearby towns till late afternoon before taking the public bus back to Bratislava.

Well, there is nothing much else to say from this day visit. It was a nice stroll in the quiet castle with the perfect weather. I was lucky to find a restaurant, where I was the only customer, had a nice chat with the waiter who thought that Singapore, where I am from, was located in China. Besides other things that we learned from each other, I was glad that I managed to straighten out that fact for him.