This is one of the prettiest  of the towns in Banksá Bystrica, the largest of Slovakia's eight regions. Located in the centre of the country, this mountainous swath (including the Low Tatras range) is also the least densely populated, with forests full of wildlife-spotting and outdoor-adventure options; fascinating caves; the vintage Čiernohronská Forest Railway; a "geopark" mixing lovely forestland with preserved historic remnants of the area's onetime copper-mining industry, and its capital city, also called Banská Bystrica (pop. around 78,000), which boasts a gorgeous historic core hot on the heels of the Renaissance towns of Italy in terms of style and beauty.

Read more in our post Slovakia Is an Under-the-radar European Gem.

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