Žilina

The region

Get to know Žilina

The Žilina region in the north of the country is surrounded by mountains: Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra, the Western Tatras, the northern side of the Low Tatras and the Beskides, on the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. The Kysuce, Orava, Turiec and Liptov valleys each have their own traditions of wooden houses, music and sheep-milk cheeses.

Žilina, the capital, has an arcaded square and is the starting point for Malá Fatra National Park. In Terchová, where Juraj Jánošík — a hero of Slovak folk legends — was born in 1688, the trails of Vrátna dolina and the Jánošíkove diery gorges begin. Strečno Castle, above the Váh, lies on the route between Žilina and Terchová.

In the Orava valley, the castle stands on a rock above the river and was used as a setting for the 1922 film Nosferatu. In Zuberec, the Orava Village Museum brings together wooden houses moved from across the region, at the foot of the Roháče mountains in the Western Tatras.

In Liptov, the Jasná resort in the Demänová valley climbs to Chopok, at 2,024 m, in the Low Tatras, and welcomes skiers in winter and hikers in summer. In the same valley are the Cave of Freedom and the Demänová Ice Cave. Vlkolínec, on the slopes above Ružomberok, preserves the layout of a mountain village and is on the World Heritage list.

In Čičmany, the wooden houses are decorated with white geometric patterns, and Martin hosts Slovakia’s largest open-air museum. The region’s cuisine includes bryndzové halušky, small potato gnocchi with the sheep cheese bryndza, and smoked cheeses such as oštiepok.