While travelling through Europe, I didn’t expect to make a stop at a place I’d never heard anything about before.

Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia and the host of the oldest marathon in Europe – the International Peace Marathon. 

Despite being a rather big city, it feels more like a town as there isn’t loads to do there, but it’s still a great little place to visit on your travels. 

Visiting somewhere which is a bit more unheard of might mean there isn’t an endless list of tourist attractions to tick off but I found that makes it a lot more interesting.

Our accommodation was a small family-run hostel called the Happy Bull. After arriving in the city on a late-night train, it was strange but welcoming to find the hosts waiting up for us. 

In the days that followed, we headed to the East Slovak Museum, which at the time had only a handful of visitors, a detail that helped make the visit an even more memorable experience. 

Although it felt slightly like being in the ‘Night at the Museum’ film, there are plenty of exhibitions to see as you wander through the empty corridors.

The city’s main tourist attraction, Saint Elizabeth’s Cathedral, is also worth a visit for the views from the top. Although, beware of the steep stairs you’ll have to climb to reach the viewpoint. This medieval monument features a Gothic-style design and is the largest cathedral in Slovakia.

Another highlight of the city is the ‘singing fountain’. While it may not seem that special, I did pass by here a few times throughout my trip and stopped to see the lights and water timed to the sound of different traditional songs.

It was quite mesmerising to see in the dark, and others think so too as the fountain is currently included in the top three of Tripadvisor’s ‘things to do in Košice’ list.

It would appear the town doesn’t get many tourists as most people we met were locals. This means there is something very charming about the city.