Set off on an adventure full of discovery, fun and mysteries. 8 exceptional places in the Banská Bystrica Region await you, hidden behind the clues on this map. You will guess some right away, while others will really make you rack your brain. But that is the best part.

And do not forget – adults will be your best helpers. They can also try to see whether they can solve all the clues 😊

• Read the clues numbered from 1 to 8.
• Each clue will guide you to one interesting place in the Banská Bystrica Region.
• When you think you know where to go, head there and take a really good look around.
• Notice even the tiniest details – they are exactly what will tell you that you are in the right place.
• When you discover the place, peel off the part of the map with the same number as the clue.
• More pieces will gradually be revealed on the map, and you will get closer and closer to uncovering all the hidden treasures.

Keep going until you discover all 8 places and reveal the map down to the very last piece.

And what happens next?

Then you will become a true explorer of the Banská Bystrica Region. You will find out that the greatest treasures are not only places, but also the experiences you have while searching for them.

• TIC Banská Bystrica – Historic Town Hall Building + Clock Tower
• TIC Bell Tower Brezno
• Litterra – A Space for Imagination Revúca
• Open-Air Mining Museum in Banská Štiavnica
• Maximilian Hell Regional Observatory and Planetarium in Žiar nad Hronom
• Lučenec Municipal Information Centre (Town Hall)
• TIK Detva in Detva
• TIK Stará Hora – Sebechleby

To make discovering even more fun, we have prepared short clues for all brave seekers. With them, no hidden treasure of our region will escape you. Ready, steady, the search begins!

In the old streets of that city, one sweet story has been whispered for more than 100 years. The year 1900 was written forever into the city’s history, but it was not because of treasures hidden deep in the mines. Rather, that was when an unknown confectioner arrived there all the way from distant Vršac in Serbia.

He did not bring gemstones with him, but something far more tempting – the secret of a sweet temptation for little and big sweet tooths alike. A strange thing is hidden in that secret – the sweet treat is not baked, yet it captivates the taste buds of everyone who tries it.

And what is even stranger? At first glance, it looks a bit like one completely ordinary vegetable that sailors once long ago brought from distant South America.

It was this very appearance that is said to have given the unique sweet its name, and today it is once again being made in the ancient city. Go there and meet the man who created it. He has a moustache and, from an old photograph, watches over the women still preparing this delicacy today to make sure they follow his recipe.

Imagine that in a single moment your bicycle turns into a swift arrow and carries you, as if in a time machine, through the streets of a city ruled by an extraordinary protector. It is neither a dragon nor a lion, but a feathered symbol of sacrifice and endless care.

In old legends, this bird feeds its young with its own blood so they may survive. Why does this city have it in its coat of arms? Because its history was full of fire and destruction, yet the city always managed to rise again in beauty.

Do you want to see the whole city at once? Charter a plane. Afraid of heights? Then there is another way. Look for the city’s building, in whose walls the spirit of the past still lives – whispering stories of a golden treasure, an old school and a famous enamel works.

Right next to it stands an inconspicuous house that once served as a refuge for men fighting fire. Behind its doors, a miracle happened. As if by magic, the whole city entered it. Do you already know where the entire city hid itself inside a single building?

Your steps will lead you to places where a wild volcano rests. In the middle of beautiful nature stands a little house with a thatched roof, as if cut straight out of a fairy tale.

When evening comes and the stars light up in the sky, it reminds many children of the well-known grandpa who has been lighting the stars with his faithful little dog on television screens for many years. What you see on TV every single evening, you can discover in real life in Podpoľanie.

All you need to do is sit quietly on the wooden bench, close your eyes, and for a moment become part of children’s fairy tales. Do not forget to take a photograph from there so you have proof that you really visited the place where the bedtime story begins. Where is it?

Where the borders of 3 national parks meet – Slovak Paradise, Muránska Planina and the Low Tatras – a thin little spring is born beneath a wooden roof, and it gradually becomes a long water serpent.

Its mother is Kráľova hoľa and its uncle is the Danube. As a youngster, it was very mischievous and often troubled the giants who lived in Horehronie. There were times when important trade and transport routes led through its valley. Today, an unforgettable rafting experience awaits you there as soon as it gathers enough strength.

The goal of your exploration is the key that unlocks the whole journey of this water serpent. A footpath also leads here, winding past the famous arches – the Chmaroš Viaduct and the Telgárt Viaduct. Many a photographer and curious gaze stops here indeed.

When you are returning from here, stop by the magical car from the famous fairy tale and persuade your parents to enjoy a nice coffee in a railway carriage. At what interesting point will you find yourself now?

Welcome to the land of sleeping power, which once hurled glowing lava full of gold, silver and precious metals to the surface.

Your adventurous journey begins in the heart of the famous mining town and climbs upward – first past the house of the man who photographed world-famous stars; then past the wooden work of art named Transfer and further along by the Forester’s Lodge. On the way, you must also go around the deep wound in the earth that the miners left here.

If your eyes gradually spot five shining mirrors, one of them the color of the summer sky, you are on the right trail.

At the end of your journey, an unexpected theater awaits you – just sit down on the wooden steps and the whole town below you will turn into your very own stage. Where can you walk the paths of a huge volcano that once created all the wealth beneath you?

Do you have your head in the clouds and love proper space adventures? Then hop into a balloon, because we are inviting you to a magical land of iron and fairy tales. In the place where the first Slovak students once sweated in school desks, unbridled imagination rules today. In this extraordinary world, it is strictly forbidden to keep your hands in your pockets – touching objects and exploring them is your main task.

You will find 4 very interesting worlds there – of image, writing, light and, believe it or not, even stellar science. Because a man came from here who sent another person straight to the Moon in a huge balloon. That curious thinker flew his balloon for 10 months, 3 weeks and 5.5 hours, which is no small feat. And then he wrote down what he experienced on Earth, around the Moon and the Sun, and what he knew about the Planets, the Comets, the Origin and the End of the World.

You will also meet that famous astronaut (without a spacesuit), who keeps turning his head around in amazement at everything – he stands there like an iron guardian with his flying balloon and can hardly wait for you to take off with him into the realm of fantasy.

In a small village at the very end of the world, or almost at the end of Hont, known rather for its tuff cellars and rolling vineyards, there stand little houses guarding the gates to other times.

In one stone house, old stories from the lives of your grandparents come to life. In the garden, a dwelling awaits that remembers the times of the ancient Celts.

But the real adventure awaits you in the little house where more than 500 faces, made of wood, stone, bones and other materials, stare at you from the walls. You will find a face 5,000 years old there, as well as a modern treasure that adorned singer Lady Gaga’s face a few years ago.

The biggest giant among these mysterious faces came here from Slovenia, and another one – a face without eyes – traveled here all the way from distant Australia. The great thing is that in this kingdom, for a little while, you can be anyone you like. Where are those five hundred eyes that are watching you right now?

In one place in the town on the Hron, there is a magical hall where the vast universe seems so close that you could almost touch it with your fingertips.

The local guardians of the stars will reveal to you where the huge flames in the sky come from, what invisible hand keeps us on the ground, and what secrets are hidden by the far side of the silver wanderer. Thanks to a giant glass eye, you will see our nearest star, distant planets and shimmering constellations from very close up. When night comes, you are not afraid, because the sky has come one step closer to you.

This whole magical world bears the name of a famous native son who explored celestial mysteries centuries ago – he even traveled by carriage to the north of Europe, beyond the Arctic Circle, because of Venus. What is that place where the stars always shine and you can touch them without a space rocket?