Orava Castle tickets, tours and hours

Opening hours, month by month

These are the hours of the ticket office, which sits in the Orava Castle Information Centre under the castle, taken from the museum's 2026 schedule. The day is longest in summer and shortest in winter, and April is mostly closed: in 2026 the office opened only from 1 to 7 April, 09:00 to 15:00, and from 25 to 30 April, 09:00 to 16:00. The castle is also closed on 1 January and from 24 to 26 December. The museum revises its calendar each year, so check its opening-hours page before you fix a date, especially in spring.

• January to March, November and December: 09:00 to 15:00
• May and October: 09:00 to 16:00
• June and September: 09:00 to 16:00 on weekdays, 09:00 to 17:00 at weekends
• July and August: 08:30 to 17:00

Three self-guided routes

Most visits are self-guided. You choose a route at the ticket office and walk it at your own pace. The Main Tour (A) is the year-round route, with April listed as the exception. It takes about 60 minutes and climbs from the Lower Castle's defences through the Middle Castle's historical, natural history and ethnographic exhibitions to the Citadel at the top, with its archaeology display and a media library on the films shot at the castle. The Small Tour (B) stays in the Lower Castle. The Big Tour (A+B) joins the two and covers every part open to the public.

• Main Tour (A): all three levels, about 60 minutes
• Small Tour (B): the main courtyard, the Treasury, St Michael's Chapel and the first floor of the Thurzo Palace, about 30 minutes, 1 May to 31 October
• Big Tour (A+B): everything open to visitors, about 90 minutes, 1 May to 31 October

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Guided tours run only in July and August

Guided tours for individual visitors run only in July and August, and the museum describes them as tours in Slovak. The guided Main Tour takes about 100 minutes for a group of up to 50 people, and it leaves out the Thurzo Palace, the Treasury and St Michael's Chapel. The guided Big Tour takes about 160 minutes for up to 30 people and covers every part of the castle open to the public. Tickets for guided tours are sold online and at the ticket office. Online sales close two hours before each tour starts.

English: the app, or a group guide

For English as an individual visitor, use the app. The museum's audioguide app, called Orava Castle, comes in English, German, Polish, Russian and Hungarian. Download it before you arrive and bring earphones, as the museum recommends. English-speaking guides are available for organised groups of more than 15 people, booked by phone or email. Guides in Polish, German, Russian and other languages are hired in from outside, so those tours are not always possible. For a group tour in a foreign language, the museum recommends booking at least 7 days ahead.

Buying tickets at the castle

Guided tours can be booked online. For a self-guided visit, plan to buy your ticket at the ticket office under the castle: the museum's own pages differ on whether those are sold online too. You can pay in cash or by card. Children under 6 go free with a parent. Students, pensioners over 60 and visitors with disabilities get a reduced ticket with proof, such as an ISIC card, an ID card or a passport, and a carer goes free. A family ticket for two adults and their children is valid on the Main Tour only. The museum is run by the Žilina region, not the Ministry of Culture, so free first-Wednesday entry doesn't apply here.

What closes in winter and bad weather

Some rooms close in the cold months. St Michael's Chapel, the Treasury and the Second Castle Gallery are shut from January to April and in November and December. In frost or snow, the Citadel at the top may close for safety, and staff tell visitors before the tour starts. There is no shelter at the castle's main entrance, so if it rains while you wait, use the gazebo by the main access road or the Information Centre. In summer the museum also runs Night Tours, often with theatre and music. Special events can carry their own admission, and their tickets are sold online only.

Stairs, rules and photos

The castle is built up a steep rock, and the museum counts 754 stairs and 154 rooms. It describes the terrain as steep and uneven throughout, so wear shoes with good grip and allow for the climb on the Main or Big Tour. The Small Tour is the one the museum suggests for visitors who are afraid of heights or have limited mobility, because it never leaves the Lower Castle. Taking photos or video of the interiors during your visit needs a separate paid permit. The permit isn't needed in the Thurzo Palace or the Second Castle Gallery.

• No prams, wheelchairs or bicycles: the terrain doesn't allow them
• No dogs or other animals, even muzzled or in a bag
• No smoking, eating or alcohol; drinking water only in the courtyards and other outer areas

The private day tour from Bratislava

If you're based in Bratislava without a car, the tour we link to handles the whole day. It's a private 14.5-hour trip by car or van with a driver who also guides, in English, Slovak or Czech, run by SlovakiaTravel.online. Pickup points are in Bratislava, Senec and Trnava. The drive out takes a little under four hours, with an optional cheese-making stop on the way, and about three hours are set aside at the castle. Entrance to Orava Castle is included. On the way back you pick one more stop: Budatín Castle, Kremnica, Banská Bystrica, Špania Dolina, the wooden church at Hronsek, or Nitra. Free cancellation is available up to 24 hours before.

• Included: private car transfer, driver-guide, water, video and internet in the car, Orava Castle entrance
• Not included: meals, other entrance fees, the optional cheese workshop in Zázrivá
• Lunch is usually Slovak food at a shepherd's hut near Ružomberok or Dolný Kubín

Getting there on your own

Orava Castle stands above the village of Oravský Podzámok in northern Slovakia. Drivers can use two paid public car parks, each about a 4-minute walk from the ticket office. Cars are not allowed on the main entrance road. By train, the village is on the Trstená to Kraľovany line and has two stops: get off at Oravský Podzámok, a 10-minute walk from the ticket office, rather than Oravský Podzámok zastávka. By bus, the museum recommends the Oravský Podzámok námestie stop, about a 3-minute walk away. Groups arriving in their own coach can use the public car parks.

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Who this isn't for

If you use a wheelchair or travel with a pram, the castle won't work on any route, and the day tour lists wheelchair users as unsuitable too. Dogs aren't allowed either. If you want a live English-speaking guide as an individual visitor, the castle doesn't offer one, so you'll rely on the app. The day tour won't suit you if you're starting from Kraków or Zakopane, since pickup is in western Slovakia, or if 14.5 hours is too long a day. The provider also lists it as unsuitable for people with a low level of fitness, babies under 1 and visually impaired travellers.