The Smolenice castle (GPS: 48.513611, 17.432222) can be easily reached by car and one can use the parking places inside the castle walls.

However, most attendees come to ICCBIC by public transport via Vienna and Bratislava. In this case one can take advantage of dedicated buses from the ICCBIC Assembly Point in Bratislava (see further) heading directly to the castle. More details and recommendations regarding several alternatives follow.

Vienna ⇒ Bratislava

One can reach Bratislava from Vienna by following ways:

• from Vienna Airport (“Flughafen Wien-Schwechat”) directly to Bratislava (no need to travel to Vienna first) by using one of following bus lines
  1. Regiojet (55 minutes, 6-11 €), we recommend using this company and get off at “Bus Station – Nivy”, but “Most SNP” is also convenient, Regiojet has a connection almost every hour except night, RegioJet app available at Google Play and Apple Store, schedule and ticket reservation at https://regiojet.com/.
  2. Flixbus (50 minutes, 10-15 €), get off at “Bus Station – Nivy”, or “Most SNP”, do not take the line with terminal station at “Bratislava Einsteinova”, since this is a suburb station, Flixbus has a connection almost every hour except night, Flixbus app available at Google Play and Apple Store, schedule and ticket reservation at https://global.flixbus.com/.
  3. Slovak Lines (50 minutes, 9-11 €) get off at “Bus Station – Nivy”, or “Most SNP”, Slovak Lines app available at Google Play and Apple Store, schedule and ticket reservation at https://www.slovaklines.sk/en/.
• from Vienna Main Railway Station (“Hauptbahnhof”, Hbf) by trains No. 701 and 910, operated by ÖBB (70 minutes, about 12 €). The trains depart every hour. Take care to get the train to Bratislava Hl. st., not to Bratislava-Petržalka, since this is a suburb station. All information can be found at following webpage:
  https://www.oebb.at/en/ (the timetables are at https://www.oebb.at/en/fahrplan/fahrplanbilder),
• from Vienna River port (Schiffstation Wien City), the company Twin City Liner operates four journeys a day by 33-52 €, schedule and ticket reservation at https://ticket.twincityliner.com/en.

Bratislava ⇒ ICCBIC Assembly Point (Bratislava)

In Bratislava we set up the ICCBIC Assembly Point at

At the ICCBIC Assembly Point you can leave your luggage and have a little refreshment (coffee, snacks etc.).

All information on moving around the city can be found at IDS BK app available at Google Play and Apple Store. The easiest ways to get to the ICCBIC Assembly Point are as follows:

• from the Bratislava Main Railway Station (“Hlavná stanica”, Hl. st.) by tram No. 1, get off at the 3^rd stop called “STU”, 4 minutes
• from the Bus Station - Nivy (“Autobusová stanica - Nivy”) by trolleybus No. 42 (direction “Červený Most”), get off at the 3^rd stop called “Kollárovo námestie”, 6 minutes
• from the bus stop “Most SNP” by tram No. 4 (direction “Zlaté piesky”), change at the first stop (“Šafárikovo námestie”) to the tram No. 1 (direction “Hlavná stanica”), get off at the 3^rd stop called “Vysoká”, 1 min + 5 min + time for change
• from the Bratislava Airport by bus No. 61 to the Main Railway Station and then change to the tram No. 1 (see above, 25 minutes + 4 minutes + time for change)

Fare tickets can be purchased

1. in the paper form before entering the vehicle in nearby kiosk or slot machine (recommended, accepts VISA, Mastercard, Maestro and coins). If using the paper ticket, do not forget to mark it immediately upon entry into the vehicle, otherwise the ticket is not valid. The spot-checks in public transport are common and the fees are high.
2. in the electronic form using the IDS BK app (recommended, although a registration is necessary),
3. in the electronic form using a touchscreen validator in the vehicle (VISA, Mastercard and Maestro accepted, not recommended as the validators sometimes do not work properly),
4. as a SMS ticket (not recommended, a Slovak SIM card is necessary, and delivery of SMS may take longer time than expected).

You need a 30-minute ticket (1.10 € in paper form, 0.97 € in IDS BK app) when coming from the Main Railway Station and from the Bus Station – Nivy. A 60-minute ticket is needed (3 zones variant, 1.60 € in paper form, 1.41 € in IDS BK app) when coming from the Bratislava Airport. The paper tickets are fully transferable, electronic tickets are transferable for one line change. More details on all ticket types, prices, and fare conditions can be found also at https://www.idsbk.sk/en/ticket-prices/ and https://imhd.sk/ba/doc/en/20709/20709

When walking in the city, keep in mind that the trams have always higher priority than pedestrians!!!

ICCBIC Assembly Point (Bratislava) ⇒ Smolenice

If travelling to on your own, keep in mind, that the regular bus makes stop in the centre of Smolenice village and the Smolenice castle must be reached by walk (about 20 minutes uphill, castle is well visible).

The easiest way to get directly to the Smolenice castle is by taking any of three dedicated buses. They are marked with the label "XXIX. ICCBIC" and depart from the ICCBIC Assembly Point as follows:

Smolenice village can be reached by a regular bus connection from the Bus Station - Nivy (operated by “SAD Trenčín“ or “Arriva“, final destination “Myjava”, or “Senica” or “Chtelnica”) departing as follows:

The ticket (about 3 €) must be purchased from the bus driver. The time schedule can be subject of change, we recommend checking it on the following webpage: https://cp.hnonline.sk/en/bus/spojenie/

Smolenice ⇒ Bratislava

After the conference, two dedicated buses will be available to return from Smolenice castle to Bratislava (stops at the Bratislava Airport, Bus Station - Nivy, Bratislava Main Railway Station and at the ICCBIC Assembly Point).

The journey to Bratislava takes about one hour. Details about the bus stops in the city will be provided during the conference.