By Tim Crighton

The journey from Prague to Bratislava was four and a half hours and it was a pleasant journey by a modern "Pendolino" train - no different than a Virgin train from Manchester to London. On time too!

Having spent two days in Prague, what struck me first about Bratislava is that is felt a lot smaller than Prague. With a 1.2m population in Prague and 0.5m in Bratislava, the stats support this first impression (although both these figures are likely to be big underestimations due to the amount of commuting into both cities). I also got the impression of slightly more open space than Prague, especially outside of the Old Town.

Bratislava Old Town is very picturesque, dominated by an impressive square but with several streets running in close proximity. The café bars were brimming with locals, and some impressive looking cars were parked in the streets.

Coming out of the Old Town is where you can visibly see a significant amount of change - you get a real feel of a rapidly expanding business district.