Photos: Cafcoo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Ladislav Luppa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Patrik Kunec, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo credits
Photos: Cafcoo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Ladislav Luppa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Patrik Kunec, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The mining lakes above Banská Štiavnica, live
Your local guide
Tomáš Baláž
View profile
Highlights
- An 18th-century dam built to power mines
- Water that once turned wheels underground
- A mining reservoir now used for swimming
- Hills reflected across a working lake
- Engineering that still shapes the valley
About this tour
This session follows one of the Tajch lakes just outside Banská Štiavnica, a reservoir built two centuries ago to keep the mines running rather than for scenery. You see the earth dam wall up close and then the open water it holds back, now used for swimming rather than machinery. It is a quiet look at engineering that still shapes the landscape today.
I start at the dam wall and explain how the whole system once worked, then move along the shore toward the swimming area. Questions come in throughout, especially about how the water reached the mines from here. I send a short note afterwards with the names of the other lakes in the chain.
This suits anyone who likes engineering history as much as scenery, or wants a calmer session after a day of old town streets. It also works well paired with the castle tour for a fuller picture of the town.
Included
- Live video walk with a local guide
- Questions to your guide all the way
- A short list of places to visit later
Not included
- Internet connection
- Travel to the city
Itinerary
-
Welcome and sound check 5 min
The guide joins the video call, checks the picture and sound with you, and gives you a quick sense of Banská Štiavnica before heading out.
-
Klinger Tajch Dam 21 min
You see the earth dam wall of one of the oldest reservoirs, built in the 18th century purely to keep the mine's water wheels turning.
-
Lakeside Swimming Spot 21 min
The camera turns to the water itself, where a mining-era reservoir now doubles as the town's summer swimming spot, hills reflected across the surface.
-
Your questions 9 min
Time to ask anything about Banská Štiavnica: prices, safety, food, or whatever you are curious about.
-
A short list to keep 4 min
Before you go, the guide sums up with a few things worth remembering: a dish to try: Baníkov guláš (miner's goulash) and Šobov, worth a slower look.
Good to know
- A stable wifi or mobile connection makes the picture smoother than a shaky one.
- Any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. You watch, the guide does the walking.
- Times are shown in Bratislava time, so check the time where you are before you book.
- The session is not recorded, and recording it yourself is not allowed. Feel free to take your own notes.
- Ask questions any time, out loud or in the chat. The guide will pause to answer.
- Sessions run in small groups, up to 8 people, so there is room for everyone to ask something.
Questions about this tour
What will the session cover?
The guide walks through Banská Štiavnica, showing you Klinger Tajch Dam and Lakeside Swimming Spot live on camera, plus whatever else you would like to see.
What happens if my connection drops?
Rejoin with the same link within a few minutes and the guide will catch you up on anything you missed.
Can I ask the guide questions during the session, or is it a fixed script?
Anything, any time. Sessions leave room for your own questions throughout, not just at the end.
How it works
- You get one join link after booking.
- Join from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
- We meet on Google Meet and I send the link with your booking. I walk the dam paths with my phone so you see the water and the hills around it.
Times shown in Bratislava time (CET)
Cancellation
Flexible
- Cancel up to 24 hours before the start: full refund.
- Cancel less than 24 hours before the start, or no-show: no refund.
- If the guide cancels or the date does not reach its minimum group: full refund.
- Cancel in My Account → Bookings; the refund is calculated from the start time in the tour's local time.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Reviews appear here after travellers have completed this tour.
How reviews work
Only travellers who booked and paid through Locals Guide and whose tour took place can leave a review, within 60 days of the tour. Every review is marked "Verified booking". We check reviews before they appear and publish positive and negative ones alike; we remove only reviews that break our rules (insults, personal data, unrelated content). Guides cannot pay for, edit or hide reviews, and ratings are the plain average of all published reviews.
Next: Sat 31 Oct · 8 seats left From 18,00 €
Book