Activities

Also known as the Turiec Garden, located in the central and the northwestern part of Slovakia and named after the river flowing through it. Comprising an area of 1125 km2 and over 105,000 inhabitants, the region consists of 69 small and 3 larger towns – Martin, Turčianske Teplice and Vrútky. The Turiec valley is surrounded by four mountain ranges: Malá Fatra, Veľká Fatra, Kremnické Vrchy and Žiar. The valley is a part of Žilina region and is shared between the Martin and the Turčianske Teplice town districts. Some of the Turiec castles and monuments visitors can visit: Blatnica Castle, Sklabinský Castle, Zniev Castle, Mošovce Castle, Premonštrát monastery in Kláštor pod Znievom, the English park and manor in Tručianská Štiavnička. Natural beauties are represented by the Šútovský waterfall (the tallest in Malá Fatra) and the Tiesňava Gorge. Turiec is also known for its springs rich in minerals with Budiš and Fatra being the most famous.

Martin is a district town located in the north of Turiec. Its first written reference dates back to 1284. In 1994 Martin was declared a national cultural center. Since 1963 several cultural and national centers have been situated there. Martin is the seat of the Slovak National Museum, National Library, National Cemetery and The Slovak Folk Museum.

The valley at the foot of Lučanská Malá Fatra, about 3 km from Vila Valča, is the sports-and-recreation capital. Its Snowland (www.snowland.sk) resort is focused on active year-round recreation. The Ski resort was built in 2001 offering a wide range of activities: skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, inline skating, fishing, golf, football, tennis, volleyball, paintball, and others.

A town well known for its spas that are among the oldest and most visited in Europe, situated at 518 meters above sea level, at the foot of Veľká Fatra. It is said that these South Turiec spas are located in the exact “heart of Slovakia.” The procedures mainly consist of hydrotherapy and drink cures using sulphur-hydrocarbonate-calcium mineral water. The spa has become famous for treating musculoskeletal disorders not only for adults but also children.

Vlkolínec, a folk museum and an actual village, has become a historic reservation of folk architecture in 1977 with the goal of permanently preserving the cultural values of the site and maintaining it as an intact residential unit that in terms of homogeneity is second to none in the Central European region. Its inscription in the UNESCO World Heritage List (registration approved December 11, 1993 in Cartagena, Colombia), proves that preserving universal values of natural or cultural sites is beneficial to all mankind.

The 18 km long and easily accessible valley is located in the western part of Veľká Fatra and is one of the jewels of Slovak nature. Visitors appreciate the relatively small area containing a lot of rare natural formations and beautiful landscapes like The Gader caves and the very rich flora. The valley’s dense forests are rich in game. Deer, boars, chamois, bears and birds of prey including eagles can be found here. A crystal clear stream flows through the whole valley and the gateway to the valley is the village Blatnica, 15 km south of Martin and 13 km north of the spa Turčianske Teplice.