About this journey

The journey departs from Nová Baňa station and heads south through the Hron River valley toward one of central Slovakia's most historically layered cities. No line number is recorded for this route, but the railway's connection to Banská Bystrica is well established: the first trains reached the city from Zvolen in 1873, threading the same river corridor the cab follows today.

Banská Bystrica station sits at 368 metres above sea level, set within a valley encircled by the Low Tatras to the north-east, the Veľká Fatra to the north-west, and the Kremnica Mountains to the west — a mountain backdrop that closes in steadily as the ZSSK 660 makes its approach. The city's Slovak name carries its own history: Banská derives from baňa, meaning mine, and Bystrica from the swift-flowing local river, marking a settlement shaped for centuries by copper extraction. That heritage weighs alongside another: on 29 August 1944, Banská Bystrica served as the centre from which the Slovak National Uprising was launched, one of the largest anti-Nazi resistance events in Europe. Today the city is home to approximately 76,000 inhabitants, making it the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia. The journey from Nová Baňa trades the quieter upper valley for a regional capital whose compact station belies the depth of the landscape and history surrounding it.