Banská Bystrica is a handsome town in the heart of central Slovakia, set in a wide valley surrounded by the peaks of the Low Tatras and Veľká Fatra ranges. It grew wealthy in the Middle Ages on copper mining — the Thurzó-Fugger company made it one of the richest towns in the Kingdom of Hungary — and the legacy shows in the elegant main square, Námestie SNP, which is ringed by Renaissance and Baroque townhouses with pastel facades.
The square is also the symbolic centre of the Slovak National Uprising of 1944, one of the largest anti-Nazi resistance movements in Europe, commemorated by the striking brutalist Museum of the Slovak National Uprising just south of the old town. The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and its Renaissance clock tower anchor the north side of the square. Beyond the history, Banská Bystrica is a lively university town with good cafes and restaurants, and a natural base for hiking or skiing in the surrounding mountains — the forested Urpín Hill offers an easy half-hour escape right on the southern edge of the city.