Petržalka is the massive prefabricated housing estate on the south bank of the Danube — connected to the old town by the SNP bridge — and home to around 130,000 people, roughly a third of Bratislava's population. It was built between 1973 and 1989 as a model socialist residential district, and the scale is extraordinary: block after block of panel buildings stretching to the horizon in a flat floodplain.
Walking through Petržalka is a genuine contrast to the old town. The streets are wide and calm, the shops are local rather than tourist, and the Danube embankment on the south bank has been transformed in recent years into a pleasant riverside park. The Janko Kráľ island park is the most attractive part of the district for visitors.
Petržalka is also the place to catch a tram deep into the city's socialist geography. Tram 5 runs the length of the main boulevard; the view from the window captures the scale of the district better than any photograph.