Slovakia by campervan: food and supermarkets
Where to buy food in Slovakia, which supermarkets to use, opening hours and practical tips for eating on the road. What to know before you go.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026
Currency
Euro
EUR. Since 1 January 2009. Not the koruna, not the złoty
Language
Slovak
Czech understood everywhere, Hungarian in the south
Driving
Right
Motorway 130 km/h, 90 km/h over 3.5 tonnes
Power
230V, type E
Takes the same round two-pin plug as most of Europe
Tap water
Safe to drink
Ask for vodu z vodovodu
Emergency
112
Mountain rescue has its own number, 18 300
Food and shops
Food and shops
Slovak shops keep long hours and open on Sundays, and then shut completely on six occasions a year. The Labour Code bans retail work on 1 January, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, 25 and 26 December, and from midday on 24 December. Its exemption list is short: petrol stations, pharmacies, shops at airports, stations, ports and hospitals, ticket counters and souvenirs. There is no small shop exemption, so the village potraviny is dark too and the filling station is the whole of your options.
Where to shop
- Best value: Lidl.
- Full range: Kaufland or Tesco.
- Camper access: Edge-of-town Tesco hypermarkets and Kaufland branches are easiest for campervans.
What eating out costs, reported
- Cheap restaurant meal
- €8
- Draught beer, 0.5 l
- €2
Reported range 6 to 15, Numbeo September 2026. Crowd-sourced, not an official figure. A weekday denné menu sits at the bottom of that range
Reported range 1.40 to 3, Numbeo September 2026. Crowd-sourced, and the spread is wide enough to be worth reading as a range
The six occasions retail closes by law, and what stays open
| Date | Occasion | Still open |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Nový rok | Petrol stations, pharmacies, airports, stations, hospitals |
| Good Friday, 3 April 2026 | Veľký piatok | The same short list |
| Easter Sunday, 5 April 2026 | Veľkonočná nedeľa | The same short list |
| 24 December, from 12:00 | Štedrý deň | Half day only. Shop in the morning or not at all |
| 25 December | Prvý sviatok vianočný | The same short list |
| 26 December | Druhý sviatok vianočný | The same short list |
Eating out without getting it wrong
- Weekday lunch is the value meal. A denné menu is soup and a main at a fixed price, roughly 11:00 to 14:00, gone at the weekend.
- A salaš is a sheep farm that feeds people. They sit above the villages in the Tatras, the Liptov and the Orava, and they are the right place for halušky, žinčica and smoked oštiepok cheese.
Stocking the campervan
- Lidl, Kaufland and Tesco have car parks that take a van. COOP Jednota is the village shop and usually does not, so park on the edge and walk in.
- The six closed days are the ones that catch people out, because everything else about Slovak retail is generous. Fill the fridge the day before.
