Salaš Zbojská: sheep’s cheese, bryndza and žinčica on the pass

The salaš of the outlaw Surovec

The Zbojská pass lies at about 740 metres in the forests between Brezno and Tisovec, on the edge of the Hron valley and the Muránska planina plateau. The name comes from zbojník, “outlaw”. According to legend, between 1715 and 1740 the local salaše served as a hideout for the band of Jakub Surovec, and the old linden tree by the salaš, which still grows here, supposedly remembers their rests. That is why the farm is called the Outlaws’ Yard (Zbojnícky dvor).

Today it is a large mountain salaš with its own flock of Valaška sheep — an old Slovak breed the owners describe as endangered. Their milk is turned by hand, in the traditional way, in the salaš’s own dairy into lump sheep’s cheese, bryndza, parenica (strips of steamed cheese rolled into a snail), cheese knots, smoked oštiepok and žinčica — a sour whey drink that has been drunk on salaše since time immemorial. Hucul horses and Mangalica pigs graze nearby; their meat is smoked on site into bacon and sausages.

Why go

• Buy cheese straight from the dairy. The salaš sells everything made from its own sheep’s milk: unpasteurised 100% sheep’s bryndza, parenica, oštiepok, cheese strings, cheeses with paprika, wild garlic or herbs, and in summer fresh lump cheese and žinčica.
• Taste it on the spot. The salaš restaurant, in a timber lodge with a large terrace, serves traditional Slovak food, above all lamb and mutton; there is live music at weekends and the staff wear folk costume.
• See salaš life. The hosts run programmes about cheese-making and life on the salaš, and children can see the animals on the pastures. You can also set off on a Hucul-horse trek into Muránska planina National Park.

What to taste and buy

The highlight is bryndza made from unpasteurised sheep’s milk — exactly as it was made on salaše for centuries, and the kind of bryndza for which Slovakia obtained the protected geographical indication “Slovenská bryndza”. Take a smoked oštiepok or parenica home — they travel well. Alongside the cheese the salaš sells home-cured bacon with thyme, šoudra (smoked ham), lamb sausage and cracklings. Website prices: bryndza €13/kg, most cheeses €18/kg, žinčica €2.80 a litre.

Practical information

Getting there. The salaš stands by road I/72 Brezno–Tisovec right on the pass. The bus stop “Pohronská Polhora, Zbojská žel. zast.” is a five-minute walk away; from the Zbojská railway halt on the scenic mountain line from Brezno to Tisovec it is about 15 minutes along a forest track marked red as the Rudná magistrála trail. Leave your car in the car park, not on the meadows — sheep graze there.

Hours (as of October 2026): the restaurant is open Mon–Thu 10:00–20:00 and Fri–Sun 10:00–21:00. Cheese is sold during the salaš opening hours; it is best to check availability in advance on +421 910 418 788 or at [email protected]. The place suits families and people who do not hike: everything is right by the road.

Nearby

• The Tisovec rack railway (Tisovecká zubačka) — one of the few in Central Europe, with steam rides in season.
• Muránska planina National Park with karst plateaus and herds of Hucul horses.
• Muráň Castle — castle ruins above the Muráň valley.

Official website: zbojska.sk

Photos: zbojska.sk.