Hiking in Tatras
Apr 9th, 2006, 01:27 AM
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Hiking in Tatras
My wife & I are keen hill walkers. We plan a 2 week stay in & near Krakow from May 24, staying with Polish friends. We've already seen some great ideas for Krakow itself from other message boards. But we hope to also do some hill walking in & near Zakopane. Probably day walks, as we probably won't have a tent with us. We managed a 3-day backpacking walk in the Pyrenees 3 years ago even walking above the snowline. Also we may do some more gentle walking with my (Polish) mother-in-law. Any ideas?
Apr 9th, 2006, 02:55 AM
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Zakopane is a great place for hiking/hill walking ! We were there in Sept 2004 and really enjoyed our time and can't wait to return. I have a book I picked up while there, "The Polish Tatra, an illustrated guide". It has tons of hikes, all levels, unfortunately I couldn't find it listed on amazon, maybe you can find it elsewhere.
One afternoon we hiked up a trail that goes from Zakopane(near the lift at the end of Krupowki street) to Gubalowka. If I remember correctly there were 2 ways up, one shorter but steeper, and then a longer trail but less steep more off to the side (we did that one). Great views of Zakopane below.
Another day we walked from Zakopane to Kuznice and took the lift up to Kasprowy Wierch. There were trails up as well but we had gotten a late start. Great views, one side of the valley is in Poland and the other in Slovakia. There were many different trails you could take from here.
There are some photos of Zakopane in my Prague/Poland album :
http://www.kodakgallery.com/kellyee21/prague_and_poland
Have a great time!
One afternoon we hiked up a trail that goes from Zakopane(near the lift at the end of Krupowki street) to Gubalowka. If I remember correctly there were 2 ways up, one shorter but steeper, and then a longer trail but less steep more off to the side (we did that one). Great views of Zakopane below.
Another day we walked from Zakopane to Kuznice and took the lift up to Kasprowy Wierch. There were trails up as well but we had gotten a late start. Great views, one side of the valley is in Poland and the other in Slovakia. There were many different trails you could take from here.
There are some photos of Zakopane in my Prague/Poland album :
http://www.kodakgallery.com/kellyee21/prague_and_poland
Have a great time!
Apr 10th, 2006, 02:06 PM
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Thanks Kelly (& Yannick) for your suggestions, & your photos of the mountains especially whet my appetite. (We'll have to go to Prague one day as well...) The photos answered another question - can you just walk in the mountains over the border into Slovakia? - Obviously you can, at least in some places. And a ski-jump competition without any snow? Don't people get hurt?
They have some guidebooks on Tatras on amazon.co.uk - maybe different ones to yours, but maybe I'll get one. If you still have yours, who was the publisher? Or we may just wait & buy one in Zakopane.
Btw, did you see any steam trains in the area?
They have some guidebooks on Tatras on amazon.co.uk - maybe different ones to yours, but maybe I'll get one. If you still have yours, who was the publisher? Or we may just wait & buy one in Zakopane.
Btw, did you see any steam trains in the area?
Apr 10th, 2006, 02:46 PM
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All I have to say is don't go to Zakopane in August. The city and the trails were very, very, very crowded. Frankly, we much preferred the area and the hiking east of Krakow in a smaller, less known town right on the Czech border--Szlarska Poreba. There was a scary ski lift to take us up to the top for a hike down. We stayed in a very nice place that had been a former hunting lodge. Your Polish mother-in-law would probably enjoy this lodge It included breakfast and you could opt for dinner if you wanted (we did). The food was excellent as was the company. At meals the long, long table was divided up with the English speakers on one end and the Polish speakers on the other.
Apr 11th, 2006, 09:05 AM
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Zakopane and area has a ton of trails some well known can be packed with tourists (esspecially the easy trails) others are not with some that are very hard and reserved for very experianced and /or best in shape ... most of the trails are marked and color coded (by how easy / hard trail is)... Maps are available at ANY newspaper stand and street vendors - maps are in verious languages explaining codes and trails, so this is definitly a first purchase you want to make upon your arrival - compare more then one map - since some are better then others ...
as for some easy trails:
Lift to Gobalowka - where you could walk down or take lift back.
Morskie Oko - where most of the way you can travel on a horse carriage ...
both of those are popular - but worth a visit for it's views.
Kasprowy Wierch - 2 lifts that take you all the way to the top - again from there you could walk back - BUT let mother-in-law ride the lift back or at least of of them ...
then with the trail maps check for others coded easy - where many maybe a flat terrain but with some really noice surrandings...
for Trails marked black - get more info before starting one of those - since some are one way where it maybe hard to change your mind ...
Enjoy Zakopane and Tatry.
as for some easy trails:
Lift to Gobalowka - where you could walk down or take lift back.
Morskie Oko - where most of the way you can travel on a horse carriage ...
both of those are popular - but worth a visit for it's views.
Kasprowy Wierch - 2 lifts that take you all the way to the top - again from there you could walk back - BUT let mother-in-law ride the lift back or at least of of them ...
then with the trail maps check for others coded easy - where many maybe a flat terrain but with some really noice surrandings...
for Trails marked black - get more info before starting one of those - since some are one way where it maybe hard to change your mind ...
Enjoy Zakopane and Tatry.
Apr 11th, 2006, 09:08 AM
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Apr 11th, 2006, 09:57 AM
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julies - Szlarska Poreba is far west from Krakow in Silesia. These mountains are called Karkonosze.
I'd say late May is too early for the high mountains. The hiking paths above 1800 m will probably be snow covered (if it doesn't get much warmer quickly!).
I'd say late May is too early for the high mountains. The hiking paths above 1800 m will probably be snow covered (if it doesn't get much warmer quickly!).
Apr 28th, 2006, 02:11 PM
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Thanks for the suggestions so far. We shall have to check out local shops for some guide books & maps.
My Lonely Planet guide to Poland (May 2005 edition) says that "camping is not allowed in the [Tatra national] park, but there are several basic PTTK mountain hostels dotted around; the tourist office in Zakopane will have details". (page 254) Can anyone please tell me any more about these mountain hostels?
My Lonely Planet guide to Poland (May 2005 edition) says that "camping is not allowed in the [Tatra national] park, but there are several basic PTTK mountain hostels dotted around; the tourist office in Zakopane will have details". (page 254) Can anyone please tell me any more about these mountain hostels?
Apr 28th, 2006, 08:08 PM
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I can't comment from personal experiance on any of the hostels sleeping areas since never stayed overnight in those - but visited with ton of others their bar/food/drink restaurants - which seem basic but clean although they can get crowded from all daytime visitors who are just passing by.
here some links unfortunatly many are in Polish but maybe galery parts be at least bit helpful...
Province is Malopolskie navigation on this site is bit messy so you may need to press UK flag for English then click back since seems that link defaults to Polish... Also Tatry Wysokie means High Tatry - then Zachodnie Western
http://obiekty.pttk.pl/start.php?co=...=Ma%B3opolskie
this at the endo of easy but very nice trail ...
http://www.chocholowska.zakopane.pl/
this one looks interesting
http://obiekty.pttk.pl/start.php?co=obiekt&id=18
and some others from main list
http://www.murowaniec.e-tatry.pl/
http://obiekty.pttk.pl/start.php?co=obiekt&id=79
One more thing PTTK can also hook you up with some private accomodations which would not be in Park itself but with highlanders and possibly also up higher in mountains, which would then have less hiker traffic ;-)
here some links unfortunatly many are in Polish but maybe galery parts be at least bit helpful...
Province is Malopolskie navigation on this site is bit messy so you may need to press UK flag for English then click back since seems that link defaults to Polish... Also Tatry Wysokie means High Tatry - then Zachodnie Western
http://obiekty.pttk.pl/start.php?co=...=Ma%B3opolskie
this at the endo of easy but very nice trail ...
http://www.chocholowska.zakopane.pl/
this one looks interesting
http://obiekty.pttk.pl/start.php?co=obiekt&id=18
and some others from main list
http://www.murowaniec.e-tatry.pl/
http://obiekty.pttk.pl/start.php?co=obiekt&id=79
One more thing PTTK can also hook you up with some private accomodations which would not be in Park itself but with highlanders and possibly also up higher in mountains, which would then have less hiker traffic ;-)
