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The Area
Zakopane is located in the far south of Poland and is the country’s
highest town and lies on the slopes of the High Tatras from 750 to 1000m
above sea level. It is Poland’s premier centre of mountain walking and
is the most convenient base for walkin g in the spectacular Tatra
National Park. Zakopane offers a number of museums, the most significant
and oldest being the Natural History Museum of the Tatra National Park.
The
Walking
The Tatra mountains, part of the Carpathian range extends for 50 km, and
forms the border between Poland and Slovakia. There are numerous side
ridges spreading out from the main ridge forming deep valleys. Well
marked paths are plentiful (250km in total) extending through meadows
and canyons shaded by spruce, pine, oak and larch trees. The Tatras are
fashioned of both hard granite, forming frayed soaring crags, and
limestone creating more gentle shapes with numerous caves and other
typical limestone features.
Nearby is the Pieniny National Park which provides a pleasant contrast
in walking with its choice of paths along the fast flowing Dunajec River
into Slovakia (don’t forget your passport) or a walk to the top of the
park’s spectacular limestone peaks.
Guided walking
We can arrange
a private guide for a group of walkers or individual travellers if
required, contact us for details.
Getting
about
The National Park does not allow any vehicle access, but from Zakopane
you can reach all the trail heads providing access into the Park by bus.
Zakopane is also the origin of the only cable car into the Park. We
provide details of local transport required for each walk in our Walk
Booklet. Self guided -We offer a choice of walks for all abilities. Most
walks require a bus ride to get you to the start of the walk and back at
the end or use of the cable car from Zakopane. Some of the higher walks
lead to places where a head for heights is an advantage, but there are
alternatives in each instance.
When to go
High altitude and
surrounding high mountains are main factors of Zakopane s mountain
climate. The higher paths begin to be free of snow in May, but this does
vary from year to year. The highest rainfall is in June and July when it
falls mainly in thunderstorms. September and October are months noted
for long periods of beautiful sunny weather.
Two centre
Why not combine a week in Poland with a week in
Slovakia,
the same mountain range but a completely different experience! We can
provide the transfer between the two, contact us for more information.
The hotels We feature two hotels in Zakapone the walking capital
of Poland, the 4* Hotel Villa
Marilor the
3* Hotel Wersal
How to get there
Krakow is the closest major airport, with regular services from a
number of airports in the UK. |
