AUTUMN is the best time to see
the Tatra mountains. They sulk smokily in the
morning but then the sun burns the haze to
reveal them resplendent in the golden plumage of
a thousand trees and topped by a mighty cloak of
blue. Poland does bring the poetry out in you.
How this country became associated with
austerity and greyness I can’t think.
The Tatras cover around 75 sq km (30 sq
miles) on the southern border but although the
majority lie in Slovakia, Poles consider them
the heart of their country. During the 19th
century, when Poland was still fighting to
become a nation, the Tatras became a cultural
centre with the focus on the village of
Zakopane. Every summer some 3,000 intellectuals,
painters and actors came from Warsaw to take the
waters and foment revolution in cafés.
Now Zakopane gets
three million visitors a year. Besides being a
gateway to the mountains, in winter it becomes a
ski centre with an average snowfall of 1.5m
(5ft) and one of the steepest slopes in Europe.
This all-year party fizzes away in a sprinkle of
trendy cafés and bars, but it is still very
small (30,000 inhabitants) and past the main
strip of Krupówki you’ll reach a quaint suburb
of traditional wooden houses, Hansel and
Gretel chalets made of spruce and larch.
The entrance to Tatra National Park is about
15 minutesEwalk from the centre. Entrance is
50p and the maps available at the gatehouse E
which show different grades of path Eare well
worth £1. Some routes are walkable for any
ability, while on others you might arrive at a
ridge passable only using chains and metal
ladders, but the maps are quite clear about
this.
Only a short walk from my hotel (where vodka
was cheaper than water in the minibar) through a
pine wood past the gatehouse and I began an easy
ascent. After about an hour I was just a sweaty
scramble from the top. I could see the most
famous of all mountain tops, nicknamed the
Sleeping Knight, and the view was tremendous,
burgeoning with surrounding peaks.
Valleys roll gently in this part of Poland.
Vast fenceless plains reach out until checked by
a stream or forest or a cattle-filled corral. I
walk on through villages full of wooden houses
that look like new because they are washed with
soap and water every year.
I am awed by forests rustling with ruby and
cherry tints Eand not a hint of grey.
Next page: need to know and
attractions in
Poland
