Tour through the High Tatras, Slovakia

Tour through the High Tatras, Slovakia

Basic information

Hello again everyone! Today we continue on our journey through Slovakia. In this post I will tell you about my first trip to the Tatras. The Tatras Mountains are, without a doubt, one of the most famous tourist attractions in Slovakia. The Tatras Mountains form part of a cordillera of the Carpatos Mountains and they are situated on the border between Slovakia and Poland. So, the Tatras are divided into 2: High and Low. We only went to the High Tatras as we'd been told that they were better. But there was an abundance of options. Who knows if we'll plan a trip to the Low Tatras at some point in the future.

This place is amazing for doing any kind of activity: hiking cycling, being in contact with nature, disconnecting, relaxing, climbing, discovering new places...

Accommodation

When it comes to accommodation there are loads of options. We went in June so we had numerous options of places to stay, because it wasn't quite the time of year when there would be loads of people there. We stayed in a really big, spacious and very comfortable apartment. We chose one with a kitchen because whenever we travel we like to prepare breakfast wherever we stay. We also like to cook some food in general to save some money. The accommodation, when comparing the quality to the price, turned out to be very cheap for us. We also have a place in the garage to leave our car. The landlady was very friendly and was very talkative with us.

Our apartment was situated in the lowest part of the mountain, we could say. Well, it was a bit far from all the touristic locations such as the lakes or the hiking routes on the different mountains. In the morning we took the car to the mountain. We parked and started to walk. If you want to be closer, there; s a "strategic" zone where you'll find loads of hotels (more expensive ones), apartments and all types of establishments, such as supermarkets, clubs, bars, cash machines, etc. It's like a mini-city right in the heart of the Tatras. Honestly, this zone is very touristic and to me it seemed a lot more special that we were staying in our apartment in the middle of nowhere. Where we were there was only nature, animals and some other tiny little house next to ours.

Itinerary through the High Tratas

The first stop of the tour: Chodnik Korunami Stromov

On the first day we decided to go to Chodnik Korunami Stromov. This name, unpronounceable for a lot of people as you can tell. The name means "walking through the tops of the trees". It was the furthest point of our trip so we got up really early, ate a lot of breakfast, got in the car and set off. Where we were going was very, very close to the border of Poland. It's a very new touristic attraction. It will only have been open for approximately a year and a half, and it has a wooden walkway situated at the top of the trees, like its name indicates. It's not part of the High Tatras, but we really wanted to go there as we'd extended our trip all the way here. And, it was worth it.

We knew that as it was quite new, it would be full of people so we got up really early and we went there in the car. Our surprise was that when we arrived and parked our car, we were still really far away from the start of the wooden walkway. We found out that we had to walk to get there. We walked really quickly for an hour until we got to the starting point, where we had to buy the tickets. It's quite a tiring and rocky walk, and there were barely any shady sections, so I would recommend that you bring some sun cream. Loads of people had climbed up as well and were all around us, and this was first thing in the morning! We arrived exhausted. It seemed that we had wasted all of our energy for the whole day in the first part of it.

Theoretically, there should have been an option to get there by cable car. But, it still wasn't working when we went. In fact they only use the cable car during the winter because they have a ski season here for some parts of the year. In fact, there were a lot of shops that sold clothes and ski or snowboard material.

Finally we arrived and bought our entry, which costed €9. That's actually quite expensive, but at least you can walk along the whole footbridge for a minimum of an hour and a half.

The views from the walkway are incredible. You can see everything from the height of the trees, especially the line of mountains in the distance. After walking the whole bridge, you finally arrive at the best part. You arrive at a structure made of wood, in the form of a port, which is a lot higher up than the normal walkway. We went up to have the best views, and you can see the entire walkway from there, like in the next photo. In the middle part, there were taut and thick ropes that you could stand on. Underneath you was absolutely nothing. People jumped, lay down, went running over them. The atmosphere was very pleasant, although heights scare me a bit so I couldn't even put one foot on it.

We were there for a while having snacks at the summit, and then we decided to go. Our trip was so good. Although they're making the most of the bridge being new and innovative, I believe it's worth paying €9 for. It's a once in a lifetime thing.

Second part of the tour: Strbske Pleso

It's one of the highest places in the High Tatras. Strsbke Pleso is a lake surrounded by trees and in the distance you can see mountains, some of them covered in snow. It's an ideal place for hiking, relaxing and being in contact with nature. But be careful! It's prohibited to swim in the lake. It was a bit annoying because we touched the water and it was so nice. We couldn't resist so we put our feet in, as you can see in the following photo. It's full of ducks and you can even take a tiny boat out onto the lake and go rowing. If you want to go the whole way around the lake, it takes about 30 minutes.

Being a famous area, there are quite a few hotels around the lake, and they're probably even more expensive than those at Tatras. That view of the snowy mountains first thing in the morning has its own price. The most famous is the well known Hotel Patria, which stands out for various reasons. First of all, for its architecture, its communist style, its triangle shape. The chestnut colour of the hotel contrasts with the green of the trees. And in the winter, with the white of the snow. And second of all, it's the only building there is at that part of the lake so it stands amongst an abundance of nature. It's the main focal point of the lake. The first time you see it, it'll give you the sense that it's a very welcoming forest cabin, hidden amongst the trees, intimate and private, but in reality it's a hotel with all kinds of luxuries and commodities.

If you focus properly, on the right you will be able to also see a structure that they use to practise ski jumping. It was the first time that we'd seen something like this, and we could only imagine what it would be like to jump from there. It gave us vertigo. There are actually a lot of similar structures in this area, as well as various ski stations. This area is very popular during the cold season.

Whilst we were walking, some black storm clouds appeared so we decided to go to a restaurant that was very close to the lake, another Koliba. We had a coffee and a lovely salad, and our friend Daniel ordered some sweet dumplings filled with jam. Some typical Slovakian food. We spent an hour and a half there, just until the thunder and rained ceased and the sun finally came out. The typical Slovakian weather.

Third stop of the tour: vodopad Skok

Starting at Strsbke Pleso there are various hiking routes that take you through the surrounding mountains. There are routes for beginners, intermediates and more advanced ones too. We started a route that ended up at a waterfall called Skok, which means "jump" in Slovak. We walked for an hour and a half, and it was quite a hard route because it was pretty hot and we were constantly going uphill. Our walking pace tends to be quite fast too. We had read about it in the TripAdvisor comments and a lot of people said that this route usually takes three hours. It's actually quite an easy hiking route if you do it slowly. There are rocks and tree roots at some sections (it seemed like the Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter) but in general you can walk it well, without any difficulties. In fact, we met a few small children on the way to the waterfall.

The walk right towards the end is very pretty. You're in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees, you can hear the sound of the river beneath you constantly and you can always see the mountains. There are specific parts where the rivers current is very slow and it grows wider. The water is crystal clear and it makes you want to dive in for a dip. Later on we put our hand in to test the temperature, and that desire swiftly left us.

When you finally arrive at the waterfall, it's incredible. The photos don't do it justice. The water falls very hard and the waterfall is quite a lot bigger than it looks in the photos. We got closer by climbing over the rocks and climbing a little bit before reaching the point closest to the waterfall. We ended up completely soaked but it was worth it. Afterwards, we decided to climb over the rocks that were around us. The first section was easy, but it got more complicated towards the end. The rocks were very steep but there were a few iron chains that helped us. Right there we saw a small girl who was going with her parents and obviously, their trip ended up being extremely difficult. Until the actual Skok waterfall, the ground is safe. But if you want to go even further it will be quite dangerous, frankly.

We arrived at the summit and we had views of the whole route we had just done. We were surrounded by mountains, trees, the river underneath us, nature. I want to do it again!

To fill your tummy

Our friend Daniel, who is Slovakian, wanted to take us to a traditional Slovakian restaurant which they call Koliba here. The Koliba we went to is very famous because some important people involved in the politics of the country tend to go there. They have a tradition in this restaurant and it's that if you take a tie, they cut it off and stick it to the ceiling. It's really weird because as soon as you enter, you can see the entire ceiling covered in ties. The waiter made a joke to our friend Daniel and he said that as he wasn't wearing a tie, they would cut off his appendage. He was a joker. In the end, the food was sooo tasty. It wasn't expensive at all either. Pilar and I ate ducks with potatoes and it was a (guilty) pleasure. Angel had a plate of different meats (chicken, pork and beef) which was known as a "Tatrasalad". Paloma had a salad. Daniel livened us up and made us try a very strong Slovakian alcohol. It had 93% alcohol. It's called "tatransky čaj", which is also known as "tratatea" and with just one whiff of it, it smells like white lightening. For me, at least.

In the end we went inside the restaurant and there was a business party. They were Polish and they had decided to have their inauguration party to get to know each other better, so they decided that the best place to celebrate was in the middle of the Tatras. Interesting. There was a DJ playing a variety of music. We were there for ages dancing with them (one of them said that he was a professional dancer for 10 years) and we got along really well. Later on we exhanged phone number and one of them, the youngest one, told us that if we came to Warsaw one day, his home town and where he lived, he said he'd give us a tour of the city. They were really nice. In short, I loved the restaurant, the food, the people and the atmosphere. I recommend it.

To finish of, as it was our last day, we decided to eat at the Koliba where we'd sheltered from the storm. It was called Koliba Patria and it looks like a wooden cabin. It's very pretty. We ordered the best dish of the trip. I ordered fish with potatoes and the others had halusky, which is oven baked chicken and potatoes. It was all incredible. For dessert, we had apple crumble. We ate whilst looking at some incredible views of the lake from the restaurant's terrace. It was nothing like the day before, when we had to escape the storm and look for refuge. At the end of the day, it was good because we were able to see two different versions of the lake.

Finally, we had our last night's sleep in the apartment. We woke up in the morning and set off towards Bratislava again. It took us about 4 and a half hours because we were taking our time.

Last stop: Lúčanský vodopád

So that the trip wouldn't be too long, we wanted to stop at the Lúčanský waterfall. We had high expectations, but we arrived and found that the waterfall was nowhere near as incredible as we thought. The waterfall itself was good, but you need to really go up close to it because it's all very closed in and the surface, where the water falls, had a brown tinge which looked a lot like mud. Probably because the filtration system isn't great. Besides, that day it was a little colder and the weather wasn't so good. I understood that a lot of people go to this waterfall to bathe there, and even dive into the "pool" created by the amount of water that falls. Maybe we didn't go at the right time. But, oh well, it was a stop for us to get out of the car and stretch our legs a little bit. Here I've added a photo so you can judge it for yourselves.

And that is everything I wanted to tell you. For a first trip to the Tatras, it was frankly great. I really want to go back and discover the Low Tatras, which is also known as "Slovakian Paradise". Also, there were places we didn't get to see such as Popradske Pleso and the city of Poprad, where a lot of people stay. In conclusion, the Tatras is one of the best places in Slovakia. You have to visit this country at least once. It would be a sin not to go. Thanks so much for reading to the very end, and I hope you've enjoyed discovering some new places in Slovakia. Hugs and kisses, and see you soon!

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