We have successfully returned from Slovakia, where we spent 6 wonderful days, enjoying the mountains, magical views, cycling, hiking and conquering mountain trails, relaxing in aquaparks and hotel Spa areas, visiting castles, luxurious towns and a church with the highest Gothic altar in the World!
At the beginning of August, a series about this Slovak adventure will be available, but if anyone wishes to go on an excursion and adventure to this region sooner, here are some of our recommendations of what to see and experience:
- On the Polish side, Zakopane, Morske Oko, there are so many people and prices for everything are quite expensive, so it's better to drive another hour and you will already be on the Slovak side, in the High Tatras, and you will be able to enjoy equally great or even better views.
- We stayed at the Horizont Resort hotel, which is located close to the mountains and offers excellent mountain views, delicious breakfast and dinner, as well as a very nice Spa complex.
- You should definitely hike or cycle up to the Sliezsky Dom hotel; there are truly magnificent mountain views and it's a great place to rest and relax after a long climb, 6.7 km from the parking lot.
- Another fantastic place is Sedlo pod Ostrvou, you can also include this in your list, the views are fantastic.
- Aquapark Aquacity Poprad will be a great place for the whole family to relax!
- Visit Spiš Castle, with various demonstrations within the castle grounds.
- Visit the town of Levoča; the center of this town is a monument of culture, architecture, art, and history, and is also included in UNESCO's list of protected towns. The main wooden altar of St. James's Church is the highest Gothic altar in the World!
- The Belianska Cave labyrinth with stalactites, stalagmites, nearly 900 steps, and a stable +5 degrees!
Only 6 days, but so much seen, so much enjoyed, so much experienced, and each of us, filled with wonderful emotions, is back home and ready for new work and new adventures!
May you also have many pleasant trips ahead and many wonderful moments to spend and enjoy!
Traveling by bike, pros and cons!
First of all, a big thank you for our bicycles goes to Velo Outlets! https://www.facebook.com/VeloOutlets?locale=lv_LV
The bicycles were stylish and comfortable, served us well, and successfully endured the Slovak mountains.
We decided to go on a trip with bicycles quite by chance, because as we are very sporty and active, we often crave some activities during trips or want to go to the gym and exercise, but if you have bicycles with you, then you can combine all of that, both exercise and actively spend part of the day and see much more than you can by walking!
Our conclusions after this first adventure, let's start with the pros:
- as I mentioned, great exercise and an actively spent day,
- you can see much more by bike than by walking,
- no need to worry about the car park being far from a certain place, you can quickly get there by bike,
- if you have ridden up and reached a mountain, then cycling down the mountain is very pleasant,
- when riding through the city center, you will see much more than you would by walking.
Of course, such an adventure also has its downsides, which you definitely need to be prepared for:
- the bike rack must be of high quality and sturdy so you don't have to worry about it during the trip,
- it takes some time to put on and take off the bicycles,
- when leaving the car in the parking lot, you need to consider the safety of the bicycles; they all need to be locked together with the frame,
- at night, while sleeping in various hotels, it will be more peaceful if these bicycles are stored in a hotel room,
- after cycling a lot, in the first few days, both your leg muscles and your bottom may ache from the narrow saddle,
- conquering the Slovak mountains by bicycle is only possible for athletes or by using electric bicycles, but cycling down the mountain is a real pleasure,
- moving by bicycle on city streets with many tourists is quite difficult.
Everyone embarking on a cycling trip must weigh these pros and cons, but, unequivocally, we experienced true joy and satisfaction, both from overcoming difficulties while cycling in the mountains, and from the wonderfully spent, active days and the enchanting nature that we could observe and leisurely enjoy while cycling!
A few words about our experience with Zakopane and Morske Oko!
On the way to Slovakia, we stayed the first night in a nice hotel, with a very spacious room, excellent location right on the way, and delicious breakfast. Waking up in the morning, we decided to visit Zakopane and then Morske Oko, because it truly is fantastically beautiful there. I was there 7 years ago, and that view, with this small lake, has vividly remained in my memory.
The first difficulty began before Zakopane, because there were road repairs in many places, and there were a lot of cars. After reaching the town, we decided to go to the mountains first and then return to the town for lunch.
Upon reaching the last parking lot, we realized that there were so many cars that the entire roadside was completely full and they were no longer letting cars into the parking lot. We had to go back a few kilometers, cross the river, and, already on the Slovakian side, leave the car for 18 EUR.
As soon as we had paid, it turned out that we were not even allowed to cycle on this road up to Morske Oko; you could only go on foot, which takes about 3 hours, or by horse-drawn carriage, which would cost us 150 EUR for all 4 of us. But the parking attendant advised us to cycle along a gravel road that runs along the river on the Slovakian side, saying there were also beautiful mountain views there. So we did, and cycled about 3km along the river towards the mountains, and indeed the views were fantastic, and our first bike ride was successful.
After that, we returned to the town, cycling, but it was pure agony, because there were so many people everywhere that we had to maneuver through the crowds and couldn't make progress. We decided to have lunch and head to Slovakia. Lunch at a nice Bistro cost us 7 EUR per person; at least here we were happy that the prices were very reasonable!
Today we are already in Slovakia and we will go to the mountains, hoping that there won't be so many crowds here!
Another day in Slovakia and another test of our strength!
We decided to take a walk to a beautiful mountain lake, Popradske Pleso, which is 5km from the car park and takes a little over 1.5 hours to reach. After walking this short distance, eating local Goulash soup at a cafe and resting, we decided to walk around the lake as well.
Suddenly, we noticed people walking at the top of the mountain and realized that there was also a trail leading to the mountain peak.
We didn't think for long, found the beginning of this trail and agreed that we would go up a little and then see how we were doing, and, perhaps, come back!
But it wouldn't be us if we gave up halfway and didn't reach the mountain peak.
No matter how difficult it was and what obstacles we had to overcome along the way, we still reached the mountain peak!
But that wasn't the end of it; we still had to climb down and then another 5km to the car.
Having successfully descended to the lake, we decided to rest a bit, but then remembered that dinner at the hotel was until 9 PM, and to make it for dinner, we had to walk or even run these 5 km quickly.
We couldn't believe ourselves, but we ran the whole way and made it for dinner.
What an adventure that was!
Our plan was to drive up to the Sliezsky Dom hotel and then cycle down, but our plans were disrupted by a small "barrier" that prevented us from driving through the national park, and the only way to get up was to cycle 6.7km uphill the whole time.
This, unequivocally, was the toughest ride of my life, because in reality we only rode, at best, a third of the entire way. The rest of the time we pushed our bikes, and I also had bags with cameras and a drone on my back, because we definitely wanted to capture all of this, as I don't know if I'll ever want to repeat something like that again in my life.
The funniest moment was when, after just 100 meters, we realized that going uphill wasn't so easy and we already had to start pushing our bikes. At this point, the probability of us reaching the top of the mountain was 10 to 90, but as time went on, and occasionally lying in the grass or sitting by the roadside, resting and drinking the last sips of water, our confidence level rose, and at the moment it was 50-50, we realized there was no turning back and we had to reach our goal!
Less than 3 hours on the road, with my pulse fluctuating between 140 and 170 beats per minute, we reached our final destination, the Sliezsky Dom hotel, which is said to be the highest built hotel in the Slovak mountains. Thanks to @Eleme Latvia for the opportunity to monitor my pulse during exertion!
These fabulous views, the mountains, the mountain lake, and the waterfall were truly worth fighting for, sweating for, and overcoming myself for those 3 hours!
Our team Evita Eidina, Alex, Rodrigo and me.
