Captured by snow-capped mountains, Zakopane
My husband and I went on a tour of the Accord-Tour "Captured by snow-capped mountains" for the New Year. Actually, we got to Poland by accident - we were going to go to the High Tatras, but the group did not get enough, and we were offered Zakopane. We did not regret the replacement : ).
The group was very small, up to 20 people, so the bus was free and comfortable.
Surprisingly successfully passed the border, for 3 hours, there was no special pre-New Year's excitement. But Poland was moving at the speed of a turtle - it was snowing, and there were a lot of traffic jams and toffees on the roads. We arrived in Zakopane late in the evening.
We stayed at the Helan Hotel. The hotel is just super - a cozy wooden house, very clean and tidy, with fairly large rooms and even floor heating in the bathroom (very good in winter). Breakfasts are also good: yoghurts, cottage cheese, vegetables, buns, several types of cheese and sausages, scrambled eggs, sausages, delicious jam... From the hotel to the center about 30 minutes on foot or 10-15 by minibus, to the nearest ski slope (Nosalya) - 20 minutes on foot or 7 by bus. The minibus stop is very close to the hotel, they run regularly, so there are no problems with transport. Moreover, every morning a bus took those who wished from the group to the center (for a walk or ride on Mount Polyana Shimashkova).
I really enjoyed Zakopane. It's good to go skiing and just walk and see. The town is small, but rather peculiar, well-groomed, there is very beautiful nature around.
About skiing: there are several ski slopes in Zakopane, and they are scattered quite far from each other. There is no single ski pass, each mountain has its own policy. This is not very convenient - you need to think in advance which slope you will ride on, and it is difficult to move from one to another in one day.
We rode every day on different slopes, in principle - everywhere is not bad.
The most popular slope closest to the center is Polyana Shimashkova. Two chair lifts, one to half the mountain (blue line), the second to the top (red). If you ride from above, the track is long, but the whole day is boring + a lot of people. At the height of the day, queues for the lift take about 15 minutes. There is evening skiing, but by the end of the day the upper part of the slope is rolled to ice.
The closest slope to the hotel is Nosal. There is a black track at the top of the mountain, a red one from the middle, and a few green ones (quite educational) at the foot. We didn’t ride the black one, it’s very steep and narrow. I liked the red one - interesting, and there were no people at all. That is absolutely. We did not meet the concept of a queue at Nosala. There is evening skiing, hung there for several evenings. AKHTUNG: the ski lift to the red run is towed and only for skiers - they are not allowed with boards, so Nosal is a skiing kingdom : ).
One of the days we went to Harenda, this is the newest complex in Zakopane. Very cool. You can get there by minibus from the center or from the hotel, drive from the hotel for 20-25 minutes. There is one mountain (high and long), half is conditionally called black, the other is red. There is no difference, in my opinion. At the foot, again, educational green. It seems that there is still some kind of long blue one, but we did not find it - either they did not have time to prepare it, or they successfully disguised it : ). Chairlift, queues are present, but within reason. In general, the tracks are not easy, but the ride is interesting and comfortable.
In addition, you can go to nearby ski resorts. It's very simple - minibuses run regularly from the central bus station, the main thing is to find out when the last one returns to Zakopane in the evening. We went to Bukovina Tatrzhanska and Bialka Tatrzhanska. There are a lot of training green and blue trails in Bukovina, great for beginners, but boring for more advanced ones. Bialka is a larger complex, up to a dozen blue runs and a few red ones. I liked the red ones, not complicated, but long enough and comfortable. There are a lot of people on only one central lift, the rest are quiet.
Everywhere in Zakopane (and nearby) there are well-groomed slopes, very good ski infrastructure (under each mountain there are rentals, ski schools, ski services, there are lockers for shoes... ). IMHO for beginners - just the perfect resort. For the rest, there are very interesting tracks, if it doesn’t bother you to ride the same one all day. Personally, I liked it.
About everything else: there are many non-ski activities in Zakopane: ice skating rink, water park, clubs, etc. We rode to the maximum, so that in the evening we only had strength left for the tavern and a walk along Krupovka. There are a lot of taverns (taverns? taverns? ), the prices are moderate everywhere (the two of us never managed to eat more than 20 Euros), the food is tasteless, we did not come across : ), the portions are huge. In some places, live music is played in the evenings, mostly national. The cuisine is similar to Western Ukrainian - various dumplings, borscht, fried meat. Awesome desserts. The only thing is that the soups are spicy for my taste.
About the New Year: we met NG in the Ovcharnya tavern on Krupovki, we found the tavern and booked it ourselves from Kyiv. NG was a lot of fun. But in principle, a matter of taste - we met part of the group at the hotel, part - just walked in the center, everyone seems to be happy.
For additional We didn't go on tour so I can't say.
About Krakow: if you do not plan to go to Wieliczka, you get almost a whole day in the city. We wandered around the city rather incompetently, and already in Kyiv it dawned on me that I had to look in advance for some interesting museums or concerts and go there. The trick is that the major museums in Krakow are a little away from the historical center, and we found them in the evening (of course, it was already closed).
I expected the worst from the overnight move. Yes, you can sleep on the bus - proved by Zanussi : ).
I tried to remember as much as possible practical information that may be useful to other tourists.
