Backpacking and tasting our way through Slovakia: Plan for summer 2011
Hi there.
This upcoming summer, I plan to set off on a two to three week backpacking adventure in Slovakia. I’ll be joined on this trip by my friend Alex, and also possibly by Allan Stevo from 52 Weeks in Slovakia.
So what’s the idea? Our plan is to travel through a big portion of the country on foot and, along the way, stop in various villages where we can sample local specialties (and homemade pálenka, of course!)
We will be traveling mainly on the Route of the Heroes of the Slovak National Uprising, Trasa hrdinov SNP, often called magistrála. This 740km route is the Slovak version of the Appalachian trail. It travels from Bratislava in the southwestern corner of the country through the Carpethian mountains (the Tatras) all the way to Dukla Pass (Dukliansky priesmyk) at the north eastern border with Poland. This mountain pass was scene of an important battle of World War 2 and currently houses a military memorial / museum.
My original plan was to through-hike Slovakia on this route. However, this would take about a month and neither I nor Alex can take off so much time away from work. I’ll actually be in Europe for over a month, but part of this will be spent attending a conference in Germany, plus my girlfriend will come for a visit, and there will be the obligatory family visits, etc…
Hence, we decided to shorten the route, and will be traveling mainly between my hometown of Banská Bystrica and as far east as we can get before the time runs out.
Below is our route, so far. Can you suggest other neat places to see or nice people to visit? I would love to stop by your grandma’s house and try her homemade koláče! 🙂
Route SNP is shown in the left image in red (click on it to get the full size version). Both of these images came from cestasnp.freemap.sk. We are planning to hike the section boxed off by the black rectangle. The map on the right shows a close up of this. The yellow section is the section we plan to hike, the black one is public transport (bus or train).
The plan so far (this will change and solidify as the time goes on) is:
- Start hiking in Králiky near Banská Bystrica
- Hike through Donovaly to the Low Tatras
- Pass through Chopok and Ďumbier, the highest point in the Low Tatras
- Continue on the Route SNP through Kráľová Hoľa
- Get off the trail at Dobšinská Ice Cave, visit the cave
- Hike through Slovak Paradise
- Get to Spišská Nová Ves, take a bus to Poprad. Get a hotel (SHOWER!!).
- Take a bus to the High Tatras, go for some sort of a day hike
- Take a bus to Krompachy, get back on trail
- Hike east until we rejoin with the magistrála
- Keep hiking north until we run out of time. We would like to get to Bardejov
- Take a rafting trip on Dunajec to celebrate the end
So that’s our idea so far. What do you think? Please leave a comment and let us know. Thanks!
Awesome. Awesome to the max!
That sounds like an amazing trip! Hope you have a wonderful time and are prepared to share pictures and stories when you get back! Have fun!
How I envy you! I wish you could stop in to visit my relatives but it’s been 2 generations since they left the town. Bring back some great photos of the old country!
Looks like awesome trip to me. We (my kids and I) usually stay in Poprad all summer long and take lots of day trips. Castles, hikes, caves, there is lots to see in Slovakia. My home town is Poprad. If you are planning on spending a night in the city check out this hotel http://www.hotelcaferazy.sk. Clean and affordable, right downtown. My friend owns it…
Also I think you should definitely visit AquaCity http://www.aquacityresort.com/ while you are in Poprad. Cheers!
lucky…. 🙂 bring back some handmade crafts…sure you could shove a doll or two in your backpack right? Can’t find anything on the internet.
Have you tried contacting Dan Kischa at the Slovak Import Company? He has a ton of stuff for sale.
Beth,
Try http://www.sashe.sk. It has ton of products made by creative people in Slovakia. I usually find people are willing to ship out of state for extra charge and they are also willing to modify the product to your liking.
Hey! I am going to Slovenska Lupca next week to visit friends. I live in the UK so it is easy for me to visit quite often. If you have not been to Slovakia, take this opportunity, it’s the most beautiful country in Europe and the people are the friendliest too 🙂 I’m having a back operation this summer otherwise I would have tagged along with you.
Stastnu cestu
Paul
Thanks Paul, but I was born there 🙂 I go back quite often, like every year and a half or so. But this will be my first time to the Tatras since I was like 10 so am I totally excited.
Lubos, I think you are stretching it too much for 2-3 weeks. I’ve been hiking many of those places in the past (some 40 years ago) but not in “one shot”, just a shorter sections in a few days/long weekends.
It’s not that it’s not doable when it comes to hiking the distance, but I think enjoying some villages, food, meeting people, would be too much for your allocated time. The thing is that the “Route of the heroes” goes on mountain tops, and to get to villages, you have to go get off and go to the valleys. You may find some “chaty” or “salase” along the route but that’s different from small village s krcmou a hostincom”. This is especially true when you are hiking a top of “Donovaly”, “Nizke Tatry”, “Vychodne Tatry”, etc.
I would probably chop the route into sections (e.g., Donovaly, Nizke Tatry, Slovensky Raj, Vysoke Tatry, Vychodne Tatry), made some 3 days hiking trips on each section (which would make it some 15 days of hiking) and make 1-2 days breaks enjoying villages food, etc. at the beginning/end of each hiking section. This would make it 3 weeks trip. It would require to find entry and exit points from each section and use the buss to get to the next section (as you plan to do with “Vysoke Tatry”) I think part between Krompach a Saris area is not so exciting, I would go back to trail somewhere around Saris (Sarisky Hrad) a spend more time in Vysoke/Vychodne Tatry.
Of course it would need more planning but as I said I think you are trying to combine way too much into your allocated time frame.
Other than that the trip sounds great! If I was younger and my legs served me better I would join you!!
Let me think more about what to see and where to go. I’ll take me some memory refreshing!
🙂
Hi Miro,
Thanks for your tips!
We’ll still have to figure out the actual route, along with the pesky details like daily distance and goals for each night. What we did for this first cut, we just took the whole route, and roughly divided it in half. Seems like the average hiking time to hike the whole route is a month so that’s why. Makes sense. At 15 miles per day, this comes out to 30 days. I hiked the 220 mile John Muir Trail few years back and we averaged about that daily distance. But we also spent a ton of time every day just lounging around, taking pictures, etc… So 15 miles per day is def doable, at least if we stay away from slivovica and kolace. 🙂
But anyway, we definitely want to do the first part – hike from Kraliky to Slovensky Raj and then head to the High Tatras and do some day hiking there. We’ll see how much time we have let afterwards. We may take a bus to some area closer to Bardejov and just resume hiking from there, totally skipping the area between Krompachy and Saris like you suggested. I would very much like to see Bardejov and Dukla, since I haven’t been to either…
Oh yeah, 15 miles per day is reasonable pace, I still prefer to take some breaks and do some other leisure stuff (e.g., some slivovica and food, rafting Dunajec, visiting some old castles, enjoying some spas, etc.
Maybe hiking Kraliky to Slovensky Raj.
Next segment Dopsinka jaskyna a Slovensky Raj. They are more in valleys a go through some small villages. I would bundle Dunajec and rafting into this segment as it’s right there.
In Vysoke Tatry I would take more than a day and make a couple of one day hikes. Everything is one day hike in High Tatra.
Then get somewhere to Spis, hiking to Bardejovo, Svidnik, Dukla.
Just a thought.
Ahoj!
We were just in Slovakia last summer visiting relatives outside Revuca. It is so beautiful there! Enjoy your trip!
pozdraviť všetkým
Here are comments from readers on Facebook. I am copying these here so that we can keep your tips organized in one place…
Tom: definitely take a rafting trip on the dunajec. i used to be a peace corps volunteer in spisska stara ves anmd i would take friends on that all the time. gorgeous scenery. then hike back on the same path.
Tony: visit the andy warhol museum in medzilaborce
Phillip: Don’t forget Bojnice and Prievidza, pls.
Hildika: Piestany
Margie: Tatry…
Jana: Skanzen Vydrovo- nice museum in the nature plus hiking the hills to see all of it. Nice scenery touristy place, the oldest steam machine you can take a ride on !!! Highly recommend… http://www.lesy.sk/showdoc.do?docid=2988 here is the page – in ENG or SVK 😉
Branko: How big IS you backpack? Could I fit into it? lol
Gabriela: hiking in Slovensky raj
Branko: Slovensy Raj: tam som bol na “zemiakoch”, tri krat!
Eva: salaš na Zbojská…medzi Tisovec a Pohronska Polhora…krásna príroda a najlepšie halušky na svete…mňaaaaam
Tim: Slovensky Raj, and Tatry are must-dos and sees. Rafting on the Dunajec is cool too. great scenery. Devin by BA is also pretty neat…as is Spisky Hrad. Definitely take hilkes up the Tarty to like Zbojnicka Chata and places like that. it’s like being on another planet up there!
Maryann: In Tatranska Lomnica is a penzion named Volga. The price is very reasonable and the food is excellent. Stefan Rejda is a chef there and he makes excellent food and his mother (my cousin) makes the best pirohy. People in charge of the penzion are Stano and Zuzana Sekelsky (she is the daughter of my cousin). If you do decide to visit there, feel free to use my name. Have a great time…. this is dream-come-true trip :).
Jana: Moznosti je dost, len treba vybrat tu naj. Ubytovat sa je mozne v chatach, napr. pod Rysmi, je to tura na cely den (hore su uz retaze), da sa prejst aj na polsku stranu, len asi by bolo potrebne si rezervovat ubytovanie, maju tam obmedzenu kapacitu. Ale ak ste zdatni, v pohode to zvladnete za 3-4 hod., myslim az hore. Potom pekna je Tatranska magistrala, kde sa da prejst krizom skoro celymi Tatrami, ale to je taka prechadzka, nie je velke prevysenie a na trase je dost vysokohorskych chat. Taktiez su pekne Mala a Velka studena dolina, tam su chaty – Teryho a v druhej je Zbojnicka, to je tak stredne narocna trasa. Zbojnicka je trosku narocnejsia. Aj trasa od Sliezskeho domu na Poľský hreben a Vychodnu vysoku je zaujimava, ale tiez pre narocnejsich. No a trasy ako napr. Gerlachovsky stit je potrebne absolvovat s horskym vodcom, tam sa tiez treba vopred nahlasit. Ak si kupite mapu, tam sa dobre a lahko zorientujete, su tam vyznacene trasy. Niektore pekne su aj z polskej strany, ale vacsi zaberak daju nase hory 🙂 Ak by ste si chceli oddychnut, pekny vyhlad je z lanovky na Lomnicky stit, stoji to za ten zazitok (aspon podla mna). Slovensky raj velmi nepoznam, tam som bola tusim iba 2x, ale to si netrufam radit, bola som ako velmi mlada a nepamatam si. Moja srdcovka su Tatry a preto som sa tam zdrziavala najviac. A nezabudnite sa poistit v Tatrach, lebo v pripade nejakych tazkosti by ste si museli poriadne siahnut do vrecka. Hadam ti to trosku pomoze 🙂 Maj sa pekne a uzite si nadheru nasich velhor 🙂
wow, nice plans! I wish I could do it too.
Make sure to spend enough time in High Tatras, you might hike to Rysy, a peak on the slovak polish border. There is also the highest located mountin hut in High Tatras, Chata pod Rysmi: http://www.vysoketatry.com/chaty/chprysmi/chprysmi.html
Thanks Ivona. That hut looks great! Thanks for recommending it (and reminding me). The more and more I think about it, the more likely I think it will be that we will just end up hiking to the High Tatras and bum around there for a while, followed by a short overnight hike somewhere near Bardejov and Dukla…
Having just been referred to your plans, I could write so much. My wife and I have hiked extensively in central and east Slovakia in several 3-week trips over the last few years, and we are always looking forward to our next trip there. We know that you will enjoy your trip, whatever you do.
It would be nice to be able to do it all, but as others have said, there is so much to enjoy that choices on each trip (and many trips) become essential. And flexibility – in the best weather you will want to be in the mountains; in wet weather Slovensky raj is still an enjoyable and wonderful paradise.
My suggestion would be for you to decide on your priorities for this trip, add a few extras for flexibility, and make notes for subsequent trips that you will want to take.
Although we backpack this side of the Atlantic ocean, we tend not to on our visits to Slovakia. Instead, we choose a central place to stay for a week or so and use public transport to get to and from our day hikes. For Bardejov and Dukla-Svidnik we stayed in Presov (long but practical bus rides) from where we were also able to visit the Saris area (apologies for missing accents). For Slovensky raj we have stayed in Cingov on the east and Dobsinska L’adova jaskyna to the south. For the High Tatras we have stayed in Stary Smokovec, Nova Lesna, and Tatranska Strba. For Chopok etc. we have stayed in Jasna and Brezno. Travelling mostly by bus promotes interactions with the wonderful Slovak people as well as the occasional other visitors.
In Presov, we recommend Sarisska Chiza U Kl’ucika, a Slovak restaurant at Hlavna 67. Going rafting on the Dunajec makes it also worthwhile to visit Stara L’ubovna, where the castle museum is excellent and there is good food at the Marilla restaurant at Namestie sv. Mikulas 16.
Good planning and travelling!
John, Ottawa, canada
Can someone recommend a good guide for Gerlach?
I don’t know him personally but he might be an option:
http://www.trstan.sk/
Dakujem Ivona, pozrel som si jeho web stranku a vyzera to super. Trosku drahsie nez som ocakaval, ale asi je to teraz na Slovensku tak. Este pamatam ked dolar bol 40 korun, potom uz bol len dakych 15, a teraz je euro… 🙂
No casy sa menia. Ale, ked idete traja tak sa to rozrata a uz to neni tak vela.
Inak citala som si reportaz o vystupe na Gerlach a poviem ti ta cesta dole nebude sranda.
I got a response from Juraj about a suggested hiking route in the HT. He says:
Začni na Chate pri zelenom plese, Zamkovského chata, Zbojnická chate cez Téryho chatu a Priečne sedlo, Sliezsky dom cez Prielom a skončiť môžeš na Chate pri Popradskom plese.
Na Gerlach sa chodí zo Sliezskeho domu.
Chaty sú poprepájané značkovými chodníkmi, kde nepotrebuješ vodcu.
Informácie o výstupe na Gerlach nájdeš tu:
http://www.trstan.sk/programy/letne-programy/gerlachovsky-stit-2-654-m-quot-klasickou-cestou-quot/
Have you seen the wikipedia article under
Gerlachovsky stit?
George, I meant a real human guide. You need to have a guide with you to climb the peak unless you are a member of this mountaineering association (which I am not). Even the easiest route requires some rock scrambling and there is a chance of you falling off the route into the valleys below.
This does not fit into your plans bit it crossed my mind when you mentioned some good food to sample: while you in Eastern Slovakia, you could hop into Hungary and visit some of those zahranicni Slovaci and compare their cousine to today’s Slovakian cooking. Of course, a trip to Vojvodina in Serbia or in Romania would be great too. So maybe next time you go to Europe, do “Dolna zem Slovak cooking tour”. 😉
Kezmarok is a lovely town. And if you get further east of Svidnik to Medzilaborce you can visit the Andy Warhol museum there. http://www.slovakia.org/culture-warhol.htm
I visited this area in the spring of ’10 including my baba and gido’s village of Olsavka. Actually, I visited much of Slovakia over two weeks, including Banská Bystrica for lunch one day. I wish I knew of your father’s restaurant then! Bardejov is beautiful.
Basically leaving a note for myself, Lester from opakovanie.sk offered us a free room, http://slovensko.com/forum/read.php?5,53198,53205#msg-53205
hey lubos, if you get a chance ,try to pop into bojnice,the bojnice castle is very impressive,don’t even think of going to prievidza it’s a waste of time.the town is ugly,concrete jungle(not as bad as petrzalka though-petrzalka is very special)and you should really visit the thermal spas(they;re very cheap)the food is fabulous everywhere i went.you got to see banska stiavnica-it’s a fairytale town with great food.i’m not so sure of the slovak people,they’re very miserable and grumpy, beautiful girls everywhere but they never smile,no one smile.it can get very dark,moody and depressing in there(that’s why i left)not a very jolly nation,hey?it must be the years of communism i guess.
Hehe, yeah, there is something to it. I always say that the national sport of Slovakia is complaining. It seems that it takes us Slovaks to live abroad to appreciate how awesome and pretty Slovakia is.
The Slovak tourism board just released a new ad full of beautiful scenery shots, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6doVaI8N9c
Speaking of Bojnice, I’ve been there few times, and will definitely take my friend there for a tour of the castle. But not while doing this hike, we’ll do that during a pre or post hike sightseeing tour.
of course,not all the slovak people are like that.i have a great time everytime i visit the place,it got better this year,met some lovely people,very friendly-it comes as a shock sometimes,but after three weeks i’m happy to go somewhere else.anyway,snowboarding in donovaly is fun,hiking in tatras it can be challanging and of course fun.and to put things right,i’m not complaining,i’m saying how it is
Good luck with your plans. It sounds like a real adventure!
hi, looks like a good plan! make sure you visit Levoča too, it§s much more beautiful than Spisska Nova Ves and you can take a bus to Poprad from there too. I can arrange a guide for you too, since it’s my home town 😉
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn anything like this before. So good to find anyone with some authentic thoughts on this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this website is something that is wanted on the web, someone with slightly originality. helpful job for bringing one thing new to the internet!