Slovak Tatras

The Tatra Mountains are a rather unique mountain range. Everyone has heard of it, but I am sure that not everyone knows how small it is. The area of the massif is only 250 square kilometers and it is located on the territory of two countries, Poland and Slovakia. The main part, the High Tatras, is in Slovakia, where we went.

We drove from Poland and the difference between the two countries is enormous. The number of tourists in Poland and Slovakia is simply incommensurable, in Poland they are much more. So if you're looking for peace and quiet, choose Slovakia.


In fact, all of the High Tatras can be seen in this photo.


And without a drone, a good view is from the bridge over the D1 freeway (49.076279, 20.286190).




Interesting places

It is quite easy to get around here, all the interesting places are located on a single road between Štrbské Pleso and Tatranská Lomnica. Along the road also passes the route of the local tram.

The main places with cable cars:
 - Štrbské Pleso
 - Vysoké Tatry (funicular)
 - Tatranská Lomnica

If you only have one day, then visit the cable car in Tatranská Lomnica and walk around the lake Štrbské Pleso.


The city of Poprad is the gateway to the High Tatras. There is a highway, a train station and even a small international airport. We went here to the shopping center (49.059290, 20.266334) for groceries.


Hotels

There are plenty of hotels to choose from. If you don't have a car you can stay anywhere, even in Poprad, all the places are connected by the tram, here you can see the map of routes and stops.

If you're by car, there's a great temptation to stop near Štrbské Pleso, it's very beautiful. But we came for 5 nights, moreover with a child, so we chose another place, Bedolandia (booking.com). The overnight stay near the mountains has a big advantage compared to the overnight stay in the mountains. After all, you can see the entire mountain range from your house, which means you can easily determine where to go, depending on the current weather.

Water parks

In addition to mountains and cable cars, Slovakia is also a country of water parks. The closest one is in Poprad, but we went to others, at the Liptovská Mara lake, which is easily accessible by highway in just 45 minutes.

 - Water park in Poprad (49.061115, 20.306290, https://aquacity.sk/en/)
 - Water park Bešenová (49.100611, 19.444304, https://www.besenova.com/en/)
 - Water park Tatralandia (49.104966, 19.571237, https://www.tatralandia.sk/en/)

We liked the last one the most, it has a big entertainment center, not only the water park.

Tickets

Tickets for the cable cars and water parks are purchased through the GoPass website https://www.gopass.travel/EN/homepage. The prices seemed very high, higher than in Germany or even than in Switzerland. For orientation, as of 2023 the price for a cable car to the Lomnický štít for two people is... 138 euros!

But there is a way to save money. First, the ticket is cheaper if you buy it a day in advance, and even cheaper if you buy it two days in advance. And second, when you make your first purchase, get GoPass cards at the ticket office. After using the tickets, discounts will appear in your account on the website. This way you can go to the next water park for less than half price.

Important! Buy tickets in advance, otherwise it may turn out that there will be no tickets for today.