Poland - Files

1 Overland and underground
Overland and underground 9
...Let’s go walking in the mountains
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The south of Poland, from the western to the eastern
borders, is the land of the beautiful and mysterious
Sudetes Mountains and gently impetuous foothills, the
Beskids. The pride of Poland are the high peaks of the
Tatra Mountains (a part of the Carpathian Mountain
range) crowned with the Rysy summit at 2499 m. Mountain
trails lead through valleys, their slopes covered with
trees, or cut through the rocks to flowering mountain
clearings under towering peaks.
The Tatra Mountains [1]
mountain gardens
There are over 300 km of well marked hiking trails of different
difficulty levels in the region: for strolling, scenic and
high-mountain hikes. Some trails reach an altitude of 2300
m. They all cross the Tatra Mountains National Park, a mountain
garden ‘designed’ by the genius of Nature.
• www.tpn.pl • www.tatry.org/pl •
• www.tatry.info.pl• www.tatry.pl •
• www.e-tatry.com •
Kościeliska Valley [2]
(9 km long, elevation 1050 m)
Considered the most beautiful valley in the Tatra Mountains.
Sharp peaks rise to the skies with the highest - Błyszcz
(2 159 m). The slopes of Kościeliska Valley contain concealed
entrances to the Mroźna and Mylna caves with their wonderful
rocky ‘sculptures and architecture’.
• www.gory-szlaki.pl/dolina_koscieliska.htm •
• www.tatry.turystyka-gorska.pl/koscieliska.htm •
Chochołowska Valley [3]
(10 km long, elevation 920 m)
Beautiful all-year-round and very popular with enthusiasts
of scenic hikes. Here the high-mountain trails leading
to the peaks begin: Rakoń (1879 m), Wołowiec (2064 m) or
Jarząbczy Wierch (2137 m) with their panoramic views across
the Polish and Slovakian Tatras.
• www.chocholowska.zakopane.pl •
• www.dolina-chocholowska.witow.pl •
• www.zakopane-online.eu/78,A_Walking_Tour_of_the_
Chocholow.htm •
Five Lake’s Valley [4]
(4 km long, elevation over 1 600 m)
The valley surrounded by granite peaks with its crystal
clear mountain lakes glittering in the valley floor is best seen
from above. One of the lakes – Wielki Staw – is the deepest in
the Tatra Mountains (79 m). A stream flows out of it forming
beautiful waterfalls: Siklawa and Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza.
A hike to the highest peak of the Tatras – Rysy (2499 m) - can
start in Five Lake’s Valley.
• www.piecstawow.pl •
• www.man.pl/~lowell/dolina_5_stawow.php •
Orla Perć [5]
(vie ferrate)
The most difficult mountain trail in the Tatras, about 5 km
long. It was laid out in 1903 by the priest, Walenty Gadowski.
Here he built one of Europe’s first vie ferrate – an iron road – a
mountain trail secured with chain hand rails and ladders. To
take on this trail requires experience, almost acrobatic skills
and courage. The name, ‘Orla Perć’, comes from the eagles’
nests accessible only to eagles.
• www.orlaperc.za.pl • www.gory-szlaki.pl/orla_perc.htm •
• www.tatry.turystyka-gorska.pl/orla_perc.htm •
• www.tatromaniak.fr.pl •
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Kościeliska Valley
Chochołowska Valley
Pięciu Stawów Valley
Orla Perć
Tatra
Mountains
European Walking
Route E3
E3
Śnieżka
The Śnieżnika
Sudety
E3massif
E3
Bieszczady
E3
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...Let’s go walking in the mountains
The Sudetes Mountains [6]
beautiful and mysterious
The Sudetes are covered by a net of picturesque trails.
Some reach the highest cloudy peak of the Karkonosze range
- Śnieżka (1 603 m), others thread through the Table Mountains.
The Mountain Ghost, from Sudetian legends, can be
encountered in the rocky labyrinths. When walking the trails
in the Sudetes it is worth keeping an eye out for semi-precious
stones which are abundant in these ancient mountains, or
mufflons brought here from Corsica in the 19th century.
The European Walking Route (E 3) crosses the Sudetes.
It is several thousand kilometers long: from the coasts of the
Atlantic to the Black Sea in the Ukraine. Other challenges are
posed for hikers by the Orłowicz Main Sudetes Trail which,
over a distance of 350 km, leads from Świeradów to Paczków
through some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in the
Sudetes Mountains, with intriguing, mysterious names: Raven
Mountains, Owl, Table, Eagle and Golden.
• www.panorama-miast.com.pl/41/html/bystrzyca.htm •
• www.karkonosze.pl/sniezka/sniezka.php •
• www.sudety.it/index/turystyka/szlaki/ID,7 •
• www.sniezka.karpacz.pl • www.stolowe.yoyo.pl •
• www.sudety.it/index/turystyka/szlaki/ID,1 •
• www.sudety.it/index/gory/regiony/ID,10 •
the mountain of the three seas [7]
The Śnieżnika massif (1425 m) consists of several mountains.
The flat crests with hewn out arduous slopes form viewing platforms
from where you can marvel at this magical landscape.
This region was discovered over 100 years ago by the Dutch
princess, Marianne. Streams flowing into great European
rivers: Oder, Elba and Danube and with them reaching the
three seas, Baltic, Black and North Sea, have their sources here.
• www.sudety.it/index/gory/regiony/ID,6 •
Bieszczady [8]
the mountains of burning beech trees
The Bieszczady Mountains are difficult to pronounce for
non-Polish speakers. But it is worth memorizing the name
and visiting this region.
This is a small region of Poland but with many attractions:
bald peaks called połoniny, trails through the backwoods of
the Carpathian Forest where traces of human activity merge
with those of wolves and bears, then down to hospitable
villages of wooden huts in the valleys with their Christian and
Orthodox churches. Here at daybreak you can take a horse
down a mountain trail, then at noon sail on the Solina Lake
and in the afternoon you can walk to Caryńska Połonina and
watch the sun set. In the evening you can listen to songs and
poetry by a camp fire and have fresh trout for dinner. There
are 120 km of marked trails and nature routes in the Bieszczady
Mountains. The ‘border’ trail between Poland, Slovakia
and Ukraine is very beautiful and it takes 30 hours to cover
the 68 km. The lowest peak on the trail is Wysoki Groń (905
m) and the highest Wielka Rawka (1304 m).
• www.polandforall.com/bieszczady.html •
• www.bieszczady.net.pl•
Burning beech trees & blazing mountains [9]
In the Bieszczady Mountains Nature’s show starts at
the end of September. The beech trees growing on the
mountain slopes are transformed into browns, reds and
yellows and the mountains become a blaze of colours.
The forest vistas are unforgettable; they quiver in the
crystal clear air. Once seen you will drawn back over and
over again.
• www.twojebieszczady.pl •
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