Zakopane is Poland's best-known mountain resort - and has been since the 1860s.
 

You can get to Zakopane by train or by coach.

The driving time from Krakow is about two hours.

Good facilities and the immediately accessible slopes of the Tatra Mountains make skiing the big wintertime attraction. Clik to see a map of skiing slopes near Zakopane. Peak season is January through March. Downhill runs closest to town descend from a 6,514-foot-high peak called Kasprowy Wierch, reached by a gondola and two chairlifts. Antalowka, a small hill on Zakopane's western outskirts, is used as a beginners slope, and cross-country trails fringe the forested foothills. In addition, a skating rink is in the center of town.

Most tourists would prefer a visit during the area's high-season months, June through August. Hiking is an immensely popular activity for groups and individuals. Dozens of well marked trails extend through meadows and canyons shaded by spruce, pine, oak and larch trees. Hikers can make their way past alpine lakes up to the highest Tatra summit, 8,200-foot Mt. Rysy.

August is highlighted by the rousing Tatra Autumn or International Festival of Highland Folklore - featuring music, dancing, food, arts and crafts - which takes place annually. Then comes foliage time, with flaming red the predominant colour here in Europe. There are several other advantages to the Tatra autumn - crystal-clear air and low-season prices.

Within the villages of the Tatras, particularly Zakopane, the largest town in the region, visitors will see Poland's highlanders. Men wear low, rounded black hats, ornately embroidered cloth jackets, white cloth trousers and moccasins made from one piece of leather fastened with thongs and maybe carry a walking stick. Women are dressed in flowery kerchiefs, colourful short jackets and aprons with beads around their necks and the same leather moccasins. Even the dwellings reflect what would seem to be a long lost time - steep-roofed timber houses built from roughly hewn logs, decorated with flowers and brightly coloured motifs, each different from the next.

For up-to-date information visit www.zakopane-life.com

Zakopane hotel guide

Wladyslaw Hasior Gallery houses the works of Wladyslaw Hasior, a renowned contemporary artist, as well as those of other artists. The gallery is located at ul. Jagiellonska 16. Open Wed. - Sat. 11am - 6pm; Sun. 9am - 3pm.

Tatra Museum (Muzeum Tatrzanskie) has sections devoted to the history, geology, ethnography as well as fauna and flora of the region. It is located at ul. Krupowki 10. Open Wed.- Sun. 9am. - 3pm. Many villas which once either hosted or belonged to Polish artists have been turned into small museums and are now open to visitors, including Villa Atma, once the home of composer Karol Szymanowski and Villa Harenda owned by the poet Jan Kasprowicz.
 

Centrum Informacji Turystycznej (Tourism Information Center) , ul. Kosciuszki 17, tel. (18) 201-2211; fax (18) 206-6051. Open daily 7am - 9pm, closed on Christmas Day and Easter Monday.

PTTK, ul. Krupowki 12, tel. (18) 201-6848; fax (18) 201-2429. The staff provides information on the town, operating huts in the mountains and can arrange English speaking mountain guides. Open Mon. - Fri. 8am - 4pm., Sat. 8am. - 2pm.