Why Zakopane?

We decided to choose Zakopane as our starting point for our planned hike to Kasprowy Wierch and the excursion to Lake Morskie Oko.

A little information about Zakopane

Shortly as info. Zakopane is not just a small mountain village. It`s the highest situated city in Poland. Over 30’000 inhabitants live here and it`s located 90 km away from Krakow, in the most southern part of Poland, near the Slovakian border. In a wide valley basin of the Western Tatras and the High Tatras you can find Zakopane.

The cable car to the top of Kasprowy Wierch makes the town a popular ski resort in winter and a true hiking paradise in summer!

Minicamping Willa Skoczek. An extremely personal campsite!

First of all we needed a place to stay overnight. After some searching online, we found the Willa Skoczek. The owners rent several rooms and you can camp on the small meadow in front of the house. There`s space for about 4-8 vehicles (depending on the size of the vehicles). You can also use the fireplace. The family was very friendly and helpful. There`s no official reception. So if there`s nobody on site, if you want to check in unannounced, please don`t hesitate to call one of the following numbers : +48 18 20 11 832 or +48 504 440 553 . They were usually nearby or already in the house. We have felt very comfortable here. The view on a bigger meadow and the High Tatras behind was very nice and the surrounding neighbor houses didn`t disturb us.

The shower and toilet of the house in the background can be shared. They`re on the ground floor and have always been clean.

What does the city of Zakopane offer?

In the city centre you`ll find numerous hotels, restaurants, cafés and various shops. Since the weather was quite bad during the 2 days we spent in Zakopane and the surrounding area, we didn`t stroll through the streets. But we liked what we saw during our short stay.

Many houses in beautiful Zakopane style and a unique restaurant tip

The local houses are built in a very special style, the so-called Zakopane style. This is a mixture of youth house style, folk art and Tyrolean chalet. I`ve never seen such extraordinary wooden chalets before. The special shapes and the carving art have fascinated me very much.

I found the Jaszczurówka Chapel a worthy example to show you how this style looks in real life. It`s located at an exposed, slightly elevated place at the exit center. With the dark brown of the wood and the green of the forest in the background as a contrast, it`s a very nice photo motif. By the way, we discovered it on our drive to the lake Morskie Oko. Thanks to my curiosity I found out afterwards what this special building actually is. So you can find it easier 😉

We ate out once. We had lunch in the restaurant Karczma Przy Mlynie. I simply liked everything here! From the building itself, which was built in the typical Zakopane style, to the very tasty Polish cuisine, to the traditional furnishings and clothing worn by the service staff. Normally I don’t like the style very much, when the whole interior is almost all wood. But here it fits perfectly. The seats on the terrace have a great view to the wonderful garden and the water mill. We were lucky that it was already warm enough to eat there.

This time I remembered to take a picture of the pierogi, cause I missed it in Krakow. They were also very good, but not nearly as good as the ones in restaurant Pod Aniolami in Krakow. These ones were only cooked, but not fried afterwards.

Also the potato pancakes, which are also one of the typical dishes in Poland (and also in Slovakia, as we found out a little later on the way), were also very tasty.

Bulwary Słowackiego 23, Zakopane, Tel.: +48 18 201 25 98, Email: karczma@przymlynie.pl, Open daily from midday until 10 pm.

Info and tips:

• The camping site of Willa Skoczek can also be found on the Internet under Villa Jumper, but it`s the same.
• Address of Willa Skoczek: Mrowce 17a, 34-500 Zakopane
• We also visited the campsite Pod Krokwia very close to the cable car. It wasn`t what we were looking for, as it was very crowded and too big for our opinion. But maybe it`s something for you.
• If the Willa Skoczek is already fully booked, you can find some other campsites here. On this page you can also find all kinds of other practical information about Zakopane and the surrounding area.
• Under this link you can find more information about the city.
• Actually, I was looking for a cafe online and I`ve found STRH Bistro Art Cafe. Unfortunately we had no more time to visit it. Maybe you would like to try it out if you happen to be there (or maybe you already know it).