DURATION
3 nights
LOCATION
Slovakia
ANNUAL LEAVE
1 ½ days off work
SEASON
Jun—Oct
GROUP SIZE
Up to 8 people
MEETING POINT
Kraków Airport, Poland
ACCOMMODATION
Classic
Hotel
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
You’ll cover 18km of uneven terrain each day with as much as 850m of ascent and 1350m of descent, so a good level of fitness is essential.
Spend 3 days in the High Tatras – one of the wildest and most beautiful mountain ranges in Europe
Experience a hiker's paradise of forested valleys, hidden waterfalls and alpine lakes all nestled beneath 2500m+ peaks
Follow the epic but little-known trekking route of the Tatranská Magistrala trail - remote, quiet and insanely beautiful
Day 1
Arrival
Meet your host and take a scenic drive over the border into Slovakia to your friendly family-run hotel in the lovely village of Stary Smokovec. Check-in, unwind and then meet the rest of your group for dinner and a chance to discuss the plan for the days ahead.
Day 2
Green Lake
Hiking
7-8hrs · 18km · 535m up · 1350m down
Catch the cable car part way up Lomnicky Peak, the second-highest mountain in Slovakia. Hike to the summit of this 2000+m peak and then descend through a rugged valley to the serene Green Lake. Enjoy lunch at a lakeside hut and then walk through a dwarf pine forest to White Lake. Spend the evening unwinding in a jacuzzi or sauna and then grab some dinner before a well-deserved night’s sleep.
Day 3
The Velicka Valley
Hiking
5-6hrs · 15km · 850m up · 900m down
Hike to the beautiful Velicka Valley, located at the foot of the highest mountain in Slovakia, Gerlachovsky Peak (2655m). Enjoy the incredible scenery and then trek to a pretty mountain lake for lunch with a waterfall view. Explore the famous Tatranska Magistrala trail as it winds its way through a labyrinth of dwarf pines and spruces and then follow a pristine mountain stream back to your the hotel for your last night in the mountains.
Day 4
Strbske Lake and home
Hiking
4hrs · 10km · 350m up · 350m down
Pack up and head to Strbske Lake, one of the most scenic and photographed in Slovakia. Enjoy a hike through some stunning scenery on the way to Popradske Lake, then grab some lunch and return to Krakow in time for your flight home.
Included
Guides
Expert, English-speaking local guides
Accommodation
3 nights in a family-run hotel
Meals
All your breakfasts and dinners
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in-between
Permits
All permits and entry fees
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Some meals as described
Personal expenses
Travel insurance
Visas where required
Day 1
Hotel · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2 – Day 3
Hotel · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Departure day
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Slovakian food is simple, fresh and hearty with staples that include pork, poultry, cheese, pastry, potatoes, onions and garlic. Lentil and vegetable stews are also common, as is wild game, pasta and the Gnocchi dish "Bryndzove Halušky."
There are a variety of restaurants in town, including European-American fusion, pizza, pubs and Italian. It’s possible to accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and dairy free diets, just let your host know before arrival.
What is the accommodation like?
Tatras Mountains
You'll be staying in a friendly, family run Penzion Lomnicky hotel in the village of Stara Lesna. The hotel is beautifully presented with a modern twist on traditional Slovakian style. All rooms are en-suite and come with WiFi, towels and a hairdryer.
Upgrades
For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge, see Optional Extras for the price. Please request this at the time of booking (this is subject to availability).
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Krakow Airport, Poland
17:00
Ends
Krakow Airport, Poland
18:00
Transfers
You’ll be picked up on arrival and dropped off in time for any departures after 20:00.
Travel options
There are regular flights to Krakow from major airports across the UK and Europe.
Your group arrival and departure transfers are long (150km/approximately 3 hours) and include a border crossing. For this reason, private transfers are not usually offered by your host as the cost is prohibitive and you are encouraged to join the group arrival/departure transfers.
As the first and last day of your adventure are full days and the traffic between Krakow Airport and the city is usually heavy, it is not possible to be picked up or dropped off at a city hotel. However, public transport between the city and the airport is good. There is a train that leaves once or twice per hour, this takes 17minutes and is very economical.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What do I need to bring?
- Sturdy, broken-in waterproof hiking shoes or boots. Or at least waterproof socks, because you will have to step into water at times.
- Rain/windproof jacket
- Waterproof trousers/overtrousers
- Lightweight, breathable hiking shirts, trousers and shorts in summer.
- Sweater or fleece
- Hat, gloves, scarf (for September and October departures)
- Water bottle
- Small rucksack for carrying personal items
- Swimsuit
- Insect repellent
- All personal toiletries
- Ear plugs
Private Room Upgrade
Payable Before Departure
Private Room Upgrade
… Per Person
Fantastic weekend in the mountains with Patrik our guide, lots of local knowledge and information passed across as we travelled. Some challenging terrain at times, mainly on the steeper rocky trails, but the views making it very worthwhile. Time in the evening to enjoy the local bar, or the hotel spa.
We went as a private group and Tom was a fantastic host throughout the weekend. We had a slight issue with the weather, but it did not change our experience as Tom adapted the weekend to ensure we got the best of the Tatras. A trip to the local thermal spa was a highlight! The area is beautiful to explore, incredibly clean in the hotel and the food was very hearty! (Not great if you are wanting gluten free!). The paths we went on were very rocky so I would make sure you are prepared for that.
Amazing location! Highly recommend
What a glorious trip! The hiking was wonderful and the views spectacular. Our group enjoyed getting to know each other too. Tomáš was the perfect host, welcoming us, guiding through the hike safely, sharing local stories, chatting with everyone and helping with anything we needed. This was my first experience with Much Better Adventures and it won’t be my last.
This is a fantastic hiking adventure. We were so well looked after by our guide, the accommodation exceeded our expectations and the views from the top were incredible. Thank you Patrik and our whole awesome group of new friends :)
Tom was a first class guide of our small group, always attentive to everyone ensuring both enjoyment and safety along the way. I really appreciated the pace of the trip - doing the most challenging route on day one, and then winding down. The trip provided a great introduction to the Tatras and has certainly encouraged me to return in the near future.
This trip was fantastic - such a beautiful part of the world with amazing mountain scenery, gorgeous lakes and well way-marked, clean trails. I loved the variation in the walks and our guide Patrik was brilliant - really knowledgable, friendly and patient. The hotel accommodation was even better than i'd been expecting and was the perfect place to relax after a day out walking. Thank you for a great holiday!
Amazing organisation, communication and service. Thank you!
This was my first MBA trip and also my first solo trip - I would do it again in a heartbeat! Everything was so well organised, from the WhatsApp group set up a few days before departure right until our airport drop off at the end of the tour.
Our guide Patrik was great, very relaxed and friendly and very passionate about hiking in Slovakia! We had a freak hail & lightning storm one day while out in the mountains and Patrik handled it really well, we stayed safely sheltered away in the mountain hut while the worst of it passed before heading back down. The weather the rest of the time was absolutely glorious!
The walks are nice and straightforward if you're used to a bit of hiking. The views are gorgeous from the trails even when you're not hiking up to any summits. It was a great intro to Slovakia and I'd love to go back and explore a little more and so some summit hikes now!
One thing to be aware of which none of our group knew - you can't swim in the High Tatras! The area is protected and there are hefty fines if you're caught in the water. We'd all brought swimwear which we didn't use and I would have left it at home had I realised it wasn't going to be possible to swim.
An amazing trip, even though the weather was against us a bit, it didn't take the shine off a great weekend, our guide adapted the tour to the conditions and the views were still stunning
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 122kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
On a typical day you’ll cover 18km of uneven terrain with as much as 1000m of ascent, so a moderate level of fitness is needed to enjoy it to the full. Some hikes also include short sections of scrambling. Whilst prior experience is recommended it’s not required to enjoy the trip.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
The High Tatras in summer are beautiful and relatively warm. From June to August the average daytime temperature is 12 °C, but it can range from 8 – 18 °C. It rains approximately 12 days each month, totalling 80mm monthly.
Spring and autumn temperatures are a little cooler, ranging from 4 – 13 °C, but it is also drier (just 60mm monthly) and the colours are beautiful.
Make sure to pack for occassional rainfall and cooler evenings.
You'll need to bring all your luggage with you, however on each day of hiking your main luggage can be left in the hotel in Novy Smokovec. You will only need to have a daypack for each day of hiking.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory on all of our adventures. Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure.
Your insurance policy should also include specific Covid-19 cover, including cancellation and curtailment cover if you, your travel companion or a close relative are diagnosed with Covid-19.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
Pay In Installments
You can choose to pay for this trip in as many installments as you like, with no interest or fees.
Full Financial Protection
Your money is safe. Every booking is fully financially protected.
