Zakopane Travel Forum

Hi,

I'm taking my wife and 2 daughters (8 & 10 yrs) to Zakopane in Feb, for the kids first experience of skiing. We're staying near the Nosal ski area and I guess we'll start off skiing there. But I noticed some other ski areas around the town (eg: Szymoszkowa), which appear to offer some longer easy runs (Nosal appears to only have short easy or one long black run?). Can you comment on Nosal, Szymoszkowa or any other areas?

How far is it from Nosal to Szymoszkowa and how is it best to get there?

Ski hire - is it better to hire for a week or by the day? We are planning to ski every day but might try various different areas?

Which ski areas around Zakopane are best for novice skiers? Nosal originally looked best and is probably ok for the first few days, but from what I can tell the novice slopes are very short and the single longer run appears to be too advanced? Kasprowy Wierch looks great but maybe too advanced, and I read that it takes a very long time to get up there?

Also, do I need to book for the ski lifts of do I pay per lift? Nosal appeared to have pre-pay cards for the lifts, are these ok to use all over Zakopane or just in Nosal?

Also, we were considering sleigh rides, skidoos and/or husky sledges - any advice/recommendations would be greatfully recieved?

Finally, can you advise on any good cheap local polish restauarnts? And we're thinking about a couple of meals in one of the fancier looking restaurants (eg: little Switzerland) will we need to book in advance?

Sorry for all the questions, and help would be fantastic...

Stuart

Restaurants.
They are all good in Zakopane. See my pages for the one we liked. My hubby is American and he does not eat meat....only seafood. He loved Zakopane's food.

Also, no need for reservations. There is so many restaurants on Krupowki Street.

I like to just go inside and look at the plates. If other guests are happy, plates look good, service is smiling.....I go in.

Plus, after one night you will know where everybody goes to eat....and what places are empty.

Good luck.

Hi. Quite a lot of questions :) First, I would not say that Nosal is a good for novice skiers, it is steep, narrow, and last time i was there, was lots of ice. If you're lucky, you will find snow in the montains, but its not always guaranteed, alas. I think Nosal has also an "osla laczka" which is just a very short and easy slope for kins. But you dont need to go to Zakopane to find this kind of. I have not skied on Kasprowy, it is a high mountain and i guess it can be great for the adnvanced. I'm not sure if Zakopane is the nr 1 ski resort, I think it could better be Szczyrk (they have a big net of slopes and ski lifts) or also Bukowina Tatrzanska. Regarding the passes, it is very annoying that polish montaineers have their ski-lifts on their own land and everyone is charging separately. So in general you need separate ski passes for each slope. At least if nothing has changed since i was there last time. I am wishing you lots of snow, that's most important to have maximum fun !!

Thanks for taking the time to send advice.
Stuart

Hi Stuart
We have been from the UK the last 2 years to ski in Zakopane with our now 8 year old daughter and are going again this Feb. Nosal is definitely worth going to for the girls for the first day or two. (about six short green runs with button lifts, which are fine for getting them going). We just hired skis each day at the different places, but if your guesthouse/hotel is geared up for storing them, hiring them for the week could be an option. We tended to walk or get a taxi to Nosal, depends where you are staying, so it was easier to hire them by the day. [Getting around by taxi is the best option and not expensive].Our daughter had a few lessons on the dry slopes before we went so we didn't even have lessons for her and she was fine, but if you want lessons for your girls there are plenty of ski-schools and I don't think it would be a problem just turning up, although you may have to book the day before or something.
We then went to Szymoszkowa (shee-mosh-kova)from day three on, and it is fab. There are 2 ski hire places - we tended to go to the one on the same side of the road as the slope, just so we weren't lugging skis across the road, but it is slightly more upmarket and expensive, although nothing is that expensive really. You just need to bring your passport to hand over for the ski-hire. There are two chair lifts there, a four person one up to the blue run and a six-person one up to the red run. The same card is used for both lifts, the bigger one just uses up more points than the little one. You pay a deposit for the card which you keep all week and just charge it up with as many runs as you think you'll need at the little huts called 'Kasa'. If your girls are like ours, you'll end up charging it up more often than you realise! The only way we could get her off the slopes was to bribe her with hot chocolate (with swirly cream!) at the cafe at the bottom. From the big lift you can also stop for drinks at the top and halfway down. (The cards for Nosal are different to the ones for Szymoszkowa, at least they were 2 years ago). All the restaurants are good and cheap - we tended to go for the ones with traditional costumes and music. Be warned - if you order pork, you get pork ONLY. You also need to order vegetables, potatoes or salad. We were advised to ask for the salad bar after finding meat, meat and more meat. We did take a sleigh ride, expensive but has to be done once! The aquapark is brill for kids too if they like big slides. We went up Gubalowka in the funicular armed with skis to ski down only to find half the mountain blocked due to disputes between landowners. (Could be resolved by now?) If we'd known we could have gone left at the top along a road which would have taken us to Szymoszkowa where we could have skied down! There are beginner slopes at the top of Gubalowka though, and it's worth a trip up there for the views. (Bit more touristy at the top!) We're planning to go on the new funicular up to Kasprowy Wierch this year, although it appears the ski down may be quite hard? At any rate I plan to go to stand with one foot in Poland and the other in Slovakia!!!

Enjoy your trip - I hope you fall in love with the place as much as we have. Everyone is so friendly.
M, A & A.