Poland River Dunajec Self-Guided Cycle Tour

Precio: 720€

Price from 720€/940€ per person double room in hotel category B/A, single room cat. B/A 870€/1230€

	Departures weekly on Saturday’s from April 26th to October 11th		Distance:		Level:		Regular and E-Bike
	Duration: 8 days / 7 nights		Approx. 240 km/150 miles		Medium		80€/190€

Included services

Transport Krakow – Zab and Nowy Sacz – Krakow
7 nights accommodation in twin bedded rooms with shower / WC,
7 x half board (breakfast and dinner)
Transfer of luggage from hotel to hotel
Specialist English-speaking escort (guided tour) or route description, detailed cycling map, and GPS data (self-guided tour)
Cable car Zakopane-Gubalowka (guided tour only)
Klezmer concert on the last evening

An authentic Polish experience:
Round trip from Cracovia on the river Dunajec cycle path

This tour is our proven classic. Poland’s most beautiful mountain river Dunajec (pronounced “doonayeats”, in Old Polish means “son of the Danube”) rises in the High Tatras and flows first through a wide valley, surrounded by picturesque mountain ranges. After that, the stream breaks through the limestone cliffs of the Pieniny Mountains and green Beskids. In this valley, we are on paths that are in no way inferior to the beauty of the most famous European riverside cycle paths.

Ask for an offer

Round trip	Departure	End of tour
Self-guided	Cracovia	Cracovia

Highlights

Culture: The Old Town of Cracovia
Nature: Poland’s most beautiful mountain river
Activity: Enjoy the Zakopane style of timber architecture by bike
Culinary: The delicious smoked ewe’s milk cheese or try the strong Slivovitz, a plum brandy
Souvenir: Polish pottery and ceramics

Spoken language

This tour is conducted bilingually, in English if guided.

Itinerary

Day 1 (Saturday): Cracovia – Individual arrival

You arrive in Krakow and spend the first night in a hotel in the Old Town. After finding your room, there is time for a stroll through Krakow and for a first impression of the Old Town and its nightlife.

Day 2 (Sunday): Krakow – Zab – Zakopane

(appr0x. 25-30 km / 16 – 19 miles)
Bikes are selected at our cycle hire center and a short tour of Krakow, a former capital of Poland gets underway. The city that was once the residence of Polish kings is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and boasts a historic architecture that came through the Second World War unscathed. Among Krakow’s most important architectural treasures are St Mary’s Church with the world-famous altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss; medieval buildings of Jagiellonian University, Poland’s oldest university; Wawel Cathedral adjacent to the 11th century Wawel Castle; Europe’s largest medieval town square; Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter; the promenade along the Vistula at the foot of Wawel Castle. On our cycle tour, we visit the “Planty”, attractive gardens laid out around the Old Town on the site of the earlier medieval city walls.

Day 3 (Monday): Zakopane – Nowy Targ

(approx. 46 km / 29 miles)
We take the cable car back to the top of Gubalowka and then cycle down through the village of Dzianisz as far as Chocholow, a village that is now a “living open-air museum” of timber architecture, where we have lunch in the village inn. From here you can take advantage of the latest investments: We cycle on an excellent, flat, scenic, dedicated cycle road, that was built on the former railway track. We pass Ludzmierz (with a famous Marian pilgrimage shrine), and arrive to the town of Nowy Targ, the main city of the Gorale mountain people.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Nowy Targ – Niedzica/Czorsztyn

(appr0x. 44 km / 28 miles)
Today we head south and follow the course of the Bialka, a third mountain river flowing into the Dunajec, and see its impressive gorge near Nowa Biala. On the way, we can also take a glance at one of Poland’s oldest wooden churches at Debno, built around 1500, which has an impressive painted interior. We are now in the Spisz region, an area with a rich history and a remarkable folk culture. Until 1918 this area was part of Hungary, and for many centuries it was home to several ethnic groups: Gorale and Ruthenians lived in the villages, Germans in the towns and the Hungarian nobility in the castles. Following the bank of the reservoir, we reach one of these castles at Niedzica and spend the night in a nearby hotel.

Day 5 (Wednesday): Niedzica/Czorsztyn – Szczawnica

(appr0x. 35-40 km / 22-25 miles)
This is the most spectacular day of the tour. We follow the river through Sromowce, a village once famous for the flocks of geese that used to be bred here. Soon, at about midday, we cross the border into Slovakia, to the village of Cerveny Klastor (Red Monastery), above which rise the three peaks of Trzy Korony (Three Crowns), the highest point in the Pieniny range. We then cycle along the “Pieniny Way”, a narrow ledge open only to walkers and cyclists, carved out of breathtaking limestone cliffs that run the entire length of the Dunajec Gorge. The gorge of the Lesnicky Potok is outstanding, a stream that flows into the Dunajec from the Slovakian side, passing through the sleepy village of Lesnica. You can leave your bike here, take a minibus back to Cerveny Klastor, and return with a river raft. The splendid spa town of Szczawnica is a pleasant surprise, with its Swiss chalet-style architecture. In the afternoon we ride along the elegant promenade in the valley of the Grajcarek and explore the paths in the upper and lower spa gardens.

Day 6 (Thursday): Szczawnica – Rytro/Piwniczna

(approx. 55 km / 34 miles)
Today’s stretch leads us through what is known as the “green Dunajec Gorge”, where the river passes between two ranges of the Beskids. Although there are no limestone cliff walls here, the slopes with their beech woods are still quite impressive. We soon leave the main road, crossing the river on a suspension bridge to the right bank and making our way between the paths among the farms of the village of Tylmanowa with glimpses of the old barns, granaries, and hen houses through open doors. We stop for lunch at a guesthouse in Lacko, known for its strong slivovitz, a plum brandy. It is also possible to halt alongside fruit gardens on the valley slopes. At Golkowice we turn into the valley of the Dunajec tributary – Poprad. The cycling stage ends in Rytro, an old feudal village at the foot of castle ruins, or further upstream in the spa town Piwniczna.

Day 7 (Friday): Rytro – Krakow

(appr0x. 15-25 km / 9 – 16 miles)
After breakfast, we take a ride down the Poprad Valley. Late morning is spent exploring Stary Sacz – the historic little town, one of the most beautiful in southern Poland, cycling through the maze of narrow streets for a feel of the atmosphere of past times. Then the new bridge and comfortable cycle path lead to Nowy Sacz, another historic town, with a large market square and art-deco houses. A pedestrian zone with different restaurants is a perfect place for lunch. After lunch, we return to Krakow (bus journey about 2 hours). Our accommodation for the last night is usually in the same hotel as on the first night, but we will spend the rest of the day in the vivid Kazimierz district, once the city’s Jewish district. An evening of Klezmer music brings the tour to a close.