Origin

The historical-cultural-natural project of the Route around the Tatras is a great cross-border undertaking, stemming from the long-standing cooperation between Polish and Slovakian local authorities, initiated by the Euroregion “Tatry” in 2004. The complete project assumes the creation of over 250 kilometre-long loop of biking, skiing, running and educational routes around the Tatras. 

Its main idea is sharing extraordinary places and local values with scenic, cultural, historical and natural qualities on both sides of the border, as their availability is limited or scarce right now.

The course of the route on the Polish side is marked with distinctive spots, starting with Nowy Targ: Czarny Dunajec - Podczerwone - Chochołów (going west) and Gronków - Dębno - Czorsztyn - Sromowce Niżne (going east). The Slovakian part is a loop connecting the border-crossing places: Trstená – Dolny Kubin – Liptovský Mikuláš – Štrbské Pleso – Poprad – Kežmarok – Stara Lubovňa – Spišská Stara Ves. Stemming from the main route, smaller side routes can be created for those interested in deepening their knowledge about the local attractions, such as the routes around Czorsztyńskie Lake, unique peatlands, wooden architecture, castles, strongholds and so on. 

The route presents the historical and cultural heritage: the oldest settlement patterns (Nowy Targ, Ludźmierz, Szaflary and Frydman on the Polish side and Kežmarok, Stará Ľubovňa, Spišská Sobota, Liptovský Mikuláš and Dolný Kubín in Slovakia), former trade routes (Salt, Amber and Wine Routes), appealing architectural monuments (Niedzica Castle, Czorsztyn Castle, Łopuszna Manor, Stará Ľubovňa Castle, Red Monastery, Orava Castle), Gothic wooden churches (in Dębno, Harklowa, Łopuszna, Nowy Targ, Tvrdošín, Zuberec, Istebna, Leszczyny, Svätý Kríž and Kežmarok), wooden folk architecture (Chochołów, Podbiel, Pribylina, Museum - Orawa Ethnographic Park in Zubrzyca Górna, Múzeum Zamagurskej Dediny in Stará Ľubovňa) as well as the extraordinary local folklore and folk art. The route focuses also on the unique natural and scenic values and allows for discovering unknown natural monuments. What is more, the Route around the Tatras is perfect for active tourism, good for the environment, and promotes active leisure time as an alternative to other forms of travelling and sightseeing.