Skiing in Poland

Dunner190

Thinking of heading away to Poland for the new year ski week. Has anybody been before? Whats it like? Recommendations as were to stay?

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I was skiing in Poland in 2005 in the Karpacz mountains. There is a number of small resports around this area. Its right on the Czech border. Everything was dirt cheap in 2005. 20c for a Beer. 5/10 Euro a day for ski pass, same to rent a snowboard. Basically super super cheap.

When i was there in Jan we had great snow conditions, tons of the stuff. It was extremely cold though around -15 somedays. I didnt mind it myself.

I think the biggest resort in poland is called Zakopane, never been there but heard its pretty good.

One thing to note is, english is not widely spoken and you may have some trouble communicating. Also if you hire a car, the roads are incredibly dangerous, watch out for lorries over taking in the opposite lane coming towards you! Also the more you get up into the mountains the worse the roads get, they dont clear the snow very often.

Anyway these are just based on my experiences of where and when i went.

erinn

i've heard the Zakopane region was good but we dont want to book anythin unless its trough a travel agent incase anything goes wrong...we took that risk last year but i'd bben to the area the year before and the neighbouring town the year before that again so i sort of knew wha i was doing!

did you book through a travel agent or directly??? experience wise what are the slopes like?

were looking at livingo and andora atm...a bit of a safer option!!! lol

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erinn wrote: »

i've heard the Zakopane region was good but we dont want to book anythin unless its trough a travel agent incase anything goes wrong...we took that risk last year but i'd bben to the area the year before and the neighbouring town the year before that again so i sort of knew wha i was doing!

did you book through a travel agent or directly??? experience wise what are the slopes like?

were looking at livingo and andora atm...a bit of a safer option!!! lol

I never book through a travel agent. I always book everything directly myself. I just prefer to choose every part of my holiday myself.

The slopes in the polish resort i went to were very tame. All polish resorts are very small with probably just a handful of slopes and lifts. You may find yourself getting bored very quickly if your there for a week. Zakopane does have a FIS slope though, i think.

I would say your probably better off going to Andorra or Livingo. Plus i dont know of any tour operators that run holidays to poland.
They are pretty cheap destinations aswell.

What level of skiing are you at,beginner, intermediate, advanced ?

erinn

yea last year we (me nd dunner190) didnt book trough a travel agent but in the end it would have worked out cheaper if we had with a last min deal but this year i think were goin to wait...just have the money put aside for it and just wait untill nearer the time, know when were going and where! book last min hoping to get a good deal cause were going for new years so its an expensive time to go!

we'd be intermediate not yet ready for advanced but we can still manage hard blacks. skiied in the Kaprun/Zell area of austria last year and had most of the slopes (bar one or two) covered within the week...it was amazing...im just looking for a change of resort at this stage cause ive been to zell once nd kaprun twice!!!

RATM

Id think twice about going to Poland for skiing if I were you. Was there in 2006 and we left for Slovakia after 3 days as it was quite bad. By that I mean the resorts are so small (think two or three different runs, often just going straight down the hill and you have the picture) and you'll be bored in no time.

Zakopane itself is a nice town but the resorts outside it really dont have much to offer. Also you'll find the lift pass system there incredibly frustrating- you pay by the run, not by the day. So come 3pm and you run out of lift tickets you need to go get more. Simple enough you might think but the same thing has happened everyone else. Expect only one cashier and a queue about 45-60mins waiting time. Pure bollix when you just wanna be on the snow.

My advice is to forget about Poland and head to Jasna in Slovakia instead- it has around 50kms of piste and plenty of lifts servicing it. Jasna is far better than anything Poland has to offer and most Poles themselves skip Zakopane and head there instead. Google Propaganda Snowboards Slovakia and you can get in contact with Paul Wilson who offers very good accomodation and lift pass packages, all you then need is a cheap flight to Krakow or Bratislava or Poprad and you are set up.

erinn

who did you fly with and from where may i ask cause i cant find flights to Poprad and thats where the Propaganda website says it does the transferes from!!!

the place looks nice anyway so i emailed them to see what availability is like for the new year!!!

Thanks!

Mmmm_Lemony

I'd have to agree with RATM. I have skiied alot in poland, slovakia and Czech Republic, Jasna is the place to go... Be warned though, its very quiet at night. Spindleruv Mlne is not quite as good but has alot more to offer at night.

RATM

Erinn there are no flights from Dublin to Poprad AFAIK, youd have to go through London instead. I flew into Krakow and got a bus to Jasna- takes about 5 hours. A better way to do it though is to fly Ryanair direct to Bratislava and then take a train to a town called Liptovsky Mikulas which it the main town that people stay in to ski Jasna mountain. This takes 3hrs and cost €15 one way. Another advantage is that you can stay a night or two in Bratislava on the way back- Vienna in Austria is only an hour away on the train and its also a beuatiful city to visit if you have the time.

Its true to say that Jasna/Liptovsky Mikulas isnt the most lively pub wise at nighttime but there are a few good bars to go out in. Beers are very cheap at about €1-1.50 a pop so a good time is had by all there.
Theres also some nighttime activities around town that can fill your time. We went to a cultural night which was a hoot, another time to a thermal spa which was big but packed with locals and another night was spent go karting which was dirt cheap at €6 for 15 minutes and they didnt mind you drinking in between sessions=)

Jasna is in my opinion a very cheap holiday and Id definitely recommend it if you cant afford the more priceier resorts in France, Austria etc. If theres a big group of you definitely get in touch with Paul as he has a couple of houses around town as well as his own hostel.

magic108

Hey there,

There is one tour operator in Zakopane, with few years experience and really good prices! www.sunshineworldpoland.com

edmund_f

been to jasna twice, poland once - have to vote for Jasna, booked all the accomidation throug http://www.liptovtravel.com/

magic108

Ok Jasna maybe a bit longer runs, and all slopes are close by, BUT it is the most boring place on earth. At 10 everything is closed! No parting at all, there is no flights to Poprad from anywhere in Ireland or UK, so the transfer takes 8 hours minimum, and it is not cheap. If you looking for FULL experience, with no problems and on the budget - go to Zakopane!

RATM

Magic108 Id say youve never been to Jasna if you think everything closes at 10pm. I personally had many hangovers after staying out till past 3am in town.

Like already mentioned by myself and others on this thread Jasna is a far better ski experience than the tiny ski fields outside Zakopane. Even the Poles themselves go over the border to Slovakia to ski in Jasna rather than go to Zakopane which says a lot IMO.