If we choose a guest house or other accommodation facility on Antalowka or Olcza – we can count on such views when the weather is fine.

Choice of accommodation

When planning a vacation in Zakopane, we will certainly confront a dilemma, where to stay, what to choose – a hotel, guest house, or an apartment? Each of the places has its own advantages and different characteristics. It is worth considering them well, because whether our stay will be successful depends to a great extent on the place where we will temporarily live.

The accommodation base in Zakopane is impressive and is still growing. Guests have at their disposal about a thousand places in the city itself, and there are also those in neighboring towns. Zakopane has 25 hotels, over 500 apartment buildings, about 150 boarding houses, hostels, villas, private accommodation – all of them are waiting for guests, who in Zakopane in the summer season, during the most crowded weekends, can be up to 10 times more than the residents themselves which is less than 28,000.

What portal will not tell you.

Using any of the popular portals to book accommodation, we can very precisely select the number of stars, room equipment, and additional services offered. There are, however, things that we will not find out there. For example, the issue of air quality. There are places in Zakopane, which regardless of the season are located above the smog line and offer relaxation in the crystal clear air. There are also those that unfortunately are located in poorly ventilated places.

It is worth to look at the map with contour lines and look for clues there. Higher places, like Kuznice, areas near the borders of the Tatra National Park above the Rondo Sw. Jana Pawla II, around Skocznia, Gubalowka, Antalowka, higher parts of Koscielisko village – one can with a pure heart recommend those for whom it is important to open windows and inhale the smell of mountains. In turn, these people should avoid direct neighborhoods of the Railway Station, Nowotarska, Jagiellonska, Chramcowki, and Kamieniec Streets – their low location can really bite.

View from Salamandra street in Koscielisko – morning coffee on the terrace with such a view is a great start to the day.

Beautiful views of the mountains

Many people are hoping for them when booking accommodation. But they are not available from anywhere in Zakopane. Some objects are just too close to the mountains, they lie at their foot and regardless of the side where the windows come out, you will not see the peaks. There are, however, places where we can expect their view – Antalowka, Gubalowka, Pardalowka, Koscielisko are just some of them. In the vicinity of Zakopane, the leading ones are Bukowina Tatrzanska and the surroundings of Glodowka and Szymkowka glades with a magnificent view of the entire Tatra Mountains – from Belianske, through Slovakian, High (Polish part) to the last peaks of the Western Tatras.
Gliczarów and its vicinity is another place from which we can admire the full panorama of the Tatra Mountains. These places are also worth recommendation to those who love to observe the night sky. It is relatively easy to find around areas not well illuminated and in good weather observe hundreds of stars. In the summer even the Milky Way it is possible to see with the naked eye. The view of the moonlit mountains is also unforgettable. We do not have to be afraid of nocturnal walks around Zakopane, it is safe here, and if we do not bother dogs that in some housing estates are free to walk the streets at night, we are safe.

Like in a family?

The choice between a hotel and a guest house is also a decision whether we prefer anonymity or a family atmosphere. In hotels, the standard of service does not differ from the world’s standards, the guests can count on discretion and do receive almost invisible, efficient service, similarly in the apartments. But in many guesthouses you can talk to the hosts, ask for a heater on a cold night, or for help in organizing a campfire. Contrary to the widespread rumors of the materialistic and commercial approach of the owners of the objects to the guests, we can gain good friends for years. Highlanders are susceptible and act according to the simple principle of reciprocity. Seeing a nice, smiling person who does not haggle excessively, does not argue about additional freebies and privileges – they can come out with the initiative themselves, to give good advice, a lift for free, tell something interesting, and treat with local delicacies.

What are we going to do today?

It is obvious that the choice of place must be matched to how and where we intend to spend time. If we plan to visit museums, stroll Krupowki – choose the places in the center, or in the upper part of Zakopane, between the upper Krupowki and the Wielka Krokiew. Thanks to that, we can reach almost everywhere on foot. If we would like to ride a bicycle – excellent areas are for example at Gubalowka, cyclists have also made available a part of the route in the Chocholowska Valley. If we plan to go out into the mountains early in the morning, choose accommodation from which we can walk to the border of TPN, or it is easy to get there.

In Zakopane, mass transport is promoted intensively and it is getting better, but honestly you have to admit that the first bus towards the mountains at 6:40 – 7:00 am is a bit late and wanting to watch the mountains at sunrise we have to go to the trail by car, or by taxi, if we do not stay overnight close enough to cover this distance on foot. Taxis are not cheap and it is worth asking about the price of the course, before carelessly at five o’clock in the morning, we will commission a driver for a trip to Palenica Bialczanska, from which the road leads to Morskie Oko. The driver will count the round-trip, on the night tariff, in the zone outside the city … we can expect a bill of up to 250 PLN.

A bonus for everyone

Regardless of the place we choose, one thing is guaranteed – views different from anything you can see in a big city, lots of greenery in which the city literally drowns. And almost everywhere (except for the immediate neighborhood of Krupówki), deep silence at night, sometimes disturbed by the gentle burble of the stream, or singing of blackbirds – in the summer they wake up at 2 am. There are no big blocks of flats here, there is no highway humming day and night. And perhaps the experience of this silence is one of the greatest attractions of your stay in Zakopane.