High Tatras
Visit High Tatras National Park – the pride of Slovakia. Here we also find the country’s highest peak – Gerlachovsky Stit (2655 metres above sea level), once named after the Emperor Francis Joseph (and, later, Joseph Stalin). The characteristic peak of Krivan is a national symbol. It received its name based on its distinctive lop-sided shape (‘krivy’ means ‘shifted’). The granite peaks of the Tatras rise proudly along the border between Slovakia and Poland and often have their “faces” covered by a veil of clouds. Prehistoric glaciers formed the deep valleys that now contain alpine flora and fauna. The glaciers melted thousands of years ago, but their water remains in mountain lakes, or tarns.
The settlements on the southern side of the mountains developed in the second half of the 19th century. Soon afterwards a convenient railway connection was built and guests from the cities were able to visit with ease and spend their summer holidays here.
Nowadays the Tatras are open to all and offer visitors a wide range of accommodation facilities: from elegant fin-de-siecle grand hotels to simple lodgings in mountain chalets. The modern Tatras railway connects the main mountain centres, so that visitors may leave their cars parked at their hotels. The Tatras offer many opportunities for hiking, from comfortable family walks through the forests to extreme mountaineering terrains, come to visit High Tatras!
High Tatras