Anyone who knows me, knows how passionate I am about nature, especially places where you are in the middle of nowhere, and can be relaxed, enjoying the silence and breathing some fresh air.
For this reason, during a trip to Poland last April, my family and I could not miss the opportunity to visit the Morskie Oko (Sea Eye in Polish), a lake in the Tatra Mountains, close to the boarder of Poland with Slovakia.
The expectations were high, and it certainly did not disappoint!
Just 1h30 away by car from Kraków (or around 2 hours by bus), Zakopane is the closest and most convenient town in Poland to stay to visit the Morskie Oko.
From Zakopane (accessible also by bus and train from many cities around Poland), there are buses which can take you to the entrance of the Tatra National Park, from which you can initiate your walk towards the lake. However, having your own car makes it more convenient since you are not dependent on the bus schedules nor the sometimes-big queues to take them.
We got up early in the morning and, after a 30min car trip from Zakopane, we arrived at the entrance of the National Park, at around 8:30a.m. My advice is getting to the lake early enough so that you are able to enjoy the calmness before many other visitors start arriving.
In case you take a car, there is the Parking Palenica Białczańska, where you can park for 25zł (around 6€), and from where you start the route to the Morskie Oko
At entrance of the Tatra National Park you will have to pay an entrance fee to start your hike: adults – 4zł (around 1€); reduced ticket – 2zł (around 0.5€).
The 8.5km route until the lake can be done either by walk or by horse cart.
Horse cart will be 50zł per person (around 12€) to go up and 40zł per person (around 9€) to come down.
Even though going by horse cart is physically much less demanding, it takes all the fun away from this experience. Seeing all the sights on the way up at your own pace, allied to the feeling you get of reaching your “prize” through your own “sweat and tears”, makes it all more rewarding at the end.
So, my advice is, unless extremely necessary, walk on your own feet and leave the poor horses to rest!
After 3h walking (with many stops for pictures in between), we reached our destination.
By then, the clouds had started to disperse, and the blue sky had started peaking, completely transforming the whole landscape, which became even more magnificent.
Since the lake was frozen, it was possible to walk on it, having lots of different perspectives over this beautiful place.
Even though the sun was shining, it was still quite cold outside (around 5ºC). For that reason, we then decided to go to the bar by the lake (the only nearby) and get a warm beer with raspberry syrup.
It sounded and tasted quite weird at first, especially for a bunch of Portuguese people used to a good cold beer, but after it tasted like heaven.
After spending around 4 hours in Morskie Oko, admiring and absorbing all the beauty around, it was time to start our way back down.
Since we already knew the way and the path was downhill, it took only a bit more than 1h30 to reach the car.
On the way back to Zakopane, since the road passed so close to the boarder with Slovakia, we decided to cross to the other side and visit Ždiar, a small village with a ski resort in the base of the Tatra Mountains.
It was then time to head back to the apartment, to enjoy a warm bath and to admire the sunset view from the bedroom window, which turned out as the perfect end to an amazing and relaxing day discovering the natural wonders of Poland (and Slovakia).
Have you ever visited the Morskie Oko? Do you know any other interesting places such as this one that you would recommend?
The White Driftwood 