Surprising Slovakia

Andrew Owen discovers a part of Europe which offers a host of surprises.

Lominicky Peak is the highest accessible point of Slovakia’s 28km long High Tatras mountain range.

It stands 2,634m above sea level; on a clear day it offers incredible views across mountains, flat green countryside and thick forests.

And it has a bar.

Yes, it surprised me as well. It’s not what you expect when you board the cable car for the nerve-wracking journey to the top, a ride on the third longest unsupported cable in the world, 900m above ground at its highest point – so it is said — and an experience that brings to mind both Where Eagles Dare and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – although you don’t have to shoot anybody at the summit.

Instead you have is about an hour to enjoy the amazing views before boarding the cable car again and heading down.

But that gives you plenty of time to walk around and wonder how on earth they managed to build up here, where it is chilly even on a hot summer’s day, where the air seems noticeably thinner and where the cloud rolls in so fast that a crystal clear view of the horizon can be replaced in minutes by a wall of cloud so thick it makes nearby rock vanish.

I certainly didn’t expect this when I boarded the plane at Luton for the two-hour flight to the city of Poprad and four days of sightseeing.

In fact, I’ll lay my cards on the table and confess that I wasn’t altogether sure where Slovakia is. I even – and this is just between you and me – had to consult an atlas to find out that it’s sandwiched underneath Poland and above Hungary.

As we flew in towards tiny Poprad Airport I looked out over mountains and tree-covered hills; a promising start, and one that became more promising as we drove from the city to our accommodation, the 100-year-old Grand Hotel in the quiet tourist resort of Stary Smokovec, at the foot of the High Tatras.

Although the hotel’s rooms are modern and spacious, and it has its own spa and swimming pool, the building’s architecture and wooden décor are a reminder of a bygone age of travel. You can feel the history as you sit in the dining room trying Slovakian dishes, such as borsch, or enjoying the massive buffet breakfasts.

Now, a quick word about the buffet breakfasts: Do. Stuff yourself each morning, because if you’re staying here you’re staying here for the activities. If it’s summer you’ll be hiking to rivers, waterfalls and fantastic views; if it’s winter you’ll be ski-ing. This is an all-year resort, and there’s always something to do.

From the top of the world we went the other way, down to the Pieninsky National Park and the Dunajec River.

This is a popular Sunday afternoon retreat for locals and a good place for tourists to visit. It’s significant because the river marks the border between Poland and Slovakia. You can literally paddle from one country to the other, and we spent more than an hour rafting through beautiful countryside.

The next day we drove for an hour or so through pretty villages and countryside to the resort of Jasna, in the Low Tatras mountains. In winter this is prime ski-ing country, with facilities that other countries would envy. In summer, however, you take can take chair lifts and then walk to the summit of Chopok, the highest peak.

Getting down is the fun part, as this resort is the home of the Giant BikePark Jasna.

I’d never tried downhill biking before, but the ‘rules’ are very simple: You wear a crash helmet and put protective padding over most of your body, and then you get on a mountain bike and try to stay on as you career down the mountain on a route which is a ski slope in winter. It’s full of twists and rocks, and if that’s not enough they’ve even added ramps.

Your guide – who is apparently too cool to bother with a crash helmet or protective padding – shoots off like a bullet, and you launch yourself after him and hope you’re A) still on the bike and B) alive, when you get to the bottom.

It’s attractions like this, not to mention the beauty of the surroundings, that are bringing in travellers from all over the world.

This was part of communist Czechoslovakia until 1989, but it’s hard to believe that today. As we drive through the countryside we see signs of prosperity such as smart, modern homes in pretty villages that most of us can only dream of.

We thought our hotel was smart, but when we are shown around the recently-opened Grand Hotel Kempinski, with its 98 rooms of sheer luxury, we see just how the country is developing and how tourism is bringing in the money.

Still, some of those who grew up before the Velvet Revolution of 1989 have mixed feelings about their country’s move to capitalism. Our guide, whose family has prospered in the years since the communists were ousted, tells me that there before 1989 everyone was equal, and everyone had a job. There was no homelessness and there were no beggars.

But you couldn’t say what you really thought, she admits, and those who did lived in fear of a knock at the door.

Walk around Poprad and it’s hard to believe that life here was once so controlled. It’s a perfectly pleasant place with good shopping, restaurants and a cinema, although it has some seriously nasty communist-era buildings, presumably designed by the same people who rebuilt Shrewsbury in the 1960s. Yes, some of it really is that bad.

We spend our final evening in the AquaCity water resort, on the edges of Poprad, where a bunch of 20 and thirty-something journalists are instantly turned into 12-year olds and spend the evening playing on waterslides.

Another example of Slovakia’s shiny new future, Aquacity won the first ‘green’ World Travel Awards in 2007 because it is virtually self-powered, relying on solar energy and water from a geothermal lake 2,500 metres underground.

This water not only fills the indoor and outdoor pools (one Olympic size) and gushes down the waterslides, it heats the resort’s three-star and four star hotels and supplies the Jacuzzis, luxury spa and showers.

It’s a fabulous resort, popular with the city’s residents, European holidaymakers who base themselves here for a few days of fun and relaxation, and businesses who choose to hold conferences here.

As our evening drew to a close I stood in the warm evening sunshine watching as, one at a time, a group of young kids hurled themselves on inflatable rubber rings down one of the outdoor waterslides.

It’s no good, I thought, I’ve got to have at least another go…

SLOVAKIA FACT FILE

• UK tour operator Inghams offers a selection of 7and 14 night holidays to Slovakia’s High and Low Tatras mountains. A week’s stay at the 4* Grand Hotel in Stary Smokovec, renowned for its high standard of service, indoor swimming pool, sauna and fitness centre, costs from £571 per person, including return flights from Gatwick (Prestwick from £620), half board accommodation, free packed lunch, free bicycle hire and free one day walkers’ lift pass. Contact Inghams on 020 8780 4454 or book online at www.inghams.co.uk

• Visitors can currently fly into Krakow from various UK airports and transfer to Slovakia’s Tatry Mountains. From December 1st 2009 Danube Wings will operate a three times weekly service from Luton and Manchester direct to Poprad airport. for details visit www.danubewings.com

• For more information about the summer and ski resorts of the Tatry Mountains visit www.vt.sk and www.jasna.sk