Exploring Poland's Beautiful Countryside by Bike

Highlights on our Kraków & Dunajec Cycle Path tour included the views of the Tatra Mountains from the top of the funicular at Gubałówka, crossing into Slovakia to ride through the stunning Dunajec River Gorge, and the dinner with music in Kraków’s Jewish Quarter on the last night. 

It's super easy, with numerous flight options and regular direct trains from the airport to the centre of Kraków that only take 21 minutes and cost 20 Polish złoty (£4). After checking into our central hotel, we walked around the tree-lined remains of the city walls and visited the castle and cathedral. In the evening, we enjoyed our dinner while we learned about the logistics of our tour during a quick welcome briefing.

With the tour starting and finishing in the beautiful city of Kraków, we highly recommend adding additional nights to explore the cultural and historic sites. Many of our guests choose to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, which can be reached on a day trip from Kraków.

On our first cycle day, we picked up our bikes from the central depot and enjoyed a ride around the city before taking a transfer south to Poland’s highest village of Zab, in the green region of Podhale, to start our cycling adventure.

You will cycle through beautiful rural scenery, mainly following the Kraków & Dunajec Cycle Path that is constantly being improved and extended. On day four, we cycled along a path next to the river that had been freshly surfaced the day before! On some days, you can follow the main route or choose an alternative route if you prefer.

This is an Easy to Moderate tour, however there are options to bypass some of the hilly sections.

A first for me was taking a funicular as part of a cycle tour! We jumped in with our bikes and were whisked up from Zakopane to 1100m, with fantastic views of the Tatra Mountains, and then descended into the Dunajec River Gorge.

As someone who loves a good map, I especially enjoyed using the purpose-made cycle map, produced specifically for this tour. The inset maps of the towns we cycled through were very useful for finding the way to our hotels.

We also used the route note booklet that has turn-by-turn directions along with interesting suggestions on what to see and where to eat lunch. The cycle paths were well signposted and stickers along the way also helped to confirm we were on the right track. GPS tracks are available as well to help you with navigation.

Poland is great value for money and we made the most of the local restaurants recommended in our route notes, serving a good variety for our lunch stops.

Dinners are included for this tour and featured a mix of hearty buffets and set menus. A few of the hotels had early mealtimes, which is welcome if you are hungry after a day on the bike. On our last night in Kraków, we really enjoyed the group meal in a restaurant where we listened to traditional Jewish Klezmer music.

For this tour, you have a choice of two hotel categories. We found the 2 & 3-star category B hotels comfortable and welcoming. As half board is included, if food is a really important element of your holiday, I recommend opting for the 3 & 4-star category A hotels.

If you want an off-the-beaten-track adventure, you'll love this tour - pedalling through the beautiful Polish countryside on peaceful cycle paths. Starting in the mountains, you follow rivers, pass through a gorge, see a castle, visit a UNESCO wooden church, cross two borders and see the cultural and historic sights in Kraków.

If this tour sounds like your type of adventure, you can view dates and prices and book online. If you would like some more information, you can enquire online or call our friendly team on +44 (0)1273 224066 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm UK time).

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