UKH

Hello all,

I own a cottage in Slovakia, near Stara Lubovna, and being a keen walker myself, I'm thinking of letting it out for walking holidays in the summer. I would be extremely grateful if you could give me your opinions on the decor.

I realise that promoting products/businesses is forbidden on this site but I'm not advertising the cottage. I would genuinely value honest opinions on whether it's somewhere you would potentially stay based on the pictures. I'm planning on making some changes before advertising it in UK.

If you have time to let me know what the main things are you look for in accommodation for a walking holiday, that would be fantastic. This cottage sleeps 7.

Has anyone had successful walking holidays in Slovakia?

http://www.onlineslovensko.sk/en/chata-stec

Many thanks

Gareth

In reply to holdengj: my friend is from slovakia and we have had many fabulous holidays there. a lot of people seem to overlook the tatras- im not sure why, because they are wonderful. they may not be the highest mountains in the world but they are quite serious. when looking for somewhere to stay i would look for somewhere with good public transport and that is easy to book. also i like my accommodation to be warm! good luck. its nice to see someone promoting slovakia. its changing rapidly

In reply to holdengj: I had a good walking trip based in Stary Smokovek, but that was in 2001. Facilities generally were a bit primitive compared to the alps, but 12 years is a long time. The Mountains were amazing, though the weather was a bit mixed, and at that time, everyone assumed we were German - it certainly helps to speak a little German.

In reply to holdengj: Just been reading about the High Tatra..

Is it true you need a mountain guide to do the more serious routes? like the highest peak in the tatra's?

How enforced is that?

In reply to IainRUK: at the moment this is correct and they do enforce it. its ridiculous really- the girl at the guides office in stary smokovec was quite embarassed about it. the argument of the guides is that the more serious routes are not waymarked and can be very serious. unfortunately a couple of years ago two brits decided to climb gerlach without a guide or permission. they set off far too late, got totally lost and called for help. when the mountain rescue found them they were not where they said they were and both guys died.there are incidents like this every year. but there are routes you can do by yourself and its only a short hop to poland where they are not so strict. against all our wishes we climbed gerlach last year with a slovak guide, Vlado and we had a fantatic time

In reply to toad: most of the younger slovaks speak very good english nowadays

In reply to heidi123: OK.. so is Poland more accessible, I'll be running?

I was wondering if I carried my ML certficate would that be enough, or does it have to be local?

I'm 9 hrs away now so bought a guide book, then read that. There were some which didn't need guides but all the classic routes I looked at did..

In reply to IainRUK: they used to say that if you were a member of the BMC you could climb without a guide but i dont think they do that any more. go to the guides office in stary smokovec and ask anyway. the polish side doesnt have so many "rules". there is a fantastic route called orla pesc. not sure about the spelling but you will find it in the guide book. you dont need a guide on the polish side. but the mountains are more dramatic from the slovak side i think

In reply to holdengj: Thanks very much for the feedback. It has been very helpful. If anyone has any other suggestions (or little things that have annoyed them about accommodation/holidays in the past!) I would love to hear.

Thanks again

Gareth.

In reply to holdengj: what i get annoyed with about slovakia is that they dont do much to promote themselves as a holiday destination. many people dont even know where the tatras are, or which country bratislava is the capital of! poland is much more sorted in this respect and the difference between zakopane and stary smokovec is a world apart.

In reply to IainRUK:
Iain,
Rules are applied to 'walkers'; and are quite comprehensive! Bona fide 'mountaineers' are generally 'allowed' off the way marked trails. I have found that a BMC membership card can work wonders..... Although I still treasure the 'passport' that Roger Payne, bless him, knocked up for me when I first went out there.
The only time I've had any sort of grief was when we did a route on the E. face of Gerlach and descended the trade route - the assistant hut warden was muttering about guides being needed on the route we had descended; the other residents told him not to be a prat as we were obviously 'taternniks'.
Oh - and make sure you complete the hut book or chat to the warden about your planned day; they can get a bit twitchy about folks not leaving information. Enjoy - great hills!

In reply to Andy Say: sorry to hijack this thread, but its great to hear you were in slovakia. did you enjoy it? i think they are amazing mountains

In reply to heidi123:
And the 'polish' side is minuscule compared with the 'slovak' side. As far as I'm aware the Narodny Park rules are the same on both sides of the border?
I think you mean the 'orla perc'? Great route; parts are equipped like a semi-VF and there are some dodgy sections; I think a brit died on there a few years back.
And a final thought, Iain; for running don't spurn the Low Tatra and other outlying areas; you could get some great ridges done. But are you thinking of mountain running right now? It could be pretty bloody wintry!
Andy

In reply to Andy Say:

Thanks, it will be in the summer.. May I reckon.. its a fair trek, a good 9 hrs.

I'll try it with a BMC card.. off to the Harz mountains this weekend I think, snowy trails so should be fine in winter..

In reply to Andy Say: west tatra is great too, but a bit harder to get to by public transport

In reply to IainRUK: enjoy the harz mountains and let us know what you think of the tatras.

In reply to Andy Say: mega pic, thats fantastic. im really happy you like the tatras. i try to do my best to promote the country and its mountains, seeing as the slovaks dont seem able to do it themselves!! its a country which is very close to my heart. i have been travelling to these countries since the fall of communism and i love to see how they are changing and being dicovered by others

In reply to IainRUK:
Some of the higher passes in the high tatra will still have snow in them in May even if the tops are stripped; most of the higher crossings have nominal 'closed dates' for walkers - often marked on the maps. I've been out in early June when a few of the scrambly paths were more like Scottish II !

In reply to Andy Say: some of them dont open till the beginning of july in slovakia. but most of them are open year round in poland, i think

In reply to holdengj: Great looking spot. My experience for High Tatry was that the base in the village was a bit surplus as we went hut to hut.
I browsed your site and think that your own list of walks/outings from the chata would work well to attract folk.
Love the place so wish you well.