Chochołów is a village that is better than a museum because people still live in it. A single long street, running through the Podhale region of southern Poland, is lined with log houses of dark, weathered timber, their gables facing the road, with carved decoration, small windows and steep roofs. Most date from the nineteenth century, built by highland families, the Górale, from spruce and fir, and the whole street is protected as a monument. Behind them, on a clear day, the white ridge of the Tatra mountains fills the horizon.
The village has a place in Polish history, too. In 1846, a peasant uprising broke out here against Austrian rule, part of a wider revolt in Galicia, and it was quickly suppressed. The local tradition of independence and pride has never gone away, and the region is known for its highland culture: music played on fiddles, intricate costume, dialect and a strong sense of identity. The Górale are also known for their smoked sheep's cheese, oscypek, sold in small spindle shapes at roadside stalls and grilled on the spot.
The ride from Kraków to this area is a pleasant run through the foothills of the Beskids and the Gorce, with rolling farmland, hay meadows, wooden churches and steep-roofed barns. The main roads can be busy, especially on summer weekends, when traffic heads for Zakopane, and the road through Chochołów is slow, with pedestrians, pedestrian crossings and sometimes tourists photographing houses. A weekday morning or a late afternoon is far calmer. Weather can change quickly in the foothills, with sunshine, storms and clouds spilling off the mountains, so a waterproof layer is wise.
As a stop, it is a short and rewarding one. Cafes and small restaurants serve żurek, a sour rye soup, pierogi and kwaśnica, a hearty sauerkraut stew, and you can walk the length of the street in half an hour. Fuel is available at Czarny Dunajec, about eight kilometres away, and in Zakopane, around twelve, where the traffic is heavier. Park the bike at the side of the road, respect the residents' privacy, and look closely at the carved gables and doors.