Zakopane has been the capital of Polish mountain life for more than a century, and it wears the role with a mixture of pride and fatigue. About twenty-eight thousand people live here, right below the Tatra range, and in peak seasons several times that many visitors pour in for skiing, hiking and a stroll along Krupówki, the crowded main street of souvenir shops, grill stands and music. Behind the bustle lies a distinct culture, that of the Górale, the highlanders, with their own dialect, music, costume and wooden architecture, and the Zakopane style of timber building, popularised in the late nineteenth century by the artist Stanisław Witkiewicz, still shapes the best old villas.
The mountains are the point. Giewont, the long ridge above town, carries a steel cross put up in 1901, and legend says the profile of the mountain is a sleeping knight who will wake when Poland needs him. The Wielka Krokiew ski jump stands at the edge of town, and a cable car climbs Kasprowy Wierch for views across the border into Slovakia. The most famous walk is to Morskie Oko, a glacial lake set under sheer rock walls, reached by a road and a long gentle trail from Palenica Białczańska.
As a place to ride, Zakopane is better as a destination than a thoroughfare. The roads approaching it are busy, parking is limited and expensive, and traffic in July, August and the winter holidays can crawl. Go in the early morning, or in June or September, when the town breathes more easily. The surrounding country, especially the road along the foothills toward Kościelisko and the Chochołów valley, rewards a slower pace, with log cottages, wooden churches and shepherd huts scattered across the hillsides.
All services are easy here, with fuel, workshops, restaurants and rooms of every kind. Try a plate of grilled oscypek with cranberry jam, or hot tea with raspberry syrup. Weather in the Tatras changes quickly, and a sunny morning can turn to cold rain by afternoon, so carry a waterproof layer. At night the air smells of woodsmoke, and the peaks glimmer under the stars.