CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
474 km from Zakopane to Zakopane, about 7 h 23 of riding. The stops in between: Church of the Archangel Michael, Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the, Tvrdosin and Kezmarok. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Poland into Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 35 km this is Polish Tatra Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Zakopane is the winter capital of Poland, and in summer it is the hiking capital too. The town lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, the highest range in the Carpathians, with the peak of Giewont, topped by a metal cross, looming above it. Nearly thirty thousand people live here, and many millions visit each year, so the main street, Krupówki, is crowded with souvenir stalls, grill restaurants and walkers. It is lively rather than quiet, but the mountains behind it are real.
Read the complete Near Zakopane write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zakopane is where the day begins. Next is Church of the Archangel Michael.
From the outside, the church in Dębno Podhalańskie looks like a sturdy wooden barn with a steep shingled roof and a squat tower, the kind of building you might ride past without a second glance. Step inside and the walls explode with colour: every surface covered in stencilled and painted patterns, animals, plants and geometric figures, dating back to around 1500, one of the best-preserved medieval painted interiors in Poland. The church, built of larch in the late fifteenth century, is part of the UNESCO listing of Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, a group of Gothic timber churches that show the skill of local carpenters who built without nails.
Read the complete Church of the Archangel Michael write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church of the Archangel Michael comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the.
The Church of All Saints in Tvrdošín, at the edge of the town in the Orava valley, is a wooden Gothic church from the fifteenth century, built of larch and fir, with a shingled roof, a tower with a distinctive spire and a painted interior, and it is one of the oldest of the wooden churches listed as a World Heritage Site in Slovakia. Its Renaissance and Baroque decorations, including a carved altar and paintings, were added over the centuries.
Read the complete Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 100 km into the recorded legs you reach Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the. Next is Tvrdosin.
Tvrdošín lies in Orava, the northernmost corner of Slovakia, where the Orava river has been dammed to form a long reservoir under the dark ridges of the Western Tatras and the Roháče. It is a border country, not far from Poland, and a place of wood, snow and sheep, where for centuries people built in timber. The town has a wooden church that stands among the oldest in Slovakia, the Church of All Saints, built in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century in Gothic style with a steep shingled roof, and its interior is painted with scenes in a folk style that moves between the grand and the endearing. It is one of the Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area, which UNESCO listed in 2008.
Read the complete Tvrdosin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tvrdosin, about halfway. Next is Kezmarok.
Kežmarok sits at the foot of the High Tatras in northern Slovakia, and on a clear day the jagged peaks of the smallest high mountain range in Europe rise above the town like a wall. It is an old town with a mixed history: founded by German settlers in the Middle Ages, it was a free royal town and a centre of trade and crafts, and its wealthy citizens built a castle, churches and fine houses around the square.
Read the complete Kezmarok write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kežmarok sits at 194 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tvrdosin.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tvrdosin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tvrdosin comes up about 376 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 377 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the. Next is back through Church of the Archangel Michael.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of the Archangel Michael write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Church of the Archangel Michael, late in the day. Next is Zakopane.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Near Zakopane write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 474 km.
Zakopane → Church of the Archangel Michael is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Archangel Michael → Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tvrdošín → Kezmarok is 138 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Kežmarok → back through Tvrdosin is 137 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the → back through Church of the Archangel Michael is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Church of the Archangel Michael → Zakopane is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.