High Tatras
Slovakia
The smallest high mountains in Europe, strung along an electric railway, with huts you walk to and summits you mostly cannot in winter
Photo by Eelco Böhtlingk on Unsplash
Photos by Mathijs Delva, Mathijs Delva and Eelco Böhtlingk on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Slovakia
June to September for the high trails, and January to March for the snow — the trails above the huts are shut from late autumn until the start of summer
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 130mm in Jul
Where it is
49.14°N, 20.22°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Base yourself at Starý Smokovec, in the middle of the railway with the Hrebienok funicular at the station
- Buy mountain rescue insurance before the first walk, not after the first fall
- Book the Lomnický štít car the moment the forecast is clear
- Check the trail closures before planning a pass — outside the summer season only the paths up to the huts are open
- Start before eight in summer: the afternoon storms are regular, and a ridge is the wrong place to meet one
- Walk to a hut for lunch rather than to a summit you cannot reach
High Tatras travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Slovakia
Good valueEuro, and cards work in the resorts. Carry cash up to the mountain huts: they are supplied on foot, and not every one takes a card.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines in Starý Smokovec, Tatranská Lomnica and Štrbské Pleso, and many more in Poprad. Use Slovenská sporiteľňa, VÚB or Tatra banka; refuse any offer to convert to your home currency.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- any machine offering to charge you in your home currency
Use these instead
- Slovenská sporiteľňa
- VÚB
- Tatra banka
Draw in Poprad or the resort before walking: the huts are cash-first, and there is nothing above the funicular.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Slovakia
SafeThe town is very safe; the mountains are serious. The high trails, passes and summits are closed by law from the start of November until the end of May, and the closure is enforced. In Slovakia an adult pays for their own mountain rescue, so buy mountain insurance before going up — a travel policy or an EHIC does not cover a helicopter. Brown bears live here; make noise on the trail and never leave food out.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Starý Smokovec
- Tatranská Lomnica
- Štrbské Pleso
- Hrebienok — and the marked valley paths to the huts
Worth more attention
- the high trails out of season — closed by law from the start of November to the end of May, and a rescue there is charged to you
- the summits and passes on a summer afternoon — storms build fast and lightning finds the ridges
- Brown bears, which live in the forest below the huts — make noise, keep food packed, and back away from one rather than run
- Any walk without mountain insurance: Slovak mountain rescue bills adults for the call-out
The Slovak mountain rescue number is 18 300; 112 also works..
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Slovakia visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Slovakia
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for walking in the forests or the mountains from spring to autumn — it is present throughout the country
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Mountain rescue in the Tatras is charged for; check your insurance covers it before hiking or skiing.
Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Ticks in forest and meadow from April to October. Altitude and sudden weather on the high Tatra ridges, which go above 2,600m.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodHut food is the point: soup, halušky and tea with rum, carried up by porters. Down in the resorts the food is hotel food. Bryndzové halušky and kapustnica, the sauerkraut soup, are what to order anywhere.
Travel tipsGetting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- Against a taxi
- Usually cheaper than a street taxi, and the price is fixed before you get in.
Both run in the two biggest cities; Bolt also covers most of the regional towns. In the mountains it is a taxi booked by phone.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Bratislava — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Slovakia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works here
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Slovak
- HelloDobrý deňDOB-ree dyen
- PleaseProsímPRO-seem
- Thank youĎakujemDYA-koo-yem
- Yes / NoÁno / NieAH-no / nyeh
5 more phrases
- Excuse mePrepáčtePREH-paach-tyeh
- How much is it?Koľko to stojí?KOL-ko to STO-yee
- CheersNa zdraviena ZDRAH-vyeh
- DeliciousVeľmi chutnéVEL-mee KHOOT-neh
- GoodbyeDovideniaDO-vee-den-ya
Close enough to Czech that the two understand each other without effort, and Slovaks will not thank you for saying they are the same. English is good among the young; Hungarian is spoken along the southern border and German by some older people.
Travel tipsReligion
Roman Catholic, with Lutheran and Greek Catholic minorities
A little over half Catholic and about a quarter with no religion, more observant than its Czech neighbour and more so in the villages and the east. The wooden churches of the east, Catholic, Lutheran and Greek Catholic, are working parishes as well as UNESCO sites: shoulders and knees covered, and quiet during a service.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say dobrý deň on entering a shop and dovidenia on leaving
- Take your shoes off at the door of a home; slippers are usually offered
- Say na zdravie and look people in the eye when glasses meet
- Validate a paper ticket the moment you board a tram or bus; inspectors fine on the spot
Don't
- Do not call it Czechoslovakia, or treat Slovak as a dialect of Czech; the split was in 1993 and both sides mind
- Do not mix it up with Slovenia, which happens daily and wears just as thin here
- Do not drink before the toast has been made
- Do not walk the high mountain trails out of season; several close from November to mid-June and the closure is enforced
Where to stay in High Tatras
No Holistay rentals in High Tatras yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is High Tatras on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Košice KSC
2h 15mfrom the airport· 92 km as the crow flies
Train to Poprad-Tatry, then the Tatra electric railway to Starý Smokovec, about 2h 15.
Also worth pricing: Kraków KRK — far more routes; about three hours by road over the Polish border.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
