Yes it’s a small town, quaint with its cobbled streets, wood cabin type buildings, roads lined with pine trees – lots and lots of pine trees. You feel completely at one with the environment as everything is geared towards its preservation and admiration. Only to learn later that Zakopane is much loved in the winter by those who love to ski and is visited on weekends by those who want to simply immerse themselves in the beauty of its surroundings.

So we took a walk, my husband and I and our unsuspecting niece – more like a hike (5 1/2 hrs) – to one of its highest peaks (1800 meters). And oh the beauty. For any of us who has seen the movie “The Sound of Music”, the song “The Hills are Alive” ring true at every moment. You can just imagine yourself a member of the Von Trapp Family escaping to a new world. Such is the beauty and vastness that surrounds you.

We returned the following day to trek the other side of the mountain, and again, we weren’t disappointed.

Thinking of visiting Poland? Include Zakapone. You will not regret it.