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About Zakopane
Zakopane is Poland's premier centre of mountain hiking and skiing. Although its local population is only about 30,000, Zakopane is visited by a staggering 2 million tourists a year. Situated in the Malopolska Voivodship, in the southern part of the Podhale region, Zakopane lies at the feet of the Tatra Mountains the only alpine mountain range in this part of Europe. Zakopane lies in big glen between the main Tatra range and Gubalowka Hill.
Zakopane is Poland's highest town: its municipal region extending from 750 to 1000 m above sea level. The highest peak in the area of the town is Mt. Swinica which is 2301 metres above sea level, with the highest peak in the whole of the Polish Tatras, Mt. Rysy, reaching 2499 m above sea level. The central point of the town - the crossroads of Krupowki St. and Kosciuszki St. are 838 m above sea level.
The very first documents mentioning Zakopane come from the 17th century, and describe the Zakopisko glade. Its later history was connected with the development of mining and metallurgy industries and then with the progress of health service and tourism. It gradually evolved from a little village to the region's health-resort and ultimately a reasonable-sized town, named the winter capital of Poland.
There are plenty of museums in the town, the most significant and oldest being The Tatra Museum. There is also the Natural History Museum of Tatra National Park and biographical museums of famous Polish artists, among them great composer Karol Szymanowski, the poet Jan Kasprowicz, and the artist Wladyslaw Hasior.
Tourists can visit numerous exhibitions and local craft and fine art galleries. There are also several artistic schools and, most famously, The Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz Theatre.
Mountain Culture is explored in The Tatra Folk Centre. Zakopane has become something of a mecca for mountain culture beyond Poland's borders, with the folk culture of mountaineers from all continents being celebrated at the annual International Festival of Highland Folklore every September.
In Zakopane the newspaper Tygodnik Podhalanski (The Podhale Weekly) is published every Thursday. It is distributed all over the Podhale region and even among the Polish citizens of Chicago. There is also a local broadcasting station, Radio Alex (FM 72,26 and 105,2 Mhz).
About Poland Positioned at the centre of Europe, Poland has known turbulent and violent, as well as prosperous times. There have been periods of independence as well as periods of domination by other countries. Several million Polish people, half of them Jews, died in World War II.
In 1989 Poland became the first of the eastern European countries to overthrow Communist rule, following years of demonstrations, strikes and underground political movement led by the Trades Union movement Solidarity. Despite strong Russian objections, Poland joined Nato in 1999 and has been formally invited to join the EU in 2004.
Poland has achieved some success in creating a market economy and attracting foreign investment. However, unemployment is high and incomes and growth low. The huge farming sector is unwieldy and very inefficient, many farms still retaining their medieval land divisions into inefficient, long strips. In spite of this, Poland's agricultural output is greater than that of Great Britain, France and Italy combined, which is why future EU subsidy levels have been a major area of controversy. Corruption has been singled out by the European Commission as a particularly major problem which must be urgently addressed, as well as the necessity to improve border controls.
The Roman Catholic church, a very strong force in Polish life, has expressed concern that modern lifestyles are corrupting moral values. The church has been involved in heated debates over issues such as worship in schools and abortion. | |
| Facts & figures |
Population: 39 million
Capital: Warsaw
Major language: Polish
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 68 years (men), 77 years (women)
Monetary unit: 1 zloty = 100 groszy
Main exports: Machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals
Average annual income: US $11,300
Internet domain: .pl
International dialling code: +48
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 | | "I anyone needs any help planning their trip. Where ever it be in Poland, please feel free to call me on 0048501541212. I'm an Irish guy that's been living in Poland 12yrs now, and Irish guys like to help. P.S next few weeks should be fairly cold in Zakopane. But this Polish winter has proved one of the warmest on record for some years. " | Marc
Poland
Mar.09.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Great place, love it.. Friendly and nice. Well worth going winter or summer." | Scott
United Kingdom
Mar.03.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Been 10 times now. Summer and winter. Take our dog in summer. Usually camp in summer - try gazdowka chalets. Awesome in winter. Off back on Thursday. No snow though at minute.
Where can i pre book a kulig - altius have not repsonded to me despite 5 phonecalls and 7 emails" | Emma Hamilton
United Kingdom
Feb.26.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Does anybody know of any cute cabins in Zakopane with a view of the mountains to stay in during the summer? I would like it to be close to the mountains (for hiking) and not far from the centre. Thank you." | Natalie
United States
Feb.22.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "the only reason i first went to poland was my job. to be honest i did not want to go i had the idea in my head it was a grey dump of a place. how wrong i was i fell in love with poland on my first trip some 150 visits later i love it even more." | villian
United Kingdom
Feb.12.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "hey kasra, i just3got back from zakopane snowboarding trip. the snow was quite sparce but it has been snowing since we got back and is pretty good now.
we flew to krakow airport with Central Wings and they aredoing some good deals now.
I wish i could go back out there now but have to wait until next year. One of the best holidays i ever had. i love the place so much! " | stevie
United Kingdom
Jan.30.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Hi,
Is there anybody who can help me for managing a trip for skiing to Zakopane?
is the weather good mid or late February for skiing??" | kasra
Netherlands
Jan.17.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Strona polska jest dosyc dobrze zrobiona ale moim zdaniem jezlei chcesz pojechac do zakopanego czy polski bardzo wazne jest pokazanie miasta i kraju widokowo
ludzie chca wiedziec gdzie jada,jst to troche trudno otworzyc i gdzie mozna pozyczyc auta ,jakie i za ile bo czesto jadac do polski porzyczamy auta w niemczech a dlaczego?. to tyle jestem urodzona zakopianka i do polsi jezdze co 2a lata ale polski internet nie dziala zbyt dobrze dlatego korzystamy z serwisu niemiec bo szybcie latwiej taniej a dlaczego? my tez mamy duze mozliwosci. " | HALINA SUZANSKI
Australia
Jan.07.2008
rates this page 2/5 |
| | " I have a hand carved chess set in my
possession, with the name carved inside
Pauset I am having trouble with the last
name it looks like Szcrerbol. Any Help?" | Dolores Gatward
United States
Dec.11.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I have been going to Zakopane since 1969. I now treat it as my second home and have met and made many realy good friends there and in Krakow. Great for winter skiing and summer walking. there is a tourist season but if you can manage outside those time and Polish school holidays it is not so busy but sometimes thats the point." | Andrew
United Kingdom
Nov.16.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Nicola, fly into Krakow airport (Poland) then catch one of the local buses to Zakopane. Its very easy, I have now done it 4 times. Buses leave Krakow bus station almost every 30 mins for Zakopane and it is really cheap. Journey time is approx 2 hours.
Flying into Slovakia is nearer but takes longer to transfer to Zakopane..
Hope this helps " | Justin Bielawski
United Kingdom
Nov.08.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Hey all...
anyone know how to get from Zakopane airport to Zakopane centre? is it possible by public transport? I believe this airport is actually in Slovakia???? maybe???
nicolapeers@googlemail.com
Help...!!" | Nicola
United Kingdom
Nov.06.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Best place in Planet, . My dear friends Monika j lost you. lost you before 24 year. Nikola Odzaci" | Nikola
United States
Oct.06.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I fell in love with Zakopane the minute I stepped off the coach. What a wonderland especially walking round at night, and so little traffice on the streets in the centre. Beautiful and so friendly and helpful too." | Pat Allgood
United Kingdom
Sep.01.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Zakopane is set in some of the most beautiful mountains, but I think it has become a victim of its own success. There is a real traffic problem, and hordes of people. The traders selling tat get tiresome, and there are alot of them. However as I said the mountains are wonderful with excellent well marked paths and cable car systems. Maybe Zakopane is very diffent in winter? " | Stephen.P
United Kingdom
Jul.12.2007
rates this page 2/5 |
| | "I think Poland is a fantastic place to holiday and in particular Zakopane. We had a great time and met some wonderful people even if the language was a problem. I will never forge the views and the Highlander folk night we had. We will be back for more next year." | Cliff Carl
United Kingdom
Jul.03.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "my wife and i loved your village and hope to visit again" | mike turner
United Kingdom
Jun.18.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "" | mike turner
United Kingdom
Jun.18.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Zakopane - it was love at first sight!! Lovely town in beautiful enviroment. The wooden houses, the tip-top clean town and mountain-style wooden houses everywhere, friendly people, good food, beautiful polish girls :)... Great place! We will return as soon as possible!" | Tamas
Hungary
Jun.17.2007
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Was very interesting, I loved the Cabin home Architecture. I hired a cab driver to give me an informal tour for a day and treated him to a Traditional Dinner and Pevo. Try the Meod it is the best. Very historical and interesring City. Well worth the travel time from Warsaw. I drove myself in the dead of winter." | Rick
United States
May.11.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "the best " | anthony samways
United Kingdom
Mar.07.2007
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Very nice! Also,anybody: kindly send me emails of tourist farms around Zakopane. johnmlynarczyk@webtv.net " | john mlynarczyk
United States
Feb.17.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "very informative. going to zakopane in august and site is very informative. the truffle hunters will love it." | gupta
United Kingdom
Feb.16.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Loved it!!" | Matt
United Kingdom
Feb.14.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
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