Saturday in Zakopane, Part II: Visiting Kasprowy Wierch (April 2026)

Having checked out Gubałowka earlier in the morning, the next big item to cover in the afternoon was Kasprowy Wierch, which is a popular hiking / skiing / snowboarding destination right on the border of Poland and Slovakia.

First thing you need to figure out is how you're getting to the cable car station. It is located within Tatra National Park and the closest parking lot is about a 15-minute walk away. As I researched things it seemed the options were:

* Drive to one of the nearby lots and then either walk or hire a horse-drawn cart up to the cable car

* Take a Bolt up to closest point where cars can drop you, and then walk or hop into the horse cart

* Take the local bus, which can bring you right up to the entrance (no walking or horses involved)

While I did have the Renault and could have driven myself, I read mixed reviews on the parking lots and also was concerned about them being full. Getting turned away and having to head back wasn't worth the risk. Taking a Bolt would have been easy enough and is maybe the best way to go. I think it would be like $6 - $8 USD. But taking the bus seemed like a challenge / adventure, so I went that route. Bought my ticket for maybe 5 złoty and waited for the #10 to Kuznice.

REMINDER: Click any pic for a higher res version

For reference and perspective, here is a map shot showing the relative locations of Zakopane, the Kasprowy Wierch cable car station, and Kasprowy Wierch itself, marked by the red pin.

(Fourth option would have been to walk the ~55 minutes from the center of town to the cable car.)

Bus got me there as advertised. Snapped some pics of the arrival / drop off area.

(Old school photos on the walls is a nice touch)

Got upstairs and saw some of the carriages that you can hire to bring you up from the parking lots. I can understand the appeal for some, but that's not for me.

A contemporary alpine aesthetic and beautiful blue skies. I got lucky with the weather.

Also took a quick spin of video. I forgot about the little crunch sounds of gravel under foot that added to the overall vibe.



I waited for my time slot to hop in the cable car. It was neither totally clear nor chaotic. You kind of just follow the people. And I believe there were announcements for each time slot. They also have this photo booth thing to occupy your time while you wait. Not sure why that would be necessary with so much natural scenery around, but there it is.

Took another little video of the cable car coming down. I *think* that's the one we boarded. Must have been. Looks and sounds safe. Last time I remember being in anything remotely similar was almost 20 years earlier, in Quito, Ecuador. Judy and I took the TelefériQo. Wrote about it on my previous blog, which takes forever to load and probably isn't worth the trouble of linking, but you can see that here.



This is us all loaded in. Maybe we were at half capacity.

You actually take two cable cars to reach the top, switching along the way. I didn't snag any pictures during the switch. Guess I was just going with the flow for the most part. Did take a few when I reached the top.

Snack bar didn't look half bad. Decent views. But if this is the scene in shoulder season, hard to imagine when it's ever easy to get a table.

Pop outside, take the obligatory establishing pic. 1987 meters = 6519 feet. Just 800 feet lower than my usual stomping ground in la CDMX. Guess the 30 degrees of latitude between Mexico City and the Poland/Slovakia border makes a difference in the climate.

Took a few shots right near the chair lift. Still generally dazzled by the scenery.

It seemed that the next thing to do was head south a bit, I guess toward the border of Slovakia, technically. There is an area for the skiers and snowboarders to drop onto the slope. And a ridge for hikers to cross over to another peak/viewpoint.

(View back toward the main station)

(Views of the slopes and other peaks)

(View across the ridge that I would not be checking out this day)

Took a little short video from this perspective



Took some pictures facing south. Those peaks are *probably* in Slovakia.

Then there was this slope behind me. A little odd that with everything else covered in snow this was bare and muddy, but maybe it's due to all the foot traffic up and down?

Seemed clear that the move was to climb up and check out the 'summit'. So I did. Views were pretty good.

(This might have been when I officially decided I wasn't equipped for the trek across the ridge)

Cost of getting up to see all of that is you need to navigate the muddy and rocky descent. Managed to do it without incident.

Then I finished my visit with this shot from the cable car base station.

From the time I hopped the bus in Zakopane to the time I took that last pic it was 2.5 hours. You could extend your visit a couple of ways. One is to enjoy a lunch and beverage at the base area in one of the apres-hike lodge-like food outlets. Another would be to hike all the way down from the peak. My sense is that would be a better experience either in full winter when it's snowy or later in spring / summer when it's drier. This April timeframe seemed like it would be a lot of slop for which I was not equipped and in which I was not interested. If I come back some year June - October or something I would definitely do the hike back down.

Verdict: great visit, would recommend.