We spent a week in the Tatra Mountains which straddle Poland and Slovakia. The weather has been all over the place ranging from full sun and 30+ degrees to snow, sleet and hailstones. Admittedly the latter weather was at 2,000m when we were on the Polish side of the Tatra. We did get some views of the peaks and valleys but quite a bit of the hike on that particular day was spent in swirling cloud whilst protecting our faces from the hailstones. It was odd having had treks at 2,000m on the Slovak side where we wanted to get higher to evade the stifling heat lower down!

Unfortunately most of the high-level hiking routes on the Slovakian side were closed until 15 June (we were 1 week early!) so we weren't able to tackle all the hikes we'd planned. However, after 15 June the place starts to get mobbed - so all in all perhaps we fared well with the treks we did.

Both countries have some amazing wooden architecture around the Tatra region. We visited a lovely UNESCO world heritage site where a traditional Slovak village - Vlkolinec - has been preserved with some of the houses remaining inhabited while others have been made over into museums. Spis castle was another highlight. We were in two minds about whether to drive over to it following the tour in Slovak that we had endured at Strecno castle, but it was a very different experience. It was a sprawling 13th century ruin and there was lots of it left to explore (without needing a tour!) and its hilltop location was stunning.

We are now in Krakow … but more of that anon!