Krupówki in Zakopane with children: what to see, map and route
Krupówki and around in Zakopane. In the Turi app, the same map shows your position, guides you from point to point and lets you tick off the places you’ve visited.
free entrymuseums and towers have separate tickets
The walk starts at the Tourist Information Centre on Kościuszki Street, a few minutes from the station, and ends at the lower station of the Gubałówka funicular. The full route is about 5.5 km and the recommended one about 4 km. If you are already on Krupówki, Turi will guide you from the nearest point. The first part of the route goes gently uphill and then follows Krupówki downhill. A pushchair can manage almost everywhere, only the cemetery paths are narrow and uneven. Walking around town is free. Tickets are needed for the museums (Hasior Gallery, Makuszyński Museum, Tatra Museum, Villa Koliba) and for the funicular. In high season Krupówki is crowded, mornings are quietest. There are public toilets near the station, on Krupówki, by the Holy Family Church and below Gubałówka, among other places, and some charge a fee.
At home, open the place in Turi and tap “Save for offline”: the map, descriptions and photos will work without signal.
Visit the furthest points first, while the kids still have energy.
Tick things off as you go, and by the exit you’ll know what’s left.
Krupówki in Zakopane in the Turi app
Live position, a route from point to point, descriptions to read and listen to. Free, no account, and in English, German and Ukrainian too.
The same map as in the app. Tap a point to see its photo and description; in Turi you’ll see yourselves on it too.
1recommended, in route orderother pointsWCtoilets, food, tickets
Map: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Descriptions and photos: Turi and Wikimedia Commons. Something not right? Report it in the app at that point.
Worth seeing
Zakopane is more than Krupówki, although the walk does of course follow it. It starts near the station, crosses a big meadow with a view of Giewont and goes down the most famous promenade in Poland from the monument to Count Zamoyski all the way to the stone church. Then it turns into Kościeliska Street, the oldest in town, with a little wooden church, a cemetery of local heroes and the first villa in the Zakopane style. Along the way you will visit the home of the creator of Matołek the Billy Goat and taste smoked cheese at the market, and at the end you can ride the funicular up Gubałówka to see the Tatras from above.
Photo Trybuchowska, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons1
Attraction
Rówień Krupowa Meadow
This big meadow right in the middle of town is the best place to see the Tatras without setting foot on a trail. Straight ahead is Giewont with the cross on its summit. The highlanders say it is a sleeping knight who will wake when Poland is in need. Look for his forehead, nose and chin. On the meadow you can run around, fly kites and take a photo by the wooden Zakopane sign. It used to be an ordinary clearing where sheep grazed.
Photo Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons2
Attraction
Władysław Zamoyski Monument
The man in a hat on the plinth is Count Władysław Zamoyski, to whom Zakopane owes a great deal. In 1889 he bought the entire Zakopane estate at auction together with a large part of the Tatras, to save the local forests from being cut down. He lived very modestly himself and spent his money on schools, roads and the railway to Zakopane. Before he died he gave everything he had to the nation. Thanks to this the Tatra National Park could later be created.
Photo Cybularny, CC0, Wikimedia Commons3
Attraction
Krupówki Street
The most famous promenade in Poland is more than a kilometre long and runs uphill all the way, towards the Tatras. It takes its name from the Krupówki clearing, which as late as the 19th century was crossed by an ordinary village road. Today there are stalls with smoked cheese, horse-drawn cabs, street musicians and crowds all year round. Notice the large building at the junction with Kościuszki Street. This is the Polish Bazaar from the early 20th century, a former department store. A mountain stream flows beneath the street.
Photo Piotrekwas, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons4
Building / monument
Tatra Museum
One of the oldest museums in Poland, founded in 1889 by lovers of the Tatras. The brick building in the Zakopane style was designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz and Franciszek Mączyński and opened in 1922. Inside you will see a highlander's room, costumes, shepherds' axes and tools, and the wildlife of the Tatras, led by a bear. It is the best place to understand how the highlanders lived before the first tourists arrived.
Photo Thomas.xx71, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons5
Building / monument
Holy Family Church
The stone church with its tall tower closes Krupówki at the lower end. It took almost twenty years to build, from 1877 to 1896, out of hard mountain stone. The parishioners and Count Zamoyski helped. It is the oldest masonry church in Zakopane. Inside you will see how Stanisław Witkiewicz's Zakopane style meets the stone arches: highland patterns are carved into the wood of the altars and pews.
Photo ErwinMeier, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons6
Building / monument
Old Church
The Zakopane parish began with this small church of larch logs. It was built in 1847 by the local carpenter Sebastian Gąsienica-Sobczak, with money from Klementyna Homolacs, the owner of Zakopane. The altars were carved by the folk artist Wojciech Kułach. Right beside it stands the stone Gąsienica chapel, thought to be the oldest religious building in town. The first parish priest was Father Józef Stolarczyk, who also founded the cemetery next door.
Photo User:Piotrus, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons7
Attraction
Pęksowy Brzyzek Cemetery
The small cemetery behind the old church is like a gallery of highland art. The grave markers are made of wood, stone and wrought iron, and many were carved by well-known artists. Here lie the people who made Zakopane: the doctor Tytus Chałubiński, the storyteller Sabała, Stanisław Witkiewicz who created the Zakopane style, the writer Kornel Makuszyński and the skier Stanisław Marusarz. At the entrance you can read the words: A homeland is its land and its graves. The gate was designed by Witkiewicz.
Photo Januszk57, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons8
Building / monument
Villa Koliba
The first house built in the Zakopane style. The painter and writer Stanisław Witkiewicz fell in love with highland cottages and decided to show that elegant villas could be built in the same style. He designed Koliba for Zygmunt Gnatowski, and highland carpenters put it up in 1892 and 1893. In the local dialect a koliba is a shepherd's hut. Take a close look at the carved beams and the patterns on the gables. Inside is the Museum of the Zakopane Style, with furniture and household objects designed in the same spirit.
Photo Rosser1954 Roger Griffith, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons9
Attraction
Gubałówka Market
A row of wooden stalls stretches all the way to the funicular station. You can buy sheep's wool slippers, sheepskin coats, highlander axes, wooden toys and, above all, cheese. Oscypek is a hard, smoked sheep's milk cheese shaped like a spindle and pressed in carved wooden moulds. Its name is protected in the European Union, and real oscypek is made from May to October, when the sheep graze on the mountain pastures. Try it warm, straight from the grill, with cranberry sauce.
Photo Zalasem1, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons10
Attraction
Gubałówka Funicular
Cars pulled by a cable climb the rails up Gubałówka hill in a few minutes. The railway was built in 1938 in just 168 days and was the second of its kind in Poland. Halfway up there is a passing loop where the car going up meets the one coming down. From the top you can see the whole of Zakopane and the long chain of the Tatras with Giewont in the middle. It is a good way to end the walk: everything you looked at close up you will now see from above.
All points (21)
Grouped as in the map legend. A star marks recommended points.
Attraction 6
Rówień Krupowa Meadow ★This big meadow right in the middle of town is the best place to see the Tatras without setting foot on a trail. Straight ahead is Giewont with the cross on its summit. The highlanders say it is a sleeping knight who will wake when Poland is in need. Look for his forehead, nose and chin. On the meadow you can run around, fly kites and take a photo by the wooden Zakopane sign. It used to be an ordinary clearing where sheep grazed.
Władysław Zamoyski Monument ★The man in a hat on the plinth is Count Władysław Zamoyski, to whom Zakopane owes a great deal. In 1889 he bought the entire Zakopane estate at auction together with a large part of the Tatras, to save the local forests from being cut down. He lived very modestly himself and spent his money on schools, roads and the railway to Zakopane. Before he died he gave everything he had to the nation. Thanks to this the Tatra National Park could later be created.
Krupówki Street ★The most famous promenade in Poland is more than a kilometre long and runs uphill all the way, towards the Tatras. It takes its name from the Krupówki clearing, which as late as the 19th century was crossed by an ordinary village road. Today there are stalls with smoked cheese, horse-drawn cabs, street musicians and crowds all year round. Notice the large building at the junction with Kościuszki Street. This is the Polish Bazaar from the early 20th century, a former department store. A mountain stream flows beneath the street.
Pęksowy Brzyzek Cemetery ★The small cemetery behind the old church is like a gallery of highland art. The grave markers are made of wood, stone and wrought iron, and many were carved by well-known artists. Here lie the people who made Zakopane: the doctor Tytus Chałubiński, the storyteller Sabała, Stanisław Witkiewicz who created the Zakopane style, the writer Kornel Makuszyński and the skier Stanisław Marusarz. At the entrance you can read the words: A homeland is its land and its graves. The gate was designed by Witkiewicz.
Gubałówka Market ★A row of wooden stalls stretches all the way to the funicular station. You can buy sheep's wool slippers, sheepskin coats, highlander axes, wooden toys and, above all, cheese. Oscypek is a hard, smoked sheep's milk cheese shaped like a spindle and pressed in carved wooden moulds. Its name is protected in the European Union, and real oscypek is made from May to October, when the sheep graze on the mountain pastures. Try it warm, straight from the grill, with cranberry sauce.
Gubałówka Funicular ★Cars pulled by a cable climb the rails up Gubałówka hill in a few minutes. The railway was built in 1938 in just 168 days and was the second of its kind in Poland. Halfway up there is a passing loop where the car going up meets the one coming down. From the top you can see the whole of Zakopane and the long chain of the Tatras with Giewont in the middle. It is a good way to end the walk: everything you looked at close up you will now see from above.
Building / monument 8
Tatra Museum ★One of the oldest museums in Poland, founded in 1889 by lovers of the Tatras. The brick building in the Zakopane style was designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz and Franciszek Mączyński and opened in 1922. Inside you will see a highlander's room, costumes, shepherds' axes and tools, and the wildlife of the Tatras, led by a bear. It is the best place to understand how the highlanders lived before the first tourists arrived.
Holy Family Church ★The stone church with its tall tower closes Krupówki at the lower end. It took almost twenty years to build, from 1877 to 1896, out of hard mountain stone. The parishioners and Count Zamoyski helped. It is the oldest masonry church in Zakopane. Inside you will see how Stanisław Witkiewicz's Zakopane style meets the stone arches: highland patterns are carved into the wood of the altars and pews.
Old Church ★The Zakopane parish began with this small church of larch logs. It was built in 1847 by the local carpenter Sebastian Gąsienica-Sobczak, with money from Klementyna Homolacs, the owner of Zakopane. The altars were carved by the folk artist Wojciech Kułach. Right beside it stands the stone Gąsienica chapel, thought to be the oldest religious building in town. The first parish priest was Father Józef Stolarczyk, who also founded the cemetery next door.
Villa Koliba ★The first house built in the Zakopane style. The painter and writer Stanisław Witkiewicz fell in love with highland cottages and decided to show that elegant villas could be built in the same style. He designed Koliba for Zygmunt Gnatowski, and highland carpenters put it up in 1892 and 1893. In the local dialect a koliba is a shepherd's hut. Take a close look at the carved beams and the patterns on the gables. Inside is the Museum of the Zakopane Style, with furniture and household objects designed in the same spirit.
Władysław Hasior GalleryA wooden building among the trees hides one of the most surprising galleries in Poland. Władysław Hasior put his sculptures together from old dolls, forks, mirrors, scraps of fabric and burning candles. People said he could make art out of anything. About 200 of his works are gathered here. The building itself, from 1935, was the rest hall of a sanatorium, a veranda where patients breathed the mountain air. The gallery is a branch of the Tatra Museum.
Kornel Makuszyński MuseumThe Opolanka villa was home to a writer whose books almost every Polish child knows. Kornel Makuszyński invented Matołek the Billy Goat, who went looking for the town of Pacanów because he had heard that goats are shod there. He also wrote Satan from the Seventh Grade and The Row over Basia. In front of the villa stands his monument, with the little goat beside him of course. The four rooms hold the writer's desk, paintings and keepsakes. Makuszyński loved Zakopane and came up with a ski competition for children that is still held today.
Tatra ManorThis red-brick building was never a railway station, although its Polish name sounds like one. It was the house of the Tatra Society, where the first tourists and mountain guides used to meet. The earlier wooden one burnt down during a ball when a paraffin lamp exploded, and the present building opened in 1903. From 1909 the rescuers of the Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue met here. A few steps away, on Krupówki, stands a monument dedicated to mountain rescuers.
U Wnuka InnOne of the oldest inns in Zakopane has stood on Kościeliska Street since about 1850. It was built by Józef Krzeptowski and was the first two-storey house in the Podhale region. Besides the inn it housed a shop, then Zakopane's first post office and the reading room of the Tatra Society. The whole of Kościeliska Street is the oldest part of town. As you walk on you will see wooden cottages with porches and shingle roofs.
Toilets / tickets / parking 7
Tourist information on Kościuszki StreetThe Tourist Information Centre is at 17 Kościuszki Street, a few minutes from the railway and bus stations. You can get a town map here and up-to-date information about trails, the weather in the Tatras and the cable cars. From here Kościuszki Street leads straight to Krupówki.
Photo Cybularny, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Trybuchowska, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons1
Photo Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Piotrekwas, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Thomas.xx71, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo ErwinMeier, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo User:Piotrus, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Januszk57, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Rosser1954 Roger Griffith, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Zalasem1, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Zontarlj, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Igor123121, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Photo Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons