Poland's Winter Wonderland, Zakopane. Christmas in the Mountains.

*Welcome to Zakopane, Poland! Join us as we continue our Christmas series in this beautiful country.*

During our time in Poland over Christmas, we came to the city of Zakopane, which is well known for being a great winter destination in Poland, particularly for outdoor activities and sports such as skiing, sledding and snowboarding. We did a day trip and took the bus to and from Kraków to Zakopane. We explored the streets of Zakopane, the mountain view and the Christmas lights. In addition, we had some unique beer and delicious local food. Zakopane is one of the best places to visit in Poland during Christmas. Keep reading to find out why!

The view in this city is fabulous, it was so worth coming up here. It is a pure winter paradise. We are surrounded by snow. We took the bus from Kraków and came here for a day trip. When we arrived, we got off the bus and just started walking towards the town, admiring the beauty of the place. This place was recommended to us when we were in Kraków as the perfect winter wonderland and the best Christmas destination. After a bit of walking, we happened to find the main street in the town. There is a nice pedestrian street and it has houses similar to Alpine style Chalets. The reason behind that is we are in a mountain called Tatra in south Poland close to the border of Slovakia. Therefore, we are surrounded by beautiful mountains.

As we explored, we found a few Christmas thing, We arrived early which is necessary as it gets dark around 4 PM. We made our way to the base of the funicular and we were told that there is a nice view we should check. It was a bit dark but we could still see the lights and the restaurants. They were right, it was so worth coming up and seeing it. It is breathtaking. This is an absolute little wonderland. When you’re down below in the town, you can see the mountains but you can not quite tell how big they are.

On another note, if you are coming to Zakopane in the winter, we highly recommend wearing winter boots to make sure you do not fall. There is snow everywhere and a lot of it is not cleared.

We took the bus from Krakow to Zakopane (which was super easy!).

Check bus schedules and prices

We came to one of the lodges of restaurants at the top of the hill. It is so cozy inside, they also have a fireplace. We were on the hunt for some hot beer and thankfully we found it here. Hot beer may sound absolutely strange and we have never tried it before. It is beer that has been warmed up with a small portion of raspberry juice. It tastes quite good and it is like a fruity beer. The beer is a lager and it is one of the domestic beers here in Poland. As for the juice, it came from a syrup-style bottle. It is an odd combo but worth trying. We have had fruity beer before but never warmed up. Also, it is easy to drink. The juice is very subtle and not overpowering. This hot beer will definitely keep us warm up here.

We then made our way back down the hill into the town again. If you are coming here wondering about the Christmas markets, there isn’t an official one. Although, there is a year-round market at the bottom of the funicular. After having the hot beer which was much needed, we decided to try the most famous things in this region which we had in Kraków last week. Oscypek or grilled sheep cheese with cranberry on top. The cheese is really salty which is why the cranberry really balances it out nicely. The consistency is similar to hard cheese and it reminded us of halloumi cheese. It is kind of squeaky but yummy. There are nice and warm and they smell delicious. This cheese is definitely better than the one we had in Kraków. You can find this throughout the town in the restaurants or in stalls on the street.

We got pretty cold so we popped into a local restaurant. It feels really authentic and cozy, there is lots of wood and bricks. Also, there is lining hanging from the ceiling and a nice bar. We ended up ordering some potato pancakes with some vegetables on the side. We were not happy with the ones we tried at Kraków, they were similar to hash browns. However, these ones are boiled potato pancakes with garlic butter and some cheese. It is a savoury pancake, almost like a traditional pancake that we would have in North America. It is fluffy, the green garlic butter is a really nice addition and the saltiness of the cheese is as well. We see why people eat this, it is just so conforming and tasty. Our second dish is soup, which is made with sheep’s milk cheese. It has some bacon and halusky noodles which are little dumplings. It has just the right amount of cheesiness. Also, the bacon adds a little bit of saltiness and the noodles add a hardy creaminess. It has a very unique flavour. This is the perfect soup we have ever had. We’re definitely enjoying the heartiness of Polish food in the cold weather.