Rysy — Local services in Vysoké Tatry

The ascent to Mount Rysy from the Polish side of the border is a long hike which involves some scrambling in the final part and beautiful views over the largest lake of the Tatra mountains.

Hike description: the first part of the hike is a gentle uphill of about 10km on a road closed to traffic. To gain some time, you can skip this first hike by getting a lift on horse carriages. Beware that cycling is not allowed. Soon after that, you reach a big hut overseeing the lake Morskie Oko, the largest lake of the Tatra mountains. After the lake, a steep uphill on a rocky trail leads to a second lake, followed by another steep uphill on rocky ground. Soon after, you arrive to the start of the fixed ropes. From here, you can scramble all the way up to the summit. Most of the ropes are not necessary when the rocks are dry, particularly on the way up. However you will need to pay attention to fellow hikers. When we visited, it was very busy. I recommend proper hiking boots or at least trail running shoes, to have traction on the slabs. There are two summits, the first is the Polish one and as such extremely popular, while the second is actually slightly higher but very quiet, as it is already on Slovak territory. I suggest to take a longer break on the Slovak side, if it’s a crowded day like in our case. There is also a path to the summit from the Slovak side, a local hiker explained to us that it is possible to go down that path to do a circular route and get back to the parking on the Polish side by bus.

Final point on the logistics: when we visited, the entrance to the park was really crowded, with a long queue to park the car, even if it was already mid September. It’s probably best to arrive early at the start to beat the crowds. If you want to buy food or water, there is convenience store at the parking and food and drinks are sold at the entrance of the park. In the hut at Morskie Oko, there is an amazing selection of hot and cold...

The highest Polish mountain located at the Slovakian border. Beautiful mountain to visit with a choice of easy or hard mode 😜 - all depends which trail you will pick: easy one from the Slovakian side or hard one from Polish side. Slovakian trail is a walk in the park comparing to Polish trail, but once you will manage to get yourself all the way up with fairly much exposition and nearly an hour using chains you will surely have a feeling of accomplishment. Anyway as for the hike on the Polish side you can start your hike from carpark in Palenica Białczańska - there be sure to book your space online as much in advance as possible, especially in a peak season. Also, park opens from 5am, so it is a good idea to be there at the opening time as the hike takes around 13h (timing according to maps) - early start will also allow you to have safety buffer if you choose to enjoy the views, chill a bit more or simply your fit level is not too high. Take in account possible crowds on the trail as it is extremely popular. Initial part is 8km walk to the Morskie Oko and to the mountain shelter, which will take approximately 1.5h. Next step is Czarny Staw which is around 40-50 min walk from the mountain shelter. Once you get there all you have to do is go around it and start steep walk/climb, so this is where the fun finally starts ;) Going 900 m up from the lake requires a lot of stamina and also a willpower if you're not fit enough ;) still if lucky with a weather you will be rewarded greatly. Some disclaimers: have some decent shoes with proper soles be ready for quickly changing weather be ready to go back and just come back some other time if something goes sideways - remember - mountains very often don't forgive mistakes...

Trail is great and the views are stunning... there is an unrelated reason why we gave it four stars, read on for that. We started at 9:00 am, we stayed at the hotel near by so we couldn't say what the parking situation was but it looked like the parking lot in front of the trail head was full. Side note, there is a small convenience store that opens up at 6:30 right by the parking lot. We had a lot of traffic during the entire time.

The trail is well marked and impossible to miss. The trail is fairly rocky and uneven in parts but that may just be our prejudice of experience in hiking on gentler routes.

the chains are mostly unnecessary in good weather. it's steep but not that steep, some bouldering and scrambling on all fours may be required.

The "chata" (hut) was amazing and we had amazing hot food and a beer there. Highly recommended.

It was quite crowded at the top. The drops are pretty impressive so if you don't like that, be aware. Definitely worth the views

Finally, I don't know who needs to hear this, but based on what we saw, many people should be warned that there is no bathroom at the base of the trail, nor a long the entire way UNTIL THE CHATA, there is a WC there. We couldn't believe how much toilet paper we saw...