Best Fall/ Autumn Hikes in Poland

I’ll admit: before this year, I have only hiked in Poland during the summer. But I recently learned that I actually prefer all my favorite hikes in Poland during the fall/ autumn season!

While the higher probability of clear, sunny weather during the summer is a big draw for tourists such as myself in the past, I now actually prefer hikes in the cooler, rainier weather of Poland during fall/ autumn.

The lack of intense heat makes hiking easier, and the misty fog enveloping mountains, valleys and colorful forests adds an air of mystery and beauty to the places.

Here are a few hikes I did in Poland that were absolutely gorgeous during the fall/ autumn season.

Kasprowy Wierch | Zakopany National Park

While it’s possible to get to the top of Kasprowy Wierch by cable car, I highly recommend the hike up from Kuźnica and through Jaworzynka Valley. It’s about the journey, not the destination, especially when the views on the journey are much nicer than those at the destination.

The way up involves a walk past wooden huts, impressive mountain views, alpine lakes and vibrant fall colors. Perhaps my favorite picture from all my fall/ autumn hikes in Poland was taken on this hike. I much preferred the colorful valleys over the barren peak of Kasprowy Wierch.

A word of warning: The weather is much more dangerous in fall/ autumn, so be prepared and check the forecast. It rained a bit while I was hiking, which wasn’t too bad (i.e. it didn’t get too slippery), but the dangerous part was the wind. It got so bad near the top that all the hikers had to crouch down to avoid getting blown off the trail.

I considered not risking going all the way up, but I eventually made it. You get a view of the Tatry on the Slovakian side, and there’s a restaurant and toilets you can use at the cable car station. If you’re not willing to walk back down, you can go back by cable car.

To do this hike:

Start at Kuźnica, from the park ticket booth at the start of the yellow trail. You can either park near the cable car or take a bus there. You might also be able to walk to this trail from Zakopane (main town in the Tatry, near the city of Kraków), depending on where you’re staying. I walked there from my accommodation, Olimp Camping (rustic, but highly recommended). It was about half an hour one way to the trailhead, which wasn’t ideal, but it beat paying for parking.

Follow the yellow trail up past the valley. The trail will change to the blue trail through Gasienicowa Valley, and then to the black trail, and back to yellow up the summit.

Don’t get too worried about remembering that though. The trail up is easy to follow, and there are good signs pointing you in the right direction.

Alternatively, you can start or end with the blue trail instead of yellow, perhaps doing one way up and one way down. I went through the yellow trail both up and down because it started raining as I was walking down and I felt safer going down a path I was already familiar with.

Dolina Pięciu Stawów & Morskie Oko | Tatry National Park

This is one of the most popular hikes in all of Poland, particularly in the summertime. But I think in some ways it’s better to do in fall/ autumn.

The hike is known for its pretty alpine lakes, although admittedly you’ll have more luck with those in the summer. When I went this fall, the lakes weren’t reflective like when I saw them in the summer. A combination of clouds and wind disrupted the smooth surfaces of the super clear water.

But despite the disappointing lakes, the trees and grass around them turned vibrant, pretty colors, which made up for the rough waters.

That, combined with not sweating from high temperatures like during the summer, made the hike much more enjoyable for me.

To do this hike:

You’ll be starting from Palenica Białczańska. You can either park there or take the bus. Although the Morskie Oko hike isn’t as crowded in fall as it is in summer, there will still be a lot of people, so get there early if you want a parking spot.

There are two ways you can do this loop. 1) From Dolina Pięciu Stawów to Morskie Oko, or 2) From Morskie Oko to Dolina Pięciu Stawów.

Alternatively, you can do just one of them, so either just Dolina Pięciu Stawów or just Morskie Oko.

The easiest hike by far is up to Morskie Oko. In fact, I hesitate calling it a hike because the entire trail is a paved road, about two hours up.

You could also take a horse carriage up to Morskie Oko, but I highly discourage you from doing. The road is long and steep, and sometimes the horses have to pull up to 16 people in high heat, to the extent that a horse dropped dead once.

Anyway, if you do both Dolina Pięciu Stawów and Morskie Oko, you can decide which way to go first. I have done both, and both have positives and negatives.

The trail between Dolina Pięciu Stawów and the parking lot is more difficult than the one to Morskie Oko. It’s steeper and rough terrain, but it’s also less trafficked than the road to Morskie Oko.

It’s harder physically to walk up to Dolina Pięciu Stawów, but having bad knees, I preferred walking the harder way up, and then having less impact on my knees walking down. Also, the trail between Dolina Pięciu Stawów and Morskie Oko is slightly easier (i.e. more downhill) coming from Dolina Pięciu Stawów.

Whichever you choose to do first, you’ll have some amazing views.

Połonia Caryńska | Bieszczady National Park

Not as popular as the Tatry mountains, the Bieszczady mountains are definitely more off the beaten path. They have a very interesting history and the villages have a less touristy vibe from Zakopane, the main town in the Tarty mountains.

This fall was actually the first time I’ve been there, so I don’t have any comparison to how the hikes are in the summer. But from what I hear, the fall is the best time to visit.

Not as high as the Tatry, the Bieszczady mountains are covered in dense forests. That is, except for the połonie. A połonia is a mountain peak with a meadow.

This hike goes up to a połonia, specifically Połonia Caryńska. It offers a pretty view of vibrant orange and red trees down below, and it’s not too strenuous of a hike, depending on where you start.

To do this hike:

There a few ways to do this hike. The easiest way is meant to be the trail starting from Przełęcz Wyżniańska.

Personally, I started from the Brzegi Górne parking lot. It took less than two hours to get to the top, and most of the hike was through a pretty, yellow-leaved forest. Be on the lookout for red squirrels and cute salamanders in the fallen leaves!

Another option is to hike from Ustryki Górne, one of the main towns in Bieszczady. (Although be aware that all towns are very tiny, even the main ones.)

There are many other mountains to climb in this area (like Połonia Wetlińska, Tarnica, Wielka Rawka), which I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to hike this time. But all are meant to be best visited in the fall.

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Have you ever done any hikes in Poland during the fall/ autumn season? I’ve only hiked in the Tatry and Bieszczady mountains during the fall/ autumn, but I know there are so many other amazing places in Poland to do some hikes. If you have any recommendations, please let us know in the comments below!