2/8 Day 5: Took 10.10am train from Poprad to Stary Smokovec (arrived 10.36am). Hiked for 2 hours 10 minutes from Stary Smokovec station (1010m above sea level) to Zamkovskeho chata (1475m). Chata means mountain hut or cottage in Slovakian.
Costs
(1) 1 train ticket from Poprad to Stary Smokovec - EUR5
Accommodation
(1) 1 room in Zamkovskeho chata (from website) - Shared room EUR300 for 3 persons for 3 nights, EUR100 per person. Tourist tax EUR3,50 per person. Half board (breakfast and dinner) EUR28 per day.
Food
(1) Drink at Mini Bistro at Stary Smokovec station - Kofola 500ml EUR2,50
(2) Lunch at Zamkovskeho chata - pork stew with dumpling EUR16,50, radler 500ml EUR5
The Story
02082026: Today, we will be in the mountains and we looked forward to the cooling air but I do not look forward to the hikes! I know it will be tiring but I did not know it will be extremely tiring. The terrain here is different. First, breakfast in Pension Jakub. The only upside in the accommodation is the breakfast. We did not have much sleep last night due to the heat (no fan or air-condition in the room) and the traffic noise (as we opened the window to let the relatively cold air come in). The breakfast spread was tempting and the food was good. The staff even offered wine for us! Apparently, it is normal to have a glass of Prosecco wine for breakfast.
After breakfast, we checked out and walked to the train station. There, we bought our train tickets to Stary Smokovec station. One can buy tickets from the train app or from the manned ticket counter. There is no time printed on the ticket. Instead, it is valid for the whole day until the next day 4am. The next train is 10.10am.
These are the stations that the train stops. This train goes along the base of the mountain and is known as the mountain train by the locals. So great and convenient for the locals to get to the mountains. Can you see Poprad-Tatry in the picture? We will stop at 4 stations before we arrive at Stary Smokovec.
We arrived at Stary Smokovec station at 10.36am. We saw a trail along the railway tracks. So, one can either take the train or walk on the trail. I prefer the train. There is no scenic view along the trail.
Finally, we have arrived at the base of Tatra mountains. Stary Smokovec is 1010m above sea level. Here, we could already feel the cooling air. Since we were early, we decided to take a drink at the cafe outside the train station. My travel companions took their beer and I took my kofola.
After pestering my travel companions to finish their drink because I saw the weather forecast that it might rain in the afternoon, we began our slow walk towards the mountains. It was already an uphill walk from the cafe to the start of the hike.
The cable car that one can choose to take to Hrebienok instead of walking there. The ticket for a cable car ride for an adult is EUR14 up and EUR13 down, and a return ticket is EUR16. It makes sense to buy a return ticket then. Many families with small children took the cable car. I saw many of them when we reached Hrebienok. It is cheaper to buy the ticket 3 days or more in advance. Taking a dog costs EUR6 for a return ticket but the dog is not allowed to hike past Hrebienok. A sign is set up for that but some dog owners decided to look past it but they meet another sign of no dogs allowed before entering the mountains.
We began our hike at 11.35am. So many small stones and rocks on the path. It is not like the trail in the Dolomites.
I felt like I had been walking for hours when I reached Hrebienok at 12.25pm. It had only been 50 minutes. There were many bear sculptures here. I think there are bears in the Slovakian nature but we did not encounter any, thankfully.
A sculpture of a sherpa. Sherpas here carry the weight load differently than the ones I see in Nepal. They build a sort-of wooden structure to carry the load and pile the load on top of another. We encountered three young sherpas during our hike.
This is the cable car stop at Hrebienok. It takes 7 minutes by cable car from Stary Smokovec to Hrebienok. It is not difficult for me to choose to walk rather than take the cable car. Mostly due to $.
The sign at Hrebienok states that it will take 50 minutes to hike to Zamkovskeho chata. WRONG! Or maybe the locals walk really fast or they are really fit. It took me 1 hour 20 minutes including stops.
From Hrebienok, there is a nice path for those who came by cable car to take a short walk to a stream nearby. Probably for families and children to experience a short hike and play in the waters. Saw some elderly making the walk too. Some parts of the path has no rocks or stones but after a short bit, we encountered large rocks to go to the stream.
I did not realise in my photo, I took a picture of a man with his dog. No dogs are actually allowed here as he has already left Hrebienok. After the bridge, the man encountered another sign that says no dogs allowed. He stood there as he looked at the sign. He did not move for a while. I think he was contemplating if he should continue or turn back. He turned back in the end. His dog was barking a lot.
My tiring hike continued uphill. My legs were tired from the rocks and stones. The large rocks were arranged relatively well but one has to avoid stumbling upon any edges or not miss a gap between the rocks. Though cooling air, it was still hot and I had my hat on me most of the time.
Oh my gawd - so tired here! Finally, we have arrived at the sign that says that we are at Zamkovskeho chata, 1475m. It was just on my right, just a few steps only. I had to take the photo to show that I have arrived. In total, 2 hours and 10 minutes hike. Arrived here slightly after 2pm.
We checked in. I paid deposit of EUR150 when I booked our room and we paid the balance now. We took the half-board too where we will get breakfast and dinner. It makes sense as there is nowhere we could get food so early in the morning or in the evening and we are not allowed to cook in the room. For lunch, we will be somewhere else during the hike.
Our bedroom has a bunk bed and a single bed. When I emailed the staff for a 3-person bedroom, she asked if it was okay to have an extra bed in a double room. We agreed to it as it is cheaper. EUR50 per person per bed. As we were squeezing 3 persons in the room, it is EUR100 instead of EUR150. The room is clean. A bit small for 3 persons but it was alright. We were mostly on our beds when we were in the room.
The only power plug in the room is next to the door. There is a USB outlet too. Speaking of doors, there are no keys to the door. So, the door is unlocked. I suppose hikers are honest people? I took my passport and monies with me when I left the room if there is no one else in the room.
Separate toilets for male and female. I thought those were the only toilets. Luckily not. There is another floor upstairs with toilets and bathroom too. The bathroom has two shower heads. Couples or parents with kids can shower together. There is a chair and bench outside the bathroom and toilet area for people to sit while waiting in line to use the bathroom or toilet.
We are required to leave our outdoor shoes on the shoes rack and change to indoor shoes. They provided slippers. We brought our own indoor slippers for this purpose. The floors and stairs are carpeted. Probably easier to vacuum everywhere.
After checking in, we had lunch. There were many hikers who stopped to have lunch or rest here. My expensive radler at EUR5. Drinks and food are slightly on a higher price here as this mountain hut gets their supplies via a sherpa or a helicopter. We saw some sherpas carrying boxes with Zamko labelled on them.
My boyfriend and I shared pork stew with dumplings. The dumplings reminded me of soft bread. Maybe it is bread but they call it dumplings in Slovakia. There were many flies outdoors. It was difficult to enjoy my lunch and drink.
Chocolates, drinks and souvenirs for sale.
Some craft and magnet for sale.
Each mountain hut has their own stamp and hikers can stamp on a book or a notepad.
In the evening, there were lesser hikers. The only hikers here are the ones who are staying for the night.
For dinner, one will be given a bowl of soup from 3 choices (lentil, garlic or cabbage soup). Soup costs EUR7,50 or EUR8,50 (cabbage) and one main meal. I took cabbage soup Both soup and main meal comes with bread. Very filling. I chose beef ghoulash with dumpling for the first night. It costs EUR17,50. Naturally, I will choose the most expensive on the menu to make the payment worth it. Total is EUR26. I have not included breakfast price yet. Breakfast is not on the main menu. But EUR28 is definitely worth paying for breakfast and dinner! However, I don't want to eat beef ghoulash for the next 2 nights so I took something else. Less expensive than beef ghoulash but still worth the EUR28.
Dinner was filling. They sure know how to feed hikers! Tonight, we slept so well. Cool air. Warm under the blankets.
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