Vysoke Tatry Sports & Outdoors

Slovakia is a great country for cyclists: much less traffic than in the neighbouring Poland, good roads, but it is also quite hilly. You definitely need a mountain bike, especially if you want to explore more than just the main roads. You can't of course ride your bike in the High Tatras - that would be equivalent to suicide, but you can visit parts of the mountain valleys, like Javorova or Belovodska, but only as far as the signs let you. You will have to ride on gravel there. If you don't like that, use the main roads. The so-called Cesta Slobody, or the Road of Freedom, runs at the foot of the whole mountain range of the High Tatras, passing through Strbske Pleso, Stary Smokovec and Tatranska Lomnica. With little traffic, it is the dream of many cyclists, my husband included. If you want to get a beautiful view of the Tatras, like the one in the introduction, go a little way towards Poprad, not too far though if you don't want all sorts of industrial plants to obstruct the fantastic view, which is probably best just before sunset.

I have put this tip under extreme sports, though my husband says it's not as dangerous as it seems. Anyway, you'd better ask an experienced paraglider who knows the area well before embarking on paragliding in the High Tatras. It must be absolutely fascinating to soar over the Tatras with the fantastic panorama and in the brisk mountain air, but the very thought of the inevitable landing on the hard rocky surface would probably spoil the pleasure for me.