Tatranská Polianka: History, Gallery and Trails in the High Tatras

Tatranská Polianka combines local history with practical trails in the High Tatras. The village stretches along both sides of Cesta slobody between Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso. This gives you a destination where a chapel, a digital gallery and marked routes to Velická dolina and Sliezsky dom stand side by side. Tatranská Polianka is accessible by railway and road.

A Place with an Unusually Rich History

The beginnings of Tatranská Polianka date back to 1884. At that time, the wealthy farmer and butcher Pavol Weszter from Veľký Slavkov built a hunting lodge next to the municipal forester's lodge of the time. In 1902, Michal Guhr the Younger established a climatic sanatorium here for the treatment of tuberculosis and asthma. These two milestones show how the place developed from an early building by the forester's lodge into a location with a medical history.

A visible testament to the area's more recent history is the Chapel of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. It was established in 1994 in the building of the former post office in Tatranská Polianka and consecrated on 10 December 1995. In front of the chapel stands a carved wooden cross by Martin Gavalér. In the adjacent forest park, a monument with a bust of V. Kýna from 1949 also marks a poet's popular place of rest.

The history of winter sports is also linked to Tatranská Polianka. After Michal Guhr brought his passion for skiing from Davos, Switzerland, in 1901, his initiative led to the construction of the first ski jump in the High Tatras at the mouth of Velická dolina.

Poliankovo and the Modern Side of the Village

Tatranská Polianka is home to Poliankovo, a digital gallery covering 600 m². Up to 140 m² of projection surfaces are used there; the exhibition concept includes, among other things, virtual reality, 3D projections, augmented reality, holograms and shadow plays. The exhibition includes interactive elements as well as paintings by the Slovak painter Lubomir Korenk enhanced with augmented reality. Alongside its historical traces, the village therefore also offers an explicitly digital form of cultural engagement.

Trails to Sliezsky dom and Velická dolina

The documented routes differ considerably in length, character and designated use. The paved road from Tatranská Polianka to Sliezsky dom is 6.8 km long and also serves as a cycling route. The visitor regulations of Tatra National Park list the Tatranská Polianka–Sliezsky dom route as a designated cycling route.

For hiking, the round trip from Tatranská Polianka to Sliezsky dom and back is listed as 9 km, taking 3 hours and 35 minutes, with a total ascent and total descent of 666 m each. Those viewing the route as a mountain-biking loop will find the Tatranská Polianka–Sliezsky dom–Tatranská Polianka circuit designated as a 14 km difficult mountain-bike route with 698 m of elevation gain.

Velické pleso can be reached from Tatranská Polianka via a paved road or a hiking trail in approximately two hours. Another considerably more demanding option is the full-day hike to Východná Vysoká, which begins in Tatranská Polianka and includes exposed sections. Historically, the Mariana, Tusculum and Themis hotels in Tatranská Polianka served as starting points for excursions into Velická dolina; this role is part of the documented local history and should be distinguished from today's accommodation options.

More Destinations to Compare

To compare more destinations, you can also view Tatranska Kotlina, Horný Smokovec, Starý Smokovec, Štrbské Pleso and Tatranska Lomnica.

Go to the higher-level travel overview: Vysoké Tatry.