High Tatras and Slovak Paradise Road Trip from Poprad: Lomnický štít, Vlkolínec and Spiš Castle in 4 Days

The High Tatras are a short, steep mountain range on the border of Slovakia and Poland, and all their highest peaks are on the Slovak side. This loop stays there. It starts in Poprad, at the foot of the mountains, and takes the cable cars up Lomnický štít, walks to the lakes of Štrbské Pleso and Popradské pleso, then drives west into Liptov for the caves of the Demänovská valley and the log village of Vlkolínec. On the way back it climbs the ladders of the Suchá Belá gorge in the Slovak Paradise and ends at Spiš Castle and Levoča. It makes about 362 km in four days and comes back to Poprad.

Poprad–Tatry Airport is small and has only a few scheduled flights, so book a rental car in Poprad early. If you fly into Košice or Kraków instead, pick up the car there: Poprad is about 114 km by road from Košice and about 153 km from Kraków. The Polish side of the mountains, Zakopane and Morskie Oko, is a separate trip. Slovakia uses the euro and is in the Schengen area.

Day 1 — Poprad to Lomnický štít and Štrbské Pleso (41 km)

Pick up the car in Poprad and drive up to Tatranská Lomnica. From here three lifts climb to Lomnický štít, at 2,634 m the second-highest peak of the High Tatras: a chairlift or small cable car to Štart, a gondola to Skalnaté pleso, and a small red cabin for 14 people that rises the last 855 m in about eight and a half minutes. Places on the top section are limited, so book online before you go. The lifts stop for maintenance in autumn and can stop in bad weather.

Drive west along the foot of the mountains to Starý Smokovec. A funicular climbs in about 7 minutes to Hrebienok, at 1,285 m, where a marked path leads into the forest past the waterfalls of the Studený potok. In the evening, drive on to Štrbské Pleso, a resort on the shore of a glacial lake at 1,346 m, up to 20 m deep. A path goes round the lake. Sleep at Štrbské Pleso.

Day 2 — Popradské pleso and the Demänovská valley to Liptovský Mikuláš (79 km)

Start early. Just east of Štrbské Pleso, leave the car at the paid car park at the Popradské Pleso stop of the Tatra electric railway. The forest road from here up to the lake is closed to private cars, so you walk: about 4.2 km on the paved road, which the regional tourist board puts at about 1 hour 40 minutes. Popradské pleso lies at about 1,494 m, with a mountain hotel on its shore. A short walk on the yellow path leads to the Symbolic Cemetery, a memorial in the forest to people who died in the Tatras.

Then drive west into Liptov and turn south into the Demänovská valley in the Low Tatras. The Demänovská Cave of Liberty has been open to visitors since 1933. You see it on a guided tour only, at set times; tours cannot be booked. The usual tour is 1,150 m long with 913 steps and takes about an hour, and the cave stays at about 6 to 7 °C, so bring a jacket. From the car park it is a walk of 10 to 15 minutes up to the entrance. Continue to Jasná at the head of the valley, where in season cable cars run up to Chopok, 2,024 m. Drive back down to Liptovský Mikuláš, the town where the outlaw Juraj Jánošík was tried and sentenced in 1713, and sleep there.

Day 3 — Liptovská Mara and Vlkolínec to the Slovak Paradise (158 km)

Drive west along the northern shore of Liptovská Mara, a reservoir on the Váh finished in 1975; some 13 villages were flooded to make it. Continue past Ružomberok to Vlkolínec, a mountain village of more than 45 log houses, a wooden bell tower and a baroque chapel. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Visitors may not drive into the village: park at the car park by the entrance and walk in. People still live here, so keep to the street and respect the signs on private houses. The small exhibitions in the houses are open only part of the year; in 2026 until the end of October.

Then take the long drive back east past Poprad to Hrabušice and the hamlet of Podlesok, at the edge of the Slovak Paradise National Park. Sleep in Podlesok or Hrabušice.

Day 4 — Suchá Belá, Spiš Castle and Levoča back to Poprad (84 km)

The Suchá Belá gorge starts in Podlesok. The trail is 3.7 km long and takes about two hours, climbing about 420 m on metal ladders and steps beside waterfalls; the best known is the Misové waterfall, 29.5 m. You may walk it only one way, upstream. The loop back to Podlesok is 8.8 km, about three and a half hours. The park charges an entry fee; the Suchá Belá+ ticket also covers the other gorges that day. If you prefer a longer walk, the Prielom Hornádu trail follows the Hornád river through its canyon on iron rungs, chains and footbridges, about 10.9 km from Podlesok to Čingov. In wet weather or high water the gorges can be closed, and in winter the ladders ice over.

In the afternoon, drive east to Spiš Castle, a ruined castle on a hill above Spišské Podhradie. Park at the free car park about 10 minutes on foot from the gate. In 2026 the upper castle is closed for reconstruction, so only the lower and middle courtyards and the tower are open, and the castle is open from late February to the end of October. Then drive back west to Levoča, a walled town with a square of Renaissance houses. In the Basilica of St James stands the Gothic main altar by Master Paul of Levoča, about 18.6 m high and completed in the early 16th century. Levoča and Spiš Castle together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the castle since 1993, Levoča since 2009. Drive back to Poprad.

Costs

Use the cost calculator to price fuel and nights for your dates. Slovakia uses an electronic vignette for its motorways and expressways, and the quickest way between the High Tatras and Liptov is the D1 motorway. In 2026 a 10-day vignette costs €10.80 and a 30-day one €17.10; buy it at eznamka.sk or in the official app, not from resellers that add a fee. Ordinary roads are free. Budget for accommodation, fuel for about 362 km, car rental, the cable cars to Lomnický štít, parking at Popradské pleso, the cave tour, parking and the exhibitions at Vlkolínec, the Slovak Paradise park fee and Spiš Castle. From 1 November the hiking trails above the tree line in the High Tatras are closed for the winter; in 2026 they reopened on 1 June. Most paths to the lakes and huts below, such as Popradské pleso, stay open.

This trip is also in the free Roadcut trip planner: change the number of days and where you sleep each night, pick your vehicle to see the fuel cost, check the weather on the road, and open each day in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.