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Weather conditions and road closure in Tatras during May end?

Posted by on

Hello all,
I am planning a road trip from Bratislava -> High Tatras -> Zakopane -> and then onwards in Poland - in the last week of May. While checking the weather in Tatras, Google tells me its still cold with intermittent rains. I am wondering if that has any effect on the roads?

I read elsewhere that the highest trails in the Tatras are closed till mid June. But I guess this refers to the hiking trails, right?

So can I drive from Slovakia-Tatras to Zakopane during May end without any hiccups? How are the road conditions, especially while passing through the small villages? After Bratislava, I have planned a night halt at Zilina (1 or 2 nights) and then at Vysoke Tatry (2 nights). Does this sound good, or should I modify this?

Thanks
TYM

Posted by
47 posts

Weather in the High Tatras at the end of May is still unpredictable. For sure, there will be snow on the trails in higher parts. We were hiking in Polish High Tatras in the middle of June and there was still snow above 2000 metres.

Also, trails in Slovak Tatras (unlike Poland) are closed until June 15th. This applies to all trails above mountain huts. There's only one exception which is Slavkovsky Stit mountain.

The roads are OK and getting from Slovakia to Zakopane is fine, even in winter. There might be some traffic jams around weekends.

Perhaps it would be better to spend your night closer to Tatra mountains? There's nothing really interesting in Zilina. You could go to Liptovsky Mikulas or Zuberec near Western Tatras, and then Vysoke Tatry.

There's a lot of useful info about Tatra mountains in those articles:
https://overhere.eu/blog/tatra-mountains-slovakia-vs-poland/

https://overhere.eu/blog/where-its-worth-to-hike-in-polish-tatras-near-zakopane/

https://overhere.eu/blog/unpredictable-high-tatra-mountains/

https://overhere.eu/blog/hiking-in-western-tatras-slovakia/

Posted by
4637 posts

By the end of May all main roads in the High Tatras are usually free of snow. Unless you have some good reason I would skip two nights in Zilina and spend all four nights in High Tatras. Let's say two nights in Strbske Pleso and two nights in Tatranska Lomnica. From there it is easy to visit by a cable car the second highest peak of the High Tatras - Lomnicky stit.

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