A Trip to the Tatras with Children and a Baby

Seeing the mountains is always interesting, but is a trip to the Tatras possible with children and a baby? Akvilė says: YES! She and her husband and two little ones not only traveled to the mountains, but also visited the cities and interesting objects along the way, and took part in excursions.

A trip to the Tatras with children and a baby – a mother Akvilė shares her ideas on how to save money when traveling with her family around Polish cities and mountains!

First stop – Warsaw

The trip to the Tatras with children and a baby took place on the following route: Warsaw – Krakow – Wieliczka salt mines – Auschwitz – Lake Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy – Morskie Oko – Copernicus Science Center.

We went on the trip with two children – a 1-year-old, 10 months and 3-month-old babies. We did not make the travel route according to children’s facilities. It was made more according to ourselves – we went where my husband and I wanted, since the children are still very young.

We left during the kids’ lunch naps to maximize driving time. We still made stops every 3 hours to feed and exercise the little one.

When we arrived in Warsaw, it was a weekend, and (as far as we could find) parking is free on those days.

In the morning, we hurried to have breakfast in the so-called “milk bars.” They are, simply put, old-style canteens where food is cheap, traditional and tasty. There are really many of them all over the city, they also have child seats.

What to See in Warsaw?

We lived near the Palace of Culture and Science, but since it is huge, it is closed and we did not go to it. Walking between the neighboring streets, we went to the old town. We are big promoters of Free Walking Tour, that’s exactly the type of tour we joined. In ~3 hours, we got to know the city as much as possible and return to the most liked places told by the guide.

So in Warsaw, we walked around the old town, near the Barbican and were tempted to visit the Marie Curie Museum, but the weather was good, so we decided to go to the botanical garden on the roof of the Warsaw University Library. In autumn, it was amazingly beautiful with all of its colors. In our opinion, it is somewhat difficult to get to it, because when we visited, either the elevator did not work, or there was no elevator and we had to climb the stairs. We left the carts below and climbed up with the children in our arms.

Our recommendation: stop by the food hall ‘Elektrownia Powiśle’, located in the building of the old power station for a snack, as it has a fun space for children and a lot of different food.

After walking around the city, we continued our journey to Krakow in the evening.

Old Krakow and Walls in Wieliczka

We got up early, so before there were no people we went around the main objects, the market square, the barbican, the Jewish quarter, all the way to the Schindler factory. Unfortunately, there were already long queues at that time, so we did not go inside and traveled back to the old town to wait for the free walking tour excursion.

This time there was a wonderful guide, with humor and excellent English. I won’t lie, with two small children it’s really not possible to hear all the information, but while one is catching the daughter, the other is listening and then retelling the story to the other, so the overall historical picture has been put together. We used Walkative tours in both Warsaw and Krakow.

Milk Bars in Krakow

In Krakow, we also tried to eat in “milk bars”, but due to the holiday weekend, the queues of people in all the found canteens of this type were huge and we only managed to find a place in the evening. As in Warsaw, we walked around the city from dawn to dusk.

The next morning we rushed to the spectacular nearby Krakow’s Wieliczka Salt Mine. We also met many Lithuanians there. The excursion lasted ~2 hours and the most interesting thing is that our daughter really, really liked it, she walked the whole distance by herself, licking the salt walls, even the participants of the excursion were surprised and praised such a beauty. The little one was sleeping sweetly in the carrier at that time.

Travels with children recommend to take a look at a tour to the salt mines or into a tour with a guide.

And apparently one excursion per day was enough for the children, although we had also planned an afternoon excursion to Auschwitz. At first, it was not bad, but after an hour, the almost two-year-old daughter was bored with everything, it was difficult to stay serious, even the baby refused to sleep in the carrier. We stayed for half of the tour, but we didn’t get on the bus that takes us to the second camp. If we had divided the excursions into separate days, it would have been better. In the evening we already drove to Zakopane.

Tatras with Children – Mission Possible!

In the morning we set out to climb to Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy lake. The road to it is really long and steep, but the views are indescribably beautiful. We were even surprised at how many people were climbing, because the trail is really difficult. Apparently, that’s why we received many congratulations and compliments on the way that we climb with children. There are two main trails leading to the lake, both equally beautiful, so it’s worth going up one and down the other.

The next morning we were exhausted, but we still really wanted to go to Morskie Oko. This was probably the only place where we paid more attention to the children’s wishes and took a horse-drawn carriage. You can’t get all the way to the lake, so you still have to walk for about half an hour. After being at the lake, we felt sorry for the poor horses and went down on foot. It’s really heartbreaking to watch overworked, sweaty horses pulling a carriage full of tourists, so we even felt guilty for a long time that we ourselves rode horses up the mountain. We were there in November, but we kept thinking how hard it must be for them in the summer! But we still had a long way home, so we sat down and drove back to the halfway point – Warsaw.

A Trip Home

In Warsaw, this time we had planned only a visit to the Copernicus Science Center. Everyone really enjoyed the museum, but you have to be prepared for a lot of elementary school kids, because they seem to have school trips to this science center. After having fun and exploring science, we returned to Vilnius.

We traveled from October 28 to November 3, so we hit during the Christian holidays, so there were really a lot of people everywhere.

We didn’t pre-register for any tours, we only did it the day before or after we got to the location. However, I don’t know if it’s worth taking such a risk, because we got almost the last tickets in Auschwitz, but everywhere else the tickets were still being sold. Online tickets were no longer available at the Copernicus Museum, but we could buy them on the spot upon arrival.

Mom’s Tips on How to Save Money when Traveling to Poland and the Tatras

A trip to the Tatras with children and a baby can become not only a fun trip, but also a not very expensive trip. Because you can save money while traveling in Poland. And if you want to know how to save money while traveling in Poland and have fun shopping, we recommend the practical article  “Shopping in Poland: how to save”.

And if you’re wondering how to save money in Poland, we asked Akvilė and she also shares the following.

Food and Taking Advantage of Your Trip

• Eat in milk bars (Polish: bar mleczny) and canteens, of which there are many in cities, especially closer to the old town. They are also close to university branches and student dormitories. Such places offer simple home-cooked food at a very low price. A big advantage is that there is usually a really large selection of dishes. Since the food is homemade, it is easy to find something suitable for children. Another plus – the portions are usually quite large. Children’s seats are often available. Minus – the menu is usually in Polish. The ladies serving usually don’t speak English. But benevolent young people will certainly be happy to welcome you.

Excursions

• Take advantage of the free excursion named “Free Walking Tour”. These are interesting and quite good quality tours with local guides, mostly local residents. There are themed tours, usually around the old town or around an interesting district. They last about a couple of hours and cost nothing. However, at the end you can always give a few euros for the guide’s time and effort. Give just as much as you can or as much as you think is worth for the guided tour. Often such excursions are even more fun than professional ones. We also recommend you search for such tours on Google.
• If you drive your own car, check the parking rules of the specific city – it is possible that you can park for free on the weekend.
• In larger Polish cities, you can buy a 1-3 day ticket for all city transport or use it on HOP-ON-HOP-OFF tours. In cities like Warsaw or Krakow, it can really come in handy if you plan to go around the city center. You will save money, time and nerves in the parking center because you will not stand in traffic jams. The buses are mostly new during the day, so there are special places for strollers.

Other Things to Know and Outro

Also, if you are traveling to the Tatra Mountains, read our prepared articles about what to do in Krakow named “Train trip to Krakow with children” and “Krakow with children: Energylandia Park and Zoo”. And information on what to do in Warsaw can be found in the article “Traveling to Warsaw by train with children – a serious challenge or a fun experience?”.

This article is author’s work and was prepared by “Travelling with Children ®”. Copying and using without permission is strictly prohibited.

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