This ride is part of a journey that lasted about 3 weeks. In June 2018 I visited Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic with my partner. This is the third trip of this vacation.

After we spent a few days in Zakopane (walking and touring), we slowly started driving towards the West again, with the Giant Mountains in the Czech Republic as a stopover. Because the distance from Zakopane is approximately 600 kilometers (fastest route), we have decided to split the trip into 3 stages. This is the first of those stages and will take you to Frydland nad Ostravici (Czech Republic).

It is a journey of approximately 224 kilometers. The distance is great to bridge, including any trips en route. Because this route is so varied, it gets 4.5 stars from me. The varied landscape consists of beautiful nature areas that you cross (forests, mountains, valleys) and various special places that you encounter (wooden astronomical clock, reservoirs, oil well, castles). And again for Eastern European standards you drive on excellent quality road surface. The route does not get the full 5 stars from me, because you have to drive a couple of times on the busier roads, because there is simply no alternative available.

If you have spent the night at Villa Nosal, first say goodbye to the city of Zakopane. You drive through the center and continue your route via a beautiful winding forest road to the North-West. At Chochołów you cross the border and drive into Slovakia. You enter the Orava region where you come across a number of beautiful stopping places. You can for example stop at the Orava reservoir for a beautiful view of the lake. With a bit of luck you have snowy mountain tops in the background of your photos. Further on the route you enter the city of Oravský Podzámok, where you can visit the Orava castle (guided tour).

After this town you unfortunately have to take a main road to be happy about 18 kilometers later at Párnica to drive back into the smaller roads. From this point the roads are wonderfully winding, through the hills and (small) mountains. Along the way you come across beautiful vistas, nice little villages and stopping places to take a break. I have included a restaurant (pension Solisko) in the village of Zázrivá. They have a great terrace, good food and beautiful views of the passing motorcyclists.

If the above restaurant does not meet the timing requirements, you can also pause later in Stará Bystrica. The route passes through this village because a special wooden astronomical clock has been built here. There is also a bar / restaurant on the same square.

During the second half of the route you will pass the Korňanský oil well. If you like to visit this natural phenomenon, you can park the motorcycle along the road and walk the last part to the source. It is a small, modest source that occasionally spits out self-igniting methane.

Not much later you finally leave Slovakia and enter the Czech Republic. Keep in mind that there are only a few restaurants along the way on this part of the road and that you often only have to pay cash with Czech crowns. If you do not have this yet, I recommend that you have a coffee break in Slovakia.

This last part of the route is especially beautiful along the reservoir. The curves are wonderfully meandering.

For the overnight stay you can choose to drive to Chata Pod Lisou. This hotel is secluded in the woods, against one of the ski slopes in the area. You can also choose to spend the night in one of the many wooden huts or in a hotel in or around the city of Frydland nad Ostravici. There is sufficient supply.