We got surprisingly good flights (meaning the duration is short) for $866 per person. Only one layover in each direction.
Because we are returned the rental car to the same place we started from (Kraków Airport), the rental cost wasn't too high. We rented from Hertz. I checked ahead of time to be sure that Hertz allowed the car to cross the border into Slovakia. It appears that each country in Eastern Europe has a car tax called a "vignette". In Slovakia, you need to have this vignette to drive on their D1 toll road. The month long Slovakia vignette is 14 Euro ($16 USD), and it costs 10 Euro for 10 days. We bought the 10 day vignette at a gas station - it was a bit of an arduous process, because the gas station attendant didn't speak English. The car had Polish plates, but she kept trying to give us a pass for English car. We did not drive on any of the Poland toll roads.
The car we rented was a six speed, plus one reverse, with manual transmission. It was easy enough to drive once I got used to the clutch. Here is a picture of our rental car.
Poland, Hungary and Austria all require an International Driving Permit to go along with your driver's license. International Driving Permits are available from AAA for $20. Without the International Drivers License, we would not have been able to rent the car. We did get stopped in Slovakia once, in Bardejov. A policeman motioned to us to pull over, I think he stopped us because we had Polish plates. He didn't speak English, so I don't know what he was asking us about. He kept saying something about Warsaw, and we told him Kraków. Although we picked up our Hertz rental car in Kraków, it was registered to Warsaw. The policeman let us go after looking at the passports and rental papers and our International Drivers License. We never understood why he stopped us in the first place.
| Lodging | US$ | Euros € | Zloty zl | Comments |
| Best Western Kraków Old Town | $288.61 prepaid | Kraków Aug 20, 21, 22 | ||
| Hotel Artin | €70 | Bardejov Aug 23 | ||
| Air BnB Penthouse Apartment | $240.47 prepaid | Kosice Aug 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 | ||
| Air BnB Apartment w/ View | $308.36 prepaid | Poprad Aug 29, 30, 31, Sept 1, 2 | ||
| Penzion Stárek | €36 | Terchova Sept 3 | ||
| Hotel Skalny | $61.92 prepaid | Zakopane Sept 4 | ||
| Hilton Garden Inn Kraków Airport | $164.41 prepaid | Kraków Sept 5 | ||
| Total | $1063.77 | €106 | US$1187 |
| Transportation | US$ | Euros € | Zloty zl | Comments |
| Seatac Parking | $159 | Park - Jet #2 parking for 19 days at offsite lot | ||
| Two round trip tickets Seattle/Kraków | $1731 | Lufthansa, one stop in Frankfort | ||
| Economy car rental from Hertz | $419 | Pickup / dropoff Kraków airport | ||
| Collision Damage Car insurance | $187 | $11/day from Expedia | ||
| Best Western Parking | 150 zl | $50/zloty per day for Kraków parking | ||
| Gas | 100 zl | |||
| 10 day Slovakia Vignette | €10 | Pass for driving on Slovakia toll roads | ||
| Gas | €38 | |||
| Gas | €35 | |||
| Gas | 130 zl | |||
| Gas | 42 zl | |||
| Total | $2496 | €83 | 422 zl | US$2705.52 |
| Excursions | US$ | Euros € | Zloty zl | Comments |
| Church of Saints Peter & Paul | 10 zl | Admission | ||
| Wawel State Rooms | 40 zl | Admission, no audio guide | ||
| Lost Wawel | 20 zl | Admission | ||
| Wawel Cathedral | 40 zl | Admission for bell tower and crypt | ||
| St. Mary's Church | 20 zl | Admission to tourist entrance, but the tower was sold out. | ||
| Barbican | 18 zl | Admission | ||
| Oskar Schindler Factory | 48 zl | Admission, no audio guide | ||
| Auschwitz | 100 zl | Tickets prepaid, bought online before our trip | ||
| Auschwitz Parking | 10 zl | |||
| Auschwitz Bag Check | 4 zl | You can't bring a backpack into Auschwitz | ||
| Auschwitz Toilets | 4 zl | Two zlotys to use restroom at Auschwitz | ||
| Kraków Clock Tower Climb | 18 zl | Admission | ||
| Wieliczka Salt Mine | 188 zl | Two admissions | ||
| Wieliczka Photo | 10 zl | You must pay extra fee if you take photos on the tour. | ||
| Wieliczka Parking | 24 zl | |||
| Wieliczka Book | 12 zl | Souvenir | ||
| Bodružal Wooden Church | €6 | Admission | ||
| Hervatov Wooden Church | €7 | Admission | ||
| Krásnohorská Cave | €20 | |||
| Jaskyna Domica cave | €12 | Reduced price because no boat ride in cave | ||
| Domica cave Photo | €7 | You must pay extra fee if you take photos on the tour. | ||
| Domica cave parking | €2 | |||
| Jaskyna Jasovská Cave | €10 | |||
| Jasovská Cave Photo | €7 | You must pay extra fee if you take photos on the tour. | ||
| Kosice Archives Fee | €27.5 | |||
| St Elisabeth North Tower Climb | €4 | |||
| Kecerovce Church | €40 | |||
| Bardejov Archives Fee | €34 | |||
| Bardejov Parking | €2 | |||
| Štrbské Pleso Parking | €6 | Krivan peak hike | ||
| Velky Sokol | €10 | Parking and park admission | ||
| Spis Castle | €16 | Admission | ||
| Two Slovak / English dictionaries | €14.7 | Souvenir | ||
| Lomnický Gondola | €92 | Ride to top of Lomnický štít | ||
| Štrbské Pleso Parking | €6 | Bystra Lavka hike | ||
| Slovenský raj | €6 | Parking and park admission for Sucha Bela hike | ||
| Vrátna Cable Car | €22 | |||
| Morskie Oko | 35 zl | Parking and admission | ||
| Total | $ | €351.2 | 601 zl | US$507.75 |
| Food | US$ | Euros € | Zloty zl | Comments |
| Seatac Lunch | $13 | Food before we left Seattle | ||
| Gelato | 12 zl | Dessert in Old Town Kraków | ||
| Pizza & beer | 41 zl | First dinner in Poland | ||
| Coke zero | 5 zl | Drink in hotel room | ||
| Dumplings & pizza | 90 zl | Second dinner in Poland | ||
| Gelato | 10 zl | Dessert in Old Town Kraków | ||
| Coke light | 6 zl | Drink in hotel room | ||
| Calzone & pizza | 68 zl | Third dinner in Poland | ||
| Gelato | 16 zl | No such thing as too much gelato | ||
| Pizza | €7.1 | First dinner in Slovakia | ||
| Coke Zero | €1.3 | There is a fridge in hotel room | ||
| Coke Zero | €1.3 | |||
| Dinner w/ Martin & Beata | €20 | Dinner in Kosice | ||
| Groceries for Apartment | €5.5 | Use Kosice apartment kitchen | ||
| Groceries for Apartment | €4.5 | Use Kosice apartment kitchen | ||
| Groceries for Apartment | €9.9 | Use apartment kitchen | ||
| Ice cream, candy, coke | €8.9 | |||
| Dinner in Terchova | €14.3 | |||
| McDonald's in Zakopane | 61 zl | |||
| Sub Sandwiches | 50 zl | Final dinner in Poland | ||
| Total | $13 | €72.8 | 359 zl | US$194.62 |
| Trip Totals | US$ | Euros € | Zloty zl | Comments |
| Grand Total | $3572.77 | €613 (US$713) | 1382 zl (US$374) | US $4659.77 |
These were the three guides we used in planning. The Rick Steve's guide is useful for Kraków, but it covers nothing in Slovakia except Bratislava, which we did not visit. The Slovakia travel website was the primary on-line resource used in planning.
The hiking maps were especially useful.
Best Western - Kraków
During our visit to Kraków, we stayed at the Best Western Kraków Old Town.
I was delighted by the location - this hotel is literally right across the street from the Old Town. This is convenient, because parking in Kraków is difficult, it is best to park your car and walk to all the Kraków old town sites. However, having a car is useful if you wish to visit Auschwitz, the Salt Mine, the Oskar Schindler factory, and perhaps Zakopane. The Best Western has a parking lot, it costs just 50 zlotys per day to leave your car there.
The breakfast is a fantastic buffet. The bed was comfortable. The bathroom was modern, stocked with big towels.
The WiFi worked well, there was a fridge and a safe in the room. Our room was quiet, we were in room 122, which was at the end of the hall of what seemed to be an extension built onto the hotel.
The only small negative for this hotel is that the room was a bit small, we had to arrange things carefully so we didn't trip over our luggage in the available space.
Hotel Artin - Bardejov
We stayed one night at Hotel Artin. There are many good aspects to this hotel - it is located close to the center of the old town, so it is easy to walk from the Hotel to the famous main square. It has a small, free, parking lot in front of the hotel. Inside the hotel, we had a large room (room 101) with a refrigerator and nice bathroom. There is no air-conditioning, but it wasn't hot during our stay in late August. The towels were big and fluffy, the mattress was firm. The room was quiet. The breakfast buffet had plenty of good food.
The biggest negative of our room at Hotel Artin was lack of a shower curtain on the tub. Apparently you are meant to sit down in the tub when taking a shower? But even then, water gets all over the floor when vigorously washing your hair. The hotel corridor had a bad smokey smell - our room was non-smoking, but the corridor reeked of stale smoke - I think that there is a smoking room on the ground floor, and the smoke wafts up the stairwell.
Pension Stárek - Terchova
The best part about Pension Stárek is its location - it is just beyond the big parking lot for the southern entrance to the Janosikove diery gorges. (It's not actually located in Terchova, but in a small village called Stefanova that is just to the south of Terchova).
Hotel Skalny - Zakopane
Hotel Skalny was a great place to stay while in Zakopane. I would stay there again if I even happened to return to Zakopane. There are many positives about this place:
1) We got a nice big room with comfortable beds and a modern bathroom
2) It has a big parking lot with free parking (this isn't something to take for granted in Europe)
3) It seemed like a luxury hotel at a value price
4) On the basement floor is a large indoor pool, with a jacuzzi and sauna - that was nice!
5) All the staff seemed friendly and helpful and spoke English.
The negatives about Skalny are that
1) the Hotel Wireless didn't work for a while. The clerk at the front desk kept trying to coach us on how to hook up the iPod, but we couldn't get it to connect. Eventually, the IT expert from the Hotel Skalny came to help us, and then he realized that the network was down and needed to be fixed and rebooted.
2) Breakfast is included with the cost of the room, but it doesn't begin to be served until 8:00 AM! That was much too late for us - by 8 AM, we had already been hiking for an hour. We left earlier and skipped their breakfast.
3) The hotel locks the front door at night! I tried to walk out early in the morning to begin loading our luggage into the car before checking out, but the front door was locked and I could not get out. Isn't this a massive risk in case of a fire? Is this even legal??
4) Hotel Skalny is located too far from the center of town; you cannot walk to nearby restaurants for dinner, you are forced to drive.
Official trip description says it 16 KM.
Here is another enthusiastic hike description
https://ourwanders.com/mylnicka-furkotska-valley-high-tatras/ http://www.horsanahory.info/en/horska-turistika/tatry/strbske-pleso-mlynicka-dolina-bystra-lavka-furkotska-dolina/
