Do you feel like looking at some stunning views and possibly some equally amazing stories thrown in? Well, hop on a plane or train to the south of Poland, where you can go rafting and explore the fantastic Dunajec River Gorge.

The Dunajec River runs through a very picturesque gorge (Przełom Dunajca), whose peaks rise over hundreds of metres above the water. The rafting is organised by local flisaks (“flisak”is an old Polish word used to refer to those who transport people or goods on rivers). They have special boats, or canoes, which take up to 20 people and travel downstream to the town of Szczawnica. On the way you pass through the Pieniny National Park with its mind-blowing views and lush nature. The scenery of jade green waters through the limestone mountains is stunning and a rafter’s dream. The Flisacy raftsmen skilfully steer their simple boats through breathtaking scenery using a single wooden pole. During the journey they regale their passengers with folkloric tales in very interesting English/Slovak, occasionally cracking the odd ethnic joke.

Cliffs, castles, forests and farmlands glide past until a lunch stop is found and a simple but superb meal of trout and sheep-milk cheese with cranberry sauce completes the surreal experience.

Sounds like a unique way to see a very unusual and relatively unknown part of ‘old Europe’ which is still very beautiful, relatively untouched and still quite traditional.

The gorge runs through the Pieniny Mountains which are in the south of Poland, near the Slovak border. In fact, part the river itself forms the border between the two countries. Views of the gorge are breath-taking and it’s definitely at its best in the summer or in early autumn, when the colours of the trees begin to change.

Have you done this rafting before? Please let us know what you thought about it?

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)