This is what the “hike” to the Morskie Oko was like

Friends from Poland advised me to visit the lake Morskie Oko (also named the sea eye).

Morskie Oko is a glacial lake and the biggest of the high Tatra. In 2014 The Wall Street Journal named it one of the five most beautiful lakes in the world. It`s located in the Tatra National Park at the foot of the highest mountain in Poland, the Rysy (which can also be translated into eye of the sea peak). The view of its peak, but also of many others, is very impressive.

After our hike in the Tatra Mountains this was our second hike in Poland. If you`re interested in the alpine hike, you can find it under this link.

It took us 30 minutes by car to get to the parking lot (where the hike to the lake begins) from the camping site in Zakopane. It`s not allowed to drive to the lake by car. We only saw some, who delivered the restaurant, which is located directly at the lake. It`s easy to find the parking lot of the alpine pasture Palenica Bialczanska, The cash desk and also the entrance of the Tatra National Park is located there.

We started our trip, no matter the not exactly great weather and temporary rain. At least this way it wasn`t as crowded as it can get there. Most people were already on the way back cause of the rain. What I like even more than to trot after a numerous amount of people.

From the parking lot it`s about 8.5 km to the restaurant at the lake. Alternatively, there`s also the possibility to use one of the horse carriages. They ride from a point just a short walk from the parking. But when we passed them, they had quite a queue.

A shortcut to get to Morskie Oko

About half to 75% of the 2 hour walk happened on an asphalt road. Therefore I would call it more a long walk than a hike. It wasn`t technically demanding, so it wasn`t a challenge for us. The mostly monotonous walking straight ahead was a bit too boring for us. Only the last part was a little more exciting, as we took the shortcut through the forest. There`s one part that has a path made of quite big stones. Finally something new.

But you can skip this shortcut and simply spend the whole walk on the road. The excursion is also suitable for wheelchairs and prams. As long as the person,  who has to push, has enough strength to do so over a longer period of time. The road was mostly rather steep.

Sometimes now and then you`ll get rewarded by a beautiful view of the woods, the river and some peaks, who are reaching up into the sky. And of course with the highlight itself. The view at the lake, which makes up the 4 hours. See for yourself:

Also the small waterfall was a change from the dull grey of the street.

I hope that you`ll have better weather, in case you wanna make this trip (or maybe you`ve already made it). We left out the 1 hour walk around the lake. But that would be a very nice thing to do, if the weather`s nice. You could also do various alpine hikes, beginning at the lake. Without all these many clouds the view would have be even more spectacular. I keep my fingers crossed for you.

Info and tips:

• It`s very important to come here in the off-season, if possible. Despite the off-season and rather bad weather, the crowd was still quite huge.
• You have to park your car here: Droga Oswalda Balzera, 34-532 Brzegi. This is also the entrance to the National Park and the start of the “hike”.
• If you travel without your own car, there are buses from, for example the train station in Zakopane, that go to this parking lot.
• The parking costs about 30 Zloty (about 7 Euro), the entrance fee per person about 5 Zloty (about 1 Euro).
• The “hike” from the parking lot to the restaurant at the lake is 8.5 km and 418 meters of altitude. Back a little less, cause the way leads downhill.
• It took us about 2 hours (including the shortcut through the forest and occasional photo stops) per way.
• After a few minutes on foot, you could alternatively continue to the lake by horse-drawn carriage. This costs about 50 zloty (about 12 euros) per person and takes 50 minutes per way.
• However, this variant means (often) a rather long waiting period.
• The route to the lake is wheelchair accessible and also suitable for prams. The whole road is asphalted, but on a long distance quite steep.
• For a bit of a variety you can take the shortcut through the forest after the first half.
• You could add a 1-hour walk around the lake.
• From the opposite shore (seen from the restaurant) one could still walk up to the Schwarzsee, which is located further up. Duration about 1 hour.