The Dunajec Gorge

The Dunajec river cuts a gorge through the Pieniny limestone along the Slovak and Polish border, with cliffs rising several hundred metres above tight meanders. The traditional way through it is by pltě, flat rafts made of several narrow wooden boats lashed together, poled by boatmen who wear embroidered folk dress and keep up a commentary, a practice that goes back generations. The trip runs about ten kilometres and takes roughly two hours, largely calm with a few livelier stretches, and it can be done from either bank. At the Slovak end stands the Red Monastery, a Carthusian foundation whose museum tells the story of a monk-pharmacist remembered locally as the flying friar for an attempt at a flying machine. A cycle path runs back along the river.

What you actually see

• The raft trip - traditional lashed wooden rafts poled through the gorge.
• Červený Kláštor - the Red Monastery with its herb garden and pharmacy museum.
• The Three Crowns - the peaks rising above the gorge on the Polish side.
• The riverside cycle path - a flat return route along the gorge.

When to go

May to September, when the rafts run; the season is weather and water dependent and stops for the winter. Summer weekends are busy, and rafts depart when full rather than on a fixed timetable.

Honest expectations

The raft trip is calm sightseeing rather than white water, and visitors expecting rapids will be surprised by how gentle it is. It is one way, so you need to arrange a return by bus, bike or transfer. Trips are cancelled when the river runs too high or too low, and there is no refund of a wasted drive.

Nearby

The High Tatras are an hour west; the Polish Pieniny and Szczawnica lie across the river.