HIGH TATRAS

Straddling the border between Slovakia and Poland, the High Tatras are one of Europe's most dramatic and least-visited mountain ranges. These strikingly beautiful craggy peaks, rising to 2654m, pack an extraordinary concentration of alpine scenery into a compact area of national parks, with well-engineered waymarked paths, historic mountain chalets and some of the finest ridge walking in Central Europe.

This fourth edition Cicerone guidebook by Renáta Nározná and Colin Saunders is the most comprehensive English-language companion to walking and scrambling in the Tatras, covering 180 routes across the High, Western and White Tatras in both Slovakia and Poland. Routes range from easy lakeside walks to strenuous ridge traverses and exposed scrambles, with the best walking between July and October.

• 180 routes across three mountain ranges, spanning the Slovak High and White Tatras and the Polish Tatras, from the resort of Zakopane in Poland to the linked villages of Starý Smokovec, Tatranská Lomnica and Štrbské Pleso in Slovakia
• Routes for all abilities are included, from gentle valley walks linking resorts and mountain lakes to strenuous ridge traverses, exposed scrambles and a new via ferrata across the Priecne Sedlo saddle
• The Tatranská Magistrála, the celebrated long-distance ridge trail traversing the Slovak High Tatras, is described in detail alongside the full network of waymarked red, blue, green and yellow routes
• Comprehensive practical information throughout, covering accommodation in mountain chalets and resort villages, travel by the Slovak Tatras tramway, selected summit timings and a Polish-Slovak glossary
• Summit lists, gazetteer and suggested kit list included, making this a thorough planning resource for anyone visiting the Tatras for the first time or returning to explore further

Written by Renáta Nározná, a native of the Slovak Tatras and former mountain guide, alongside Colin Saunders, the guidebook combines first-hand local expertise with practical clarity. Few mountain ranges in Europe offer such accessible alpine terrain so far off the mainstream walking trail — this guidebook is the key to finding it.

Renata Narozna was born and bred in the Slovak Tatras, and workd as a mountain guide for the state tourism organisation, Cedol. After Czechoslovakia's 'Velvet Revolution', Renata ran her own travel company in the Tatras for a while, then she was appointed manager of the Vienna branch of the Slovak tourism organisation. In a complete career change, Renata recently became the organisational director of Greenpeace in central and eastern Europe.

Colin is a Londoner through and through, almost but not quite a Cockney, having been born during World War 2 a few miles outside the sound of Bow Bells, but within the sound of exploding bombs and anti-aircraft gunfire.

An early ambition to join the Merchant Navy was frustrated by a complete lack of technical ability, so he went for the next best way of travelling the world, the travel trade. Spells with industry giants Thomas Cook and Trust House Forte eventually led to being headhunted by a small tour operator specialising in walking holidays. This was most apt, as walking has been his main leisure activity since early adulthood. In 1989 Colin set up his own business, organising walking holidays in Britain and as a consultant on leisure walking.

In 1967 Colin joined the Vanguards Rambling Club, whose ethos in its early days (hard walking and hard drinking) suited Colin down to the ground, though the rigour of those activities has mellowed somewhat over the years. In fact, like other club members, he has been an active member of the Ramblers' Association and Long Distance Walkers Association, and has played a key role in setting up the Vanguard Way, Wandle Trail and Capital Ring walking routes, and in organising challenge and charity walking events.

As a sideline, Colin has written several books on walking. These include Manual on Navigation and Leadership(Ramblers' Association), Walking in the High Tatras (Cicerone Press), Vanguard Way Guidebook (Vanguards Rambling Club), London; the definitive walking guide (Cicerone Press) and Capital Ring Guidebook (Aurum Press).