Kraków is conveniently located only 100km north of the Tatra Mountains, which comprise the border between Poland and Slovakia, and offer the country's best skiing. As such, you can easily escape the city for the slopes by simply catching an early bus to popular ski destinations like Białka Tatrzańska and Zakopane from Kraków's main bus station. Poland's ski resorts are family-friendly, open late and fantastically cheap compared to elsewhere in Europe. That said, it isn't the Alps, and expert skiers may feel a bit unchallenged (the Polish Tatras only offer one truly alpine ski resort - Kasprowy Wierch in Zakopane).

Despite it's close proximity, note that it generally takes 2-3 hours to reach the mountains due to poor roads and dense traffic. Polish ski slopes are packed all winter long, but on the weekends it's almost unbearable, so we recommend avoiding weekend trips to the mountains if you can. Use the listings below to hit the slopes.