Autumn in the Tatras: why September and October are the best

The trails belong to you

After the first of September the traffic falls sharply. The same trail on which in August you pass someone every minute can be empty for an hour in September.

The same goes for car parks, mountain huts and the cable car to Kasprowy. Things that in season require booking and an early start are arranged on the spot in autumn.

Colours you do not get in summer

The larches in the Tatras usually turn golden in the second half of October, and that is the shortest but the most beautiful moment of the whole year. Earlier, in September, the reds of the bilberry fields on the meadows dominate.

The best places for colour are the routes through forests and clearings rather than the ridges: Polana Rusinowa, the Filipka valley, the area around Wiktorówki and Kopieniec.

The weather can be better than in summer

September is often the most stable month in Podhale. The daily summer afternoon storm disappears, the air is clear, and visibility from the ridges reaches much further than in a hot July.

The nights get cold in return, and in October snow may already lie above fifteen hundred metres. That is not a reason to give up, only a reason to check conditions before setting off.

One condition: the day is shorter

This is the only thing that genuinely catches people out. In mid October it gets dark before six, and earlier still in the forest. A route that was a relaxed day in July requires a dawn start in autumn.

The rule is simple: take two hours off your summer plan and always have a head torch in your pack. Even if you are sure you will be back before dusk.

• A head torch in the pack, without exception, even on short routes
• Layers instead of one thick jacket, mornings can be freezing and midday fifteen degrees
• A warm hat and gloves, the wind on the ridge is icy
• A thermos with tea, huts can be closed outside the season

Evenings are the best part of the day here

In autumn you are back down by five, and that is an advantage, not a drawback. What is left is a long evening, and that is the best moment for a sauna, a fireplace and dinner without rushing.

Our spa area runs daily from four in the afternoon to nine in the evening, and in autumn you have it practically to yourselves, because two or three guests are staying at the guesthouse at a time.