View of the High Tatras – Nová Polianka loop from Popradské Pleso

Bike touring routes & trails

Slovakia

Prešov

View of the High Tatras – Nová Polianka loop from Popradské Pleso

Hard

4.7

(7)

riders

View of the High Tatras – Nová Polianka loop from Popradské Pleso

03:29

54.4km

690m

Cycling

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: October 15, 2026

Tips

Includes a segment in which cycling is not permitted

After 52.0 km for 166 m

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

7.20 km

There is not much to see here, a tiny village along the Tatra narrow gauge railway. It was funded by a local Saxon-German butcher from Kežmarok (or Käsmarkt, at that time?), Paul Weszter who gave it his name - the place was called Weszterheim or Weszterovo before changing to the present-day name. You can see some interesting Saxon-style architecture here. If you feel like taking a good challenge, you can cycle Sliezsky Dom, 1670m above see level (you are on 990m now, so there is almost 700m difference), 7km further north, so roughly 100m ascent every 1 km. Closed for car traffic, it is an exclusive cycleway today :). If not, simply turn left to enjoy your ride through Gerlachov and Batizovce villages until arriving to Poprad River in Svit.

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31.2 km

Bridge over Studený Potok

Highlight • Bridge

small bridge for pedestrians and cyclists

Translated by Google •

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33.9 km

View of Lomnický Štít from Camping Rijo

Highlight • Viewpoint

34.1 km

RIJO Camping

Highlight • Rest Area

43.5 km

Freedom Road: Štrbské Pleso to Tatranská Polianka

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

It started with a “dungeon path” and some small shepherd paths. In the last decades of the 19th century, a construction of a good road started, as it was necessary to link the fast growing tourist places below the Tatras. In a sense, it’s easy to perceive how the Spiš local authorities well understood the importance of tourism - a convenient railway line was built also in the same decades. By 1918, the road was 8 meters wide and accessible by cars. With the creation of Czechoslovakia it was renamed from the Tourist Way to the Freedom Road.
Nowadays, Cesta Slobody links Podbanské in the westernmost part of Spiš and ends 67 km further, in Łysa Polana, a border crossing with Poland. In its great part it leads over the forests limit and offers splendid views of the High Tatras, Sub-Tatra Basin and Low Tatras. It’s a state road, but has a wide roadside that makes it comfy to cycle (except for Kotlina - Javorina section in Belianske Tatry in the East).
What made it far more scenic that it used to be, were the terrible 2004 and 2014 hurricanes that devastated the forests, covering the Road with meters of timber at some places. The forests (National Park) are slowly recovering but it will take decades if not centuries.

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54.3 km

Popradské Pleso Train Station

Highlight • Rest Area

The starting point for the hike to the lake and further up the mountains. Compared to parking (07.2021 - 10 EUR), the train, for example from Strbske Pleso, is very cheap at € 0.50 per person.

Translated by Google •

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