When taking a walk around Poland, hikers will find a network of some 15,000 miles of marked trails, including the Polish sections of the trans-European routes.

Favorite hike routes include: the dunes, lakes and forests of the seaside Slowinski National Park; the high peaks of the Tatras (the most eastern alpine mountains) frame the horizon of the visitor base at Zakopane in southern Poland; the Sudeten Mountains where the Polish, German and Czech borders meet - rich in castles, caves and wildlife.

Hiking trails in and around Zakopane range from winding paths suitable for leisure walks to rocky ridges to high mountain treks for the more adventurous.

Small new inns capture the Polish way of life along trails in the Carpathian highlands near the near Slovakian/Ukraine border)

Walking tour companies offer a three-country tour: in Poland including Krakow and Kazimierz, in Slovakia the Tatra Mountains, in Hungary the Tokaj vineyard country.

Hike to the summit of Rysy (8,197), the highest peak in Poland; or toTeryho Chata (6,609 ft.), a hut built more than 100 years ago; or to the base of Gerlachovsky (8,710 ft.), the highest peak in the Tatras.