Dunajec Gorge

We did the Dunajec raft trip almost on a whim, tacked onto a longer loop through the Pieniny mountains, and it ended up being one of those simple, low-key days that outshines the things we’d actually planned around it. You board these long, narrow wooden rafts, five sections lashed together, each poled and steered by two men in traditional embroidered vests who’ve clearly done this run more times than they could count. The Dunajec itself forms the border here, Slovakia on one bank, Poland on the other, and the river slides quietly between limestone cliffs that rise almost straight out of the water in places.

It’s not whitewater rafting, nothing like it — the pace is slow, almost meditative, maybe two hours drifting between towering rock walls streaked grey and rust-colored, forested slopes crowding in above. Our raftsman narrated bits of local legend in Slovak and broken English, pointed out rock formations with names like the Three Crowns, and at one particularly scenic bend broke into song, this old folk tune that echoed nicely off the cliffs. Lia recorded it on her phone and I still catch her humming it sometimes months later.

What struck me most was how unhurried the whole operation felt, given how popular the trip clearly is with both Slovak and Polish tourists. There was no rush to load us on, no rush getting off, the boatmen chatted with each other in the gaps between narrating, and at the end they poled the raft right up to a gravel bank where a small row of stalls sold smoked oscypek cheese, which we ate immediately, still warm, with a smear of cranberry sauce.

If you’ve got a bit more time, there’s good hiking and cycling along the gorge on both sides, and the nearby village of Cerveny Klastor makes a natural base — we ended our day there, legs tired from an afternoon walk along the riverside path, watching the last rafts of the day come in.

When to go: May through September for reliable water levels and warm weather; the rafts generally don’t run in winter when the river can freeze or run too low.