AUTUMN is the best time to see the Tatra mountains. They sulk smokily in the morning but then the sun burns the haze to reveal them resplendent in the golden plumage of a thousand trees and topped by a mighty cloak of blue. Poland does bring the poetry out in you. How this country became associated with austerity and greyness I can’t think.

The Tatras cover around 75 sq km (30 sq miles) on the southern border but although the majority lie in Slovakia, Poles consider them the heart of their country. During the 19th century, when Poland was still fighting to become a nation, the Tatras became a cultural centre with the focus on the village of Zakopane. Every summer some 3,000 intellectuals, painters and actors came from Warsaw to take the waters and foment revolution in cafés.

Now Zakopane gets three million visitors a year. Besides being a gateway to the mountains, in winter it becomes a ski centre with an average snowfall of 1.5m (5ft) and one of the steepest slopes in Europe. This all-year party fizzes away in a sprinkle of trendy cafés and bars, but it is still very small (30,000 inhabitants) and past the main strip of Krupówki you’ll reach a quaint suburb of traditional wooden houses, Hansel and Gretel chalets made of spruce and larch.

The entrance to Tatra National Park is about 15 minutes’ walk from the centre. Entrance is 50p and the maps available at the gatehouse — which show different grades of path — are well worth £1. Some routes are walkable for any ability, while on others you might arrive at a ridge passable only using chains and metal ladders, but the maps are quite clear about this.

Only a short walk from my hotel (where vodka was cheaper than water in the minibar) through a pine wood past the gatehouse and I began an easy ascent. After about an hour I was just a sweaty scramble from the top. I could see the most famous of all mountain tops, nicknamed the Sleeping Knight, and the view was tremendous, burgeoning with surrounding peaks.

Valleys roll gently in this part of Poland. Vast fenceless plains reach out until checked by a stream or forest or a cattle-filled corral. I walk on through villages full of wooden houses that look like new because they are washed with soap and water every year.

I am awed by forests rustling with ruby and cherry tints — and not a hint of grey.

Next page: need to know and attractions in Poland

()Need to know

Getting there: Kieran Falconer travelled with Fregata Travel (020-7247 8484). Five nights’ B&B including flights and transfers costs from £499pp.

Further information: Polish Tourist Office (0870 0675010, www.visitpoland.org).

Take a break

Warsaw has reinvented itself from its grey, Communist days to become a buzzing, lively capital. Regent Holidays (0117-921 1711, www.regent-holidays.co.uk) offers a three-night break from £325pp, including flights and transfers.

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