Tatra Mountains

Book excerpt: Within the compact area covered by this guide (140km east-west, 65km north-south) are two outstanding national parks in southernmost Poland: Pieniny and Tatra, and the best of neighbouring Slovakia's mountains in four national parks: Tatra, Slovensky Raj (Slovak Paradise), Low Tatra and Mala Fatra. There can be few places where walkers are better catered for: skilfully constructed paths make walking in very rough terrain comparatively easy; signposting and waymarking are almost universally excellent. Hillwalkers will be in their element here, but there are often shorter, easy suggestions for the less hardy or they can create their own walks from the detailed maps in the book (which show all waymarked routes). In addition, the car tours lead to dozens of short walks and picnic spots, so that even those with little walking experience can make the most of these wonderful mountains. In each of the six national parks you can look forward to sampling local drinks and dishes at one or more of the mountain inns. The guide describes 7 car tours (with accompanying touring maps) and 50 long and short walks (illustrated with 1:50,000 topo maps) covering the Tatras in both countries. There are also 20 separate short walks/picnic suggestions for motorists. Plans are included for Zakopane, Kroscienko, Tatranska Lomnica, Stary Smokovec, Strbske Pleso. Free online update service with specific route change information on the publisher's website, maintained daily. The 'Landscapes' series, with 50 destinations, has been dubbed 'the blue Bibles' by the Sunday Times and led to Sunflower being one of only four publishers (from a field of 18) chosen as a Which? Recommended Provider of Guidebooks. REVIEWS: The Sunflower series always delivers a useful pocket guide book. The car tours, the fold-out maps and the clear symbols all make these books handy to throw in the backpack. The route descriptions are easy to follow and ensure you don't miss any highlights. These books are good value for money --(K, Amazon) Really pleased with the descriptions of the walks in the Polish Tatras