The best traffic-free bike rides in Baba

The section from Svit to Poprad is a very pleasant route leading along an asphalt bike path along the Poprad River. This section is part of the Trail Around the Tatras and is great for a leisurely ride on a trekking or gravel bike. The road is almost completely flat, well marked and separated from car traffic. Along the way, we are accompanied by a view of the High Tatras, and after reaching Poprad, you can take a break at one of the many catering points or visit the local aquapark.

The Evangelical-Augsburg Church (Evangelical, Lutheran) has its origins in the Reformation of the 16th century. On October 31, 1517, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg.

Free parking under the ski lift

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This is what the Tatras look like.

Come to one city, visit six. The present day city of Poprad (53.000 inhabitants) is actually a unification of several smaller settlements. All of them emerged probably after the Mongol (Tatar) invasion in the mid 13th century, when the Hungarian king invited German (Saxon) colonists to the Spiš region. Today’s Poprad is formed of: Spišská Sobota (Georgenberg), Poprad (Deutschendorf - lit. Germans’ Village), Stráže (Michelsdorf), Veľká (Felka), Matejovce (Matzdorf), Kvetnica (Blumental). In 1412 all except Blumental became a part of so called Polish Pledge and belonged to Poland until 1772 (read more in Kežmarok description). Under the Polish rule they developed quickly, maintaining all an equal importance with Sobotá (lit. Saturday) having a leading role, politically and economically, partly because of the Saturday markets’ right. With the construction of the Bohumin - Košice railway in 1871 (an important rail arteria in this part of Europe), Poprad became “ate” the smaller neighbours. The Saxons were majority in some towns and played a very important role in the development of the region. The end of the WW2 and the approaching Soviet troops gave a sad exodus of this seven-century-long history of a multinational city. After WW2 Poprad strengthened its position as a starting point to the Tatras, it has train connections with Prague, Bratislava, Košice and narrow gauge trains to Štrbské Pleso and Lomnica. Also, there is an airport outside the city. Visiting Poprad: TatraVelo route leads through three historic zones - Velká (in the west), the jewel - Spišská Sobota (north-east) and Poprad (south-east). In Poprad and Sobota you can observe the very traditional layout of Spiš town main square, in a shape of a long oval, with parallel streets and houses outside and a stream, churches and shops in the centre. In Poprad, visit the main square (Nám. Sv. Egídia) with the typical 18th and 19th century burgher houses, the 13 century Gothic St Gilles Church (with the oldest painted panorama of the High Tatras - 15th century!, along with other beautiful frescoes), see the Protestant church and the Synagogue (truly multinational town, isn’t it?); Spišská Sobota’s centre is a preserved historic zone, with medieval houses and churches, a true jewel! In St George Church (hence the German name: Georgenberg!) you can see a wooden altar carved by Master Pavol from Levoča, a great local artist;

Poprad River is the only big river south of the Tatras that is an affluent of the Baltic and not the Black Sea. Liptov region with the Váh River is a tributary of the Danube and the Black Sea. The Poprad streams start under Rysy and Gerlachovský Štit, the highest peaks of Poland and Slovakia, pass through the Poprad Basin, on the way giving a name to a city - Poprad :-), then continuing east and north, to Poland. We start here a nice cycling along the Poprad River here. Here - in Svit. A funny fact: the name Svit comes from… Slovenské Vizkózové Továrne = Slovak Viscose Factory. Yes, it was founded in 1934 for the workers of the newly built shoe company Bata. Today it is the smallest city of Slovakia - 4,5 sq km. Well, it’s still 10 times the territory of the Vatican :-)

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.