• why are two wheels the best mean of transport for this trip,
• how to complete this route effortlessly even in one day (after all it is over 100 km from Kraków) using convenient railway connections of Koleje Małopolskie,
• how to plan a trip around the brand-new, brilliant bicycle routes built in the last year in the Małopolska region: the Vistula Bicycle Route and Velo Dunajec,
• where to take two ferries on the Dunajec river,
• and last but not least – how to spend a good day cycling.

The purpose of our trip – the painted village of Zalipie – is said to be “the most instagram” village in the world. Perhaps that is why many people come here with very high expectations. Some expect to see on the spot a kind of open-air museum, to which you can come by car, leave it in the parking lot and run around all attractions in an hour. But it does not work this way. Zalipie is a normally functioning village, whose inhabitants have been decorating their homesteads in an original way for years. Among about 150 farmyards of Zalipie, approximately one third is decorated with hand-painted floral motifs. Sometimes it concerns the whole homestead, sometimes just fragments of it, like doors, kennels or wells. That is why you may not be able to see them all from your car.

For this reason, I suggest a much calmer option:  coming by bike from Dunajec side and riding slowly around the entire village. It is worth to pop in the House of Painters (where you can get a map with the homesteads marked), the local church or the Zagroda Trójniaków open-air museum. The Felicja Curyłowa Farmstead Museum is currently closed to visitors until the end of 2018 due to renovation. However, every weekend there are trips around Zalipie, organised by employees of the Tarnów Tourist Information Centre (meeting at 11:00 by the farmstead of Felicja Curyłowa). More details can be found at www.muzeum.tarnow.pl and www.it.tarnow.pl

Feel encouraged? Now let me suggest how to cover this distance from Kraków with bikes of all types and without any stress. Below you will find my suggestions for a trip to Zalipie using train, bicycle and the new Velo Małopolska routes.

From Krakow we go by train to the Stanisławice station (trains are circulating on this route more or less every hour), ➜   then we ride through the Niepołomice Forest to Chobot, where we hop on ➜  the Vistula Bicycle Route ➜  and furtherly on the ferry in Wietrzychowice (from 1 October to 31 October from 6:00 to 20:00., tel. 14 674 12 30, free for cyclists), ➜  then we continue by local roads to the village of Zalipie, which we calmly drive around and use the same roads to reach the ➜  ferry in Otfinów (opening hours, info and contact are the same as on the previous ferry), ➜  then we hop on the Velo Dunajec route, which leads us smoothly to ➜  the Bogumiłowice station ➜  and finally, we return by train to Kraków.   
This way you can cover about 115 km mostly on great, asphalt bicycle routes, which, as they mostly run through the riverside, are completely flat. Part of the trip also goes through local roads with relatively little traffic. Do not let this number frighten you, because it is really within reach for everyone, even in one day.

However, if you do not feel up to it, I suggest you just start or end your day at the Bogumiłowice (or in Tarnów) railway station and modify the trip to Zalipie using the Velo Dunajec route and ferries in Wietrzychowice and Otfinów.

Whoever is more skilled (or wants to take a 2 day trip) can do completely without the train and get by bike from Kraków  to the vicinity of Niepołomice Forest / Wola Batorska (for now by local roads through Brzegi / Grabie / Niepołomice, because the Vistula Bicycle Route at this section is currently at the stage of projects and tenders). Your return route can also run through Bogumiłowice, but instead of getting there by train, you can take another route currently under construction, namely the Euro Velo 4 (which will be integrated in the Velo Małopolska bicycle route network). It will lead us mainly through empty service roads along the A4 motorway, a picturesque footbridge over the Raba river in Mikluszowice and through the Niepołomice Forest. From there we return to Kraków by the same way as at the beginning of the trip.

As you can see there are many options, so you will definitely find something suitable. Just remember not to change the two most valuable positions: Zalipie as an attractive destination for your trip and new bicycle routes offered by the Małopolska region. See you on the road!

Map with the above-mentioned trip (along with options) and marked routes of the Vistula Bicycle Route / VeloDunajec / EuroVelo4 can be found here https://goo.gl/i2IfaU.  
The .gpx file itself can be downloaded here https://goo.gl/FvxCQY

Jarosław Tarański / www.velomalopolska.pl