Spiska Kraina in Niedzica

At Spiska Kraina, Dunajec Castle, the Red Monastery and the wooden church in Dębno stand just a few steps apart – at a scale of 1:20. This family amusement park in Niedzica-Zamek began with a miniature park of monuments of Podhale, Spiš and Orava, opened in May 2015, and today combines two miniature parks with a rope course, tube slides, inflatables and an indoor play hall. It makes a good stop with children between Niedzica Castle and Lake Czorsztyn.

The Tatra foothills in miniature

The park's creators stress that history here is not divided into Polish and Slovak – it is a shared story of the people of the Tatra foothills. Reproduced at 1:20 are, among others:

• the castles of Niedzica (Dunajec), Czorsztyn, Stará Ľubovňa and Oravský Podzámok, plus Pieniny Castle,
• the Red Monastery on the Dunajec and the Church of St Michael the Archangel in Dębno,
• the shrines of Ludźmierz and Wiktorówki,
• the manor houses of the Tetmajer family in Łopuszna, the Uznański family in Szaflary and the Moniak family in Zubrzyca Górna, and the manor and cellars in Frydman.

In the footsteps of Marian apparitions

The second miniature park brings together twenty Marian shrines from Poland, Europe and other continents linked to apparitions, including Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe in Mexico, Vailankanni in India and Gietrzwałd in Warmia. Each miniature park requires a separate ticket.

Action and play

Besides the miniatures, the park has two children's rope courses – a blue one for the youngest and a yellow one with 10 obstacles three metres above the ground – plus the "Janosik" route for teenagers and adults. There are also tube slides, Golden Bungee, an inflatable castle and slide, an inflatable obstacle course and a climbing wall. For rainy days there is the "Małpi Gaj" (Monkey Grove) indoor play hall, a 9D cinema, a 3D planetarium and laser paintball.

Tripto tips

The park is at ul. Widokowa 5 in Niedzica (biuro@spiskakraina.pl, tel. +48 18 307 00 07). Opening hours and prices on the park's website are sometimes out of date and other sources differ, so call before you go. An hour is enough for the miniatures alone; with the active attractions, plan half a day. Nearby are Niedzica Castle, the Dunajec dam and Lake Czorsztyn, so it is easy to make a full day of it in the Pieniny.