Skiing with kids in 2022: Kotelnica in Białka, Bukowina and sledging in Murzasichle

In February 2022 we spent the winter school holidays (Polish schools have a two-week winter break, called ferie) at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, near Poronin. Three of our daughters went skiing with us, and almost every day we picked a different slope. What we remember best is Kotelnica in Białka Tatrzańska with its giant LEGO figures at the top of the slope, the chairlift in Bukowina with a view of the Tatras, and a sunny picnic in the snow in Murzasichle.

Kotelnica Białczańska

Kotelnica in Białka Tatrzańska is one of the largest ski resorts in Podhale, the region at the foot of the Tatras. In the morning it was very crowded at the bottom station. For lunch we stopped on a terrace by the slope and had soup in mugs.

At the top of the slope there was an area with huge LEGO figures. The girls had their photos taken with them, and next to them, on the board showing the slope conditions, they checked the temperature. That day it was 1°C at the top.

Bukowina Tatrzańska

24 February was the most beautiful day of the whole holiday: blue sky, sunshine and the Tatras in perfect view. In the morning we skied in Bukowina Tatrzańska. From the chairlift our daughters looked straight at the snow-capped peaks.

Sledging and doughnuts in Murzasichle

After skiing we moved to a meadow in Murzasichle. It was Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, when Poles eat doughnuts, so of course our picnic in the snow came with pączki. The kids went sledging, and behind us stretched a panorama of the Belianske Tatras and the High Tatras.

Night skiing

Twice we also went skiing in the evening, on a floodlit slope. On a clear day you could see the whole Tatra range from the meadows in Poronin.

War and empty fuel pumps

On 24 February 2022, the day of our picnic in Murzasichle, Russia invaded Ukraine. Over the following days people rushed to the petrol stations. At many of them the price boards showed nothing but zeros, because there was simply no fuel left. Where there still was some, there were limits on how much you could buy, and queues of a dozen or more cars in front of the pumps. There was panic all around, and all we wanted was to fill up the car so we could get home. For a while we were genuinely worried we would not have enough fuel to make it back.

We write more about the slopes at the foot of the Tatras that we have skied on over the years in our guide Winter holidays in the Tatra Mountains with kids. We also show Kotelnica, on skis and on a snowboard, in a video from our 2018 winter break, when we warmed up here before Harenda and Kasprowy Wierch:

Practical info

Checked in November 2026. The ski pass prices come from skiing websites, so it is worth checking them with the operator before you go.

• Kotelnica Białczańska is part of Tatry Super Ski, a joint ski pass for 18 resorts at the foot of the Tatras, including those in Białka, Bukowina and Zakopane.
• In the 2025/26 season a 4-hour pass for Kotelnica cost 155 zł (PLN) for an adult and 145 zł for a child at peak season.
• A Tatry Super Ski day pass cost about 170 zł for an adult and 160 zł for a child at the peak of the 2025/26 season. The child rate applies until the 16th birthday.
• Murzasichle is about 8 km from Zakopane and about 11-12 km from Białka Tatrzańska.