Closed on set dates: Closed every year from 1 November to 31 May by the TANAP visitor rules: Zelené pleso over the Sedlo pod Svišťovkou to Skalnaté pleso. Fines up to €300. Source, read 26 September 2026
Up to the Sedlo pod Svišťovkou, about 2,023 m, the highest point: steep hairpins, scree and chained exposed passages, then down to Skalnaté pleso. Closed every year from 1 November to 31 May.
Best season: June to October; the high sections are closed 1 November to 31 May. Under the TANAP visitor rules the high sections close every year from 1 November to 31 May: Kopské sedlo to Veľké Biele pleso, Zelené pleso to Skalnaté pleso, and Sliezsky dom to Popradské pleso and on to the Trigan junction. In 2026 they opened on 1 June. The huts stay open all year, and the lower sections by Hrebienok and Štrbské Pleso can be walked in winter. Snow can come early: on 22 September 2026 the mountain forecast reported continuous snow above 1,700 m. Before you go
Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 26 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with the hut before you rely on a date or a bed.
Number of places not published · Restaurant meals A 4-bed and an 8-bed room.
Booking
Booking requestBook with the form on the hut's site, by email or SMS; a €30 deposit for one or two nights. A bed is €40 in the 4-bed room and €35 in the 8-bed room (less for three nights or more, and for Alpine Club members), breakfast €7, plus €3.50 tax.
Neither operator publishes a walking time for this exact leg. Our estimate for the stage is 2 h 08, computed from the mapped line and its climbing.
Make it your trip
Book each hut directly
The huts take bookings by email, phone or their own sites; some want a deposit and some cash on arrival. Camping in the national park is not allowed. Each night below shows how to book and the prices read from the hut's page.
Chata pri Zelenom plese to Podbanské
The magistrála west from Chata pri Zelenom plese in 3 days, with nights at Zamkovského chata and Popradské pleso. The eastern end at Veľké Biele pleso has no road: walk up to the hut the evening before.
Two high days with a night at Sliezsky dom: up to Hrebienok by funicular or on foot from Starý Smokovec, and back by the Tatra electric railway from Štrbské Pleso.
Loading the forecast for low point (1,544 m) and high point (2,010 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (1,544 m) and the highest point (2,010 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
Weather
Poor
Poor
Poor
Poor
Poor
Good
Good
Good
Good
Mixed
Poor
Poor
High point, day / night
-6°/-12°
-5°/-12°
-3°/-9°
3°/-5°
8°/0°
12°/3°
14°/5°
14°/5°
9°/1°
5°/-2°
0°/-6°
-4°/-10°
Low point, day / night
-3°/-9°
-3°/-9°
0°/-7°
6°/-2°
11°/2°
15°/5°
16°/7°
17°/7°
11°/3°
7°/0°
2°/-3°
-2°/-8°
Rain, mm
72
81
85
102
143
175
192
150
130
103
90
78
Snow at high point
Likely
Likely
Likely
Likely
Likely
–
–
–
Frost
Possible
Likely
Likely
Daylight
8 h 38
10 h 07
11 h 48
13 h 40
15 h 16
16 h 12
15 h 52
14 h 29
12 h 41
10 h 53
9 h 11
8 h 14
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Prepare for the Tatranská magistrála
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
The winter closure
Every year from 1 November to 31 May the high sections are closed under the TANAP visitor rules, with fines up to €300: Kopské sedlo to Veľké Biele pleso, Zelené pleso to Skalnaté pleso, and Sliezsky dom to Popradské pleso and the Trigan junction. The huts stay open, reached by the lower trails.
Walk only on marked trails and only in daylight, except the shortest way to the hut you sleep at. No camping, and no dogs in the high mountains or most huts.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
The Tatra electric railway
The Tatra electric railway runs from Poprad along the foot of the mountains to Starý Smokovec, Tatranská Lomnica and Štrbské Pleso, with stops at Popradské Pleso and Tatranská Polianka below the huts. A rack railway climbs from Štrba to Štrbské Pleso.
Hrebienok, the start of the two-day plan, is the top of the funicular from Starý Smokovec on the Tatra electric railway; the funicular is closed from 24 September to 4 November 2026, and the way up on foot starts in Starý Smokovec. Chata pri Zelenom plese and the eastern end have no road or railway: they are reached only on foot.
The funicular from Starý Smokovec to Hrebienok is closed from 24 September to 4 November 2026. The cable cars from Tatranská Lomnica to Skalnaté pleso run only at weekends from 9 November to 11 December 2026.
Prepare each section while you have a connection; the signal is patchy between the huts.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Open this trail in the app.Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
About this map
The magistrála is the red-marked trail along the southern foot of the High Tatras. The line here is its relation on OpenStreetMap (planet of 21 September 2026): 50.1 km from Kopské sedlo above Veľké Biele pleso to Podbanské, walked east to west as the regional tourism board describes it, cut at the huts and villages on it. The red trail goes on about 22 km west to Jalovec; this guide ends at Podbanské. The times shown are TrailSplits estimates; the signposts along the trail give their own.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 26 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.