Zawoja is a long mountain village in southern Poland, stretched for many kilometres below Babia Gora in the Beskids. It is not a tidy postcard town. Its appeal is practical and physical: trailheads, forested slopes, weather that changes fast, and the feeling that the mountain is always just above the roofs.
The reason to come is Babia Gora National Park, whose main peak rises to 1,725 metres and has the strongest alpine feel in this part of the Beskids. The park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, with spruce forest, subalpine vegetation, and wildlife that includes lynx, wolves, and bears. On clear days the summit views run across the Tatras and the Polish-Slovak border country.
Zawoja also has quieter anchors: the wooden Church of St Clement, valley hamlets, and the Mosorny Gron chairlift area for views, skiing, and mountain biking. It is a good spare-day choice from Krakow only if you want a real mountain day rather than another cafe-and-old-town afternoon.