Shopping

Krupówki is jammed wall to wall with souvenir shops, gold and silver dealers, and outdoor outfitters, all competing for your attention with a jumble of cafes, restaurants, pizza joints, and refreshment stands. Just about everything you might need, you'll find along this busy 5 or 6 blocks. Most of the gift and souvenir stores peddle in the same sorts of imported, mass-produced junk -- wooden toys, T-shirts, hats and scarves, and mock traditional clothing that sadly have little connection to Zakopane. For something more authentic, try looking in at Cepelia, with two locations on Krupówki (nos. 2 and 48; tel. 018/201-50-48). Here you'll find locally produced carved wooden boxes, animal pelts, leather goods, and the odd knickknack or two. Art Gallery Yam, Krupówki 63 (tel. 018/206-69-84), is about as funky as it gets in Zakopane. Check out the rotating exhibitions of contemporary Polish painters, some riveting modern Tatra landscapes, and other works that draw on the absurdist visual style of Polish art in the '70s and '80s.

One souvenir you won't be able to miss are those little rounds of sheep's milk cheese, Oscypek, that you see everywhere around town. The recipe apparently goes back some 500 years. The salty taste goes great with beer.