Description
Bachledka, the Bachledka Ski and Sun resort near Ždiar in the Spišská Magura hills of northern Slovakia, is the starting point for around 150 km of marked cycling routes across the Zamagurie and Belianske Tatras. The resort's lift-served downhill bike park, which had five tracks from blue to black, no longer appears on the resort's website, so check with the resort before you travel if downhill riding is the reason for your trip.
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The Trails
Bachledka's downhill bike park, developed with Slovak freerider Filip Polc, had five tracks ranging from blue to black. It no longer appears on the resort's website, so check its current status with the resort before you plan a trip around it.
The wider resort is also the starting point for around 150 km of marked cycling routes across the Zamagurie and Belianske Tatras area, from gentle valley circuits on forest roads and quiet asphalt lanes through Goral villages to longer, hillier days out.
Routes range from an easy 40 km loop past Belianska Cave and the Strážky manor house to a demanding 56 km circuit that follows the Dunajec river gorge towards Červený Kláštor, with around 1,200 m of climbing.
The area hosts the Bike Challenge Bachledka each summer, a cross-country and e-bike event on the local route network with separate distances for adults and children.
Guides, Shuttles and Hire
There is no bike park lift or van shuttle here: riding is self-guided on the marked route network, and two e-bike specialists in nearby Ždiar rent bikes and can talk you through the routes.
- E-Bike Strachan: hardtail, full-suspension and automatic e-bike hire with child trailers and seats, based on the Strednica roundabout in Ždiar, with 2026 prices from EUR 32 for four hours.
- E-Bike Rent Ždiar: mountain and road e-bike hire for adults and children, with trailer and child-seat options and delivery by arrangement, based in the centre of Ždiar village, with 2026 prices from EUR 12.
Prices are correct as of September 2026 but subject to change, so check current rates with the operator.
Getting There from the UK
Three airports put Bachledová within reach. Poprad-Tatry is closest, around 35 km and well under an hour by road. Kraków, over the border in Poland, and Košice, in eastern Slovakia, are both roughly 130 to 150 km away, around two to two and a half hours by road. Kraków tends to have the widest choice of flights from the UK, Poprad-Tatry the fewest. A hire car or a pre-booked transfer is the practical way to cover the last leg, since public transport across this stretch of the Tatras is thin.
Driving from Calais or the Channel Tunnel is a long trip, around 1,600 km and the best part of two days on the road, typically via Germany, Austria or Czechia and into Slovakia. Austria, Czechia and Slovakia each require a motorway vignette, bought online or at a border service station before you drive their motorways, so budget for more than one if you cross several. Having a car makes it easy to bring your own bikes and kit for the whole trip.
By rail this is a long overland journey: Eurostar to Brussels or Paris, then onward trains via Cologne and Vienna, or via Prague, with at least one change and, depending on connections, an overnight leg. It can be done, but flying is the realistic option for a shorter trip.
Ždiar, the village below the resort, sits just off route 67 below the Belianske Tatras. The Infocenter Bachledka and its car park, at the base of the resort, are the usual starting point for both the cycling routes and the cable car.
When to Go
The riding season here runs roughly from May to October, in step with the resort's own summer opening hours, and the e-bike hire shops are geared to that window too. June to September is the most reliable stretch for dry forest roads and open passes, since spring can still carry snow at altitude and the riding day shortens again by October.
Bachledová sits at altitude in the Belianske Tatras, so the ridge sections can be noticeably cooler and windier than the valley floor, and mountain weather here can turn quickly. Carry a layer and check the forecast before a longer route.
Where to Stay
Ždiar is the natural base: a long, straggling village with the widest choice of guesthouses and apartments, several within a few minutes of the resort and the route network, and both e-bike hire shops are based there. The wider Zamagurie area, including Spišská Belá, Tatranská Kotlina and the villages along the Dunajec, gives more choice of accommodation and puts other routes within reach, at the cost of a longer drive back each evening.
Accommodation runs from guesthouses and self-catered apartments to a handful of small hotels, with camping and glamping also available around Ždiar. There is no bundled lift-and-lodging guest card here, unlike some larger Alpine resorts, so lodging and bike hire are usually booked separately.
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