Location in the picturesque Valley of Grajcarek River. Chair lift to the top of Palenica, a mountain top with excellent views of Szczawnica and surrounding mountains. Excellent hiking and biking trails. Good food in town. A resort town, in its resort section dotted with ugly, old and abandoned health spa-style concrete buildings from the communist era. Also, in a resort section of the town, very ugly several wood built, old and ruined hotel like structures from the pre-communist times, also abandoned.

Szczawnica is a springboard for touring the Pieniny Mountains with attractions such as white water rafting, hiking in the mountains and visiting castles or local flea markets. The town itself has a mineral water park and a Main Street with souvenir stalls, everything can be covered in one afternoon or less. Nice old wooden houses are very photogenic.

Szczawinca is not a weekend destination for holiday travel in the off season. They base everything on one or two week stays at the sanatoriums and the town rolls up it;s sidewalks by 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon (most shops closed by 2 p.m. on Saturday) and they don't unroll them until Monday mid-morning. Finding a meal on a Saturday night after mass was difficult, most restaurants in the area claimed to be open - sign out, posted hours, etc. but nothing happening. One place had sings out stating they had food specials, etc. but when I tried to order a dinner was told it was only coffee and dessert items available. Ended up eating cold dried sausages and potato chips in my room from previous days road trip and did manage to find one bar serving decent food on the other night - not a town for night life in the off season. Not my idea of a spa town vacation. I did manage 1 hour at the water park at the Solar Spa (too expensive for what is) and 20 minute massage for lower back (worth the price), drinks at the pump room of water - otherwise not much happening due to bad weather. Drove to Zakopane on a Sunday to find some things open. Will have to give it a try in summer to see the town is worth the time to visit.

A beautiful tourists town nestled in a valley on the shores of Grajcarek River that separates Beskid Sadecki from the Pieniny mountain range. In town numerous home-style restaurants serving Polish specialties. Taxi is the best way to move around Szczawnica. It's relatively inexpensive. For active people there are several trail heads leading to some spectacular viewpoints including a gorge of the Dunajec River. You can rent a bike and ride on a path that for approx. 10 km follows the river and you ca view the gorge from the bottom up. Rafting on the Dunajec River is a very popular way to view the gorge, as well as thrilling kayaking that can be a bit challenging experience for the novice.

We have been there already during the winter. Despite it's a very nice place, it's very polluted and the air is really unbreathable, so that's better avoid during the cold season during the summer instead it's very very nice, everything is green and lush, and we were quite lucky with the weather.