Name of the trail: VeloNatura (EuroVelo 11) – section Stary Sącz – Barcice

Beginning of the trail: Muszyna

End of the trail: Stary Sącz

Total length of the trail: 20.0 km

Difficulty: easy

The proposal is to travel along the Velo Natura route on the section from Piwnicza to Stary Sącz, which runs on asphalt / ready fragments and includes bypasses along local roads (unfortunately with heavy traffic and/or poor surfacing) in those sections of the EV11 route that are still under construction or in the planning phase. This is a trip for those who can’t wait to see how this route in the Poprad Valley goes. The trail is mostly suitable even for road bikes, apart from short rocky sections in Głębokie and Życzanów (they are to be upgraded in 2020). Currently, the route is marked only from Barcice onwards, so it is recommended to follow the gpx track. The VeloNatura route formally begins in Muszyna, but as sections of this route, including footbridges, are still under construction, we recommend riding to Piwniczna using the Aquavelo trail (on the Slovak side) or the Carpathian Bicycle Trail (on the Polish side). In Stary Sącz, the trail joins the VeloDunajec route at the cycling bridge, along which you can continue further towards Tarnów. In Piwniczna, the route starts at the footbridge near the railway station. In 2020, a large recreation centre will be inaugurated together with a new footbridge connecting the Piwniczna pasture at Nakło with ul. Kościuszki, so it’ll also be possible to use this variant. The current route through Zawodzie, Głębokie, Rytro and Życzanów runs along  narrow local roads, with a bypass of the difficult to navigate section of the Rytro lower town running along the national road. From the bridge in Barcice, the route is currently complete/marked and by and large runs along dedicated cycle paths. There are two rest stops (in Barcice and MOR Stary Sącz) along the way.  If you want to visit the centre of Stary Sącz or get to the local railway station, we suggest getting there by following Trakt Św. Kingi – the Saint Kinga Trail – along which a comfortable cycle path has been built.

Maximum elevation: 392 m a.s.l.

The lowest point on the route is at elevation: 293 m a.s.l.

The route runs through the following protected areas:

Landscape parks: Poprad Landscape Park

Natura 2000: Ostoja Popradzka

18% of the route runs through forested areas.

Tourist attractions: TMP Regional Museum (Piwniczna-Zdrój), Castle Ruins in Rytro (Rytro)

Natural attractions: Natura 2000 – Ostoja Popradzka, Poprad Landscape Park

26% of the trail runs on roads free of motor vehicle traffic.