Trip on Wooden Rafts & Stará Ľubovňa: 2 Unique Experiences in 1 Day

Pieniny at Your Fingertips: Experience on Wooden Rafts & Stará Ľubovňa Open-Air Museum

Do you love history but don’t want to spend sunny days closed in dark museum halls? Explore the magnificent Zamagurie region with a personal guide and discover its breathtaking nature and rich history from a raft.

Let yourself drift down the Dunajec River on a wooden raft and enjoy the views of the Carthusian monastery and the majestic Tri Koruny (Three Crowns) – the icon of the Pieniny Mountains that tells the stories of this region. After a delicious lunch at an authentic Goral restaurant, the open-air museum in Stará Ľubovňa awaits you.

Walk among old wooden houses where time has stood still. The captivating atmosphere and the stories hiding behind wooden walls – all of this will draw you into a world where history isn’t just told, but comes to life. 

What awaits you on this one-day trip?

• Adventure rafting: Explore the most beautiful corners of the Pieniny from a traditional wooden raft. The trip will take you from historic Červený Kláštor (Red Monastery), past the majestic Tri Koruny peaks, and through the rugged limestone cliffs of the Dunajec Gorge.
• Unique folk architecture: At the open-air museum below Stará Ľubovňa Castle, you will discover traditional life in a Slovak village in, where people lived in harmony with nature and traditions.
• Authentic experiences: You will be guided by a native of the Spiš region who knows not only the history of this region, but also its hidden corners. This way, you’ll learn new information that you won’t find in guidebooks.
• Individual approach: No need to wait for anyone or adapt to someone else’s pace. You determine when to take photos, have lunch, or admire the views.

The Legacy of the Monks Under the Tri Koruny

Our adventurous rafting trip on traditional rafts begins in the picturesque Goral village of Červený Kláštor. Its dominant feature and architectural gem is the medieval Carthusian monastery, located right in the heart of the Pieniny. As you observe its ancient walls under the Tri Koruny, you will immediately feel the power of this place, where time flows at its own pace.

Although we won’t be going inside, the monastery will be in our sight at the start of our journey. For centuries, its walls were home to monks who quietly cultivated medicinal herbs and preserved the region’s learning.

Rafting on the Dunajec River

As soon as we leave the shore, we are becoming part of a centuries-old Goral tradition. Written sources mention that wooden rafts served as a transport of goods and timber all the way to the Baltic Sea as early as the 13th century. Today, however, the rafts are not used for trade, but for entertainment. We will be passing through a rugged yet beautiful canyon, where limestone cliffs rise hundreds of meters above the calm waters of the Dunajec River.

During the journey, you can enjoy not only the sound of rushing water and the creaking of wood, but also the authentic stories of rafters. You’ll hear legends about the surrounding rocks, and you’ll notice for sure the traditional rafter’s “kapeľus” hat, decorated with seashells. Why are they there, and what do they symbolize? That’s a story we’ll tell you right out on the water.

At the end of our trip, we’ll dock filled with new beautiful memories. A set table awaits us at an authentic Goral restaurant where we’ll enjoy an excellent tasty lunch and we’ll recharge our batteries for the second half of the day.

Stará Ľubovňa Open-Air Museum: Where Time Has Stood Still

After a good lunch, we will move just a little further, right under the Stará Ľubovňa Castle. Here we will enter the open-air museum, where time has stood still. The heart of the whole exhibition is the beautiful wooden Greek Catholic church of St. Michael the Archangel from 1833. During holidays, the tones of liturgies in Old Church Slavonic still resonate through the church, exactly as in the past.

This building is a perfect example of the mastery of old carpenters. If this sacral style interests you, you can explore other wooden churches in Eastern Slovakia.

While taking a stroll among picturesque cottages, we will take a look into the life of our ancestors and we won’t miss:

• Mayor’s House: A unique goral house from 1909 with a large gate (“pšejozd”), through which people entered directly into the yard.
• Blacksmith’s workshop: A place that used to spark and ring. You will see the original forge and the tools the master blacksmith used to shapethe red-hot iron.
• Mill from Sulín: A technical monument that will surprise you with its ingenuity. In the basement and on the upper floors, you will see how the power of water turned grain into flour and groats.
• Carpenter’s workshop: The kingdom of a master craftsman who could make everything from windows to furniture. It is a tribute to the honest craftsmanship and the self-sufficiency of the people of that time.

Are you up for a day full of history, nature and beautiful views? Book your date and set out on an adventure guided by someone who knows this region like the back of their hand.