10 vantage points in the Košice area from which you can see the Tatras

You can read the story in Slovak here.

Views of the High Tatras from the Košice area depends on the type of weather. This is a very rare phenomenon that occurs on average once or twice a year.

In regards to this article, we are talking about excellent visibility, which means the Tatras are seen as sharp, contrasting, and can be photographed. If a hazy outline suffices, there are many more opportunities, but we are still talking several days in a year.

Better conditions in winter

Although a day with excellent visibility can happen at any time of the year, there is a significantly better chance for it to happen in the colder months. A pretty good signal would be a clear night several degrees cooler than the previous one followed by a clear day.

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For those who follow weather forecasts, two basic situations are important. The first is the passage of the front subsequently followed by clear skies, the second is an anticyclone with a centre over Slovakia.

A rather specific case, important for the Košice area, are temperature inversions. In this type of weather, valleys are filled with fog or low clouds. Clear weather with clear air is above the inversion. Very often, the upper limit for the inversion in the Košice Basin is around 1000 metres above sea level, making the Kojšovská Hoľa mountain the winner regarding sites for viewing the Tatras.

Snow is also a big help. It reflects so much light it makes the Tatras clearly visible even at really great distances.

Even a cheap camera will do

To take nice photos, it's good to have a cell phone with an optical zoom, the bigger the better. A less important, but still useful parameter, is the size of the sensor because you may want to crop. The more megapixels, the better.

For cameras with interchangeable lenses, a telephoto lens with a focal length of at least 100 milimetres for an APSC sensor is a must. Despite significant progress in image stabilization, a tripod still comes in handy.

It is important to know that one does not need to spend a lot of money to take pictures like this. Even older second-hand cameras will work just as well as new ones and can be bought significantly cheaper.

Now let's take a look at ten vantage points in the Košice area from which you can see the Tatras.