At the top of the Kasprowy Wierch cable car was a poster about bears. The specimen depicted was fudge-coloured and shaggy, and looked replete, as if he'd just eaten a skier. "And do they?" I asked the liftman.
He thought about it a moment. This part of Poland is famously unhurried, and full of surprises. Over 600km south of the Baltic, this is a land of snowy, Brueghel-esque scenes; sleighs, monasteries, cupolas, huge wooden manor houses – like galleons – and a rolling landscape of whiteness. Then, suddenly, it wells up into a wall of rock, 2,500m high: the Tatras. This is the whiptail of the Alps, as wild and well-wolved as anywhere else.
"No," said the liftman. "Bears are fine. And, anyway, they sleep now. Come back in spring."
It's a tempting offer. Everything about our Polish week exceeded expectations – as a family holiday it's hard to beat. I've always liked the sound of Krakow, with its huge 13th-century square, and its ancient churches, but we also decided to slot in some skiing. This was more imponderable. Although the prices were encouraging (a fraction of France's), the skiing was mysterious. How would our resort, Zakopane, cope with our range of talents: the expert (my wife), the novice (Lucy, aged eight) and the haphazard (me)?
We soon realised that, whatever the skiing was like, Zakopane was charming. Although it has swanky bars and ski shops, it's essentially a very old mountain town. Most of it is made of tree trunks (parts dating from the early 1800s), and even the scrap-dealer still has a sledge. This is the place to buy an enormous sheepskin (£25), or a vast cake of smoked ewe's milk cheese (£1).
Lucy loved it, as any child would. The locals – called "highlanders'" here – use any excuse (eg church) to dress up in costume, and can often be seen in their black hats, sea-shells and narrow, white-felt trousers. Even our hotel, the Litwor, felt pleasingly old-fashioned, although it had a vast fish-tank above the pool that glowed like a planet.
The system for skiing seemed a bit odd at first. Each day, we'd take a taxi (£5) or a bus (75p) out to a different ski area. Some didn't open until 9.30am, and then we'd hire what we needed for the day. Like Zakopane, it was all vaguely charming (I once saw a horse and cart, collecting firewood beside a green run). Out on the runs, all of us were happy ("This," announced Lucy, "is the best fun I've ever had!"). Harenda, Nosal and Szymoszkowa were perfect for a family like ours, encompassing beginners and the doggedly incompetent. Although – for my wife – there was only one area offering a true adrenaline fix (Kasprowy Wierch), here was an ideal opportunity to master the snowboard. None of this was going to break an arm or a leg, and nor was it going to cost one.
It'll be hard to go back to paying top-dollar elsewhere after the prices here (daily ski-pass £12; skis and boots £5 a day; lessons £15 per hour). Even a good, slap-up, log-cabin lunch came in at a fiver (mulled wine £2; spag bol £3). I loved these places, all slightly trollish with their log fires and antlers. In Zakopane, there's a pleasing selection of restaurants with open fires and hearty dishes.
If you want something urban, try Dobra Kasza Nasza, where grilled chicken and a shot costs around £6. Or to see highlanders in their costumes hefting huge platters of meat, go to Owczarnia, with spare ribs at around £8. I am also surprised by how many Poles ski with tiny dogs tucked into their jackets.
After this, Krakow did little to dispel the fairytale aura. At first sight, it's like a city that's risen from the pages of a children's book. Dominating everything is a castle (the Wawel), that looks like a meeting of towers from all over Narnia. Beyond it is a great sprawl of Gothic and Baroque; dungeons and underground eateries; old groceries; huge chocolate shops (with bunnies the size of spaniels); and a footbridge to which lovers have attached thousands of padlocks. Grand, hobbity, and slightly eccentric, there is, quite literally, something for all the family.
It would've taken months to explore it all. We did, however, find the lecture halls of Copernicus and Pope John Paul II, and the house (at 14 Szeroka) where Helena Rubinstein was born. We also found ourselves before da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, in the castle.
But there is a darker, sadder side to Krakow. In 1941, the Nazis had descended on Kazimierz, a district that had been Jewish since 1495. Even today, parts of Kazimierz feel ownerless and derelict, and the resurrection of the synagogues is largely architectural. Of those marched away (amongst them, Roman Polanski, aged eight), some 60,000, or 25% of Krakow's population, perished. You can still see the ghetto across the river, where – for a while – some of them lived. But it isn't all run down: an interesting reconstruction of a Jewish eatery can be found at Dawno Temu Na Kazimierzu on ul. Szeroka 1. And amongst the little factories, one (at 4 Lipowa) is now a startling new museum – and will always be known to the world as Schindler's Ark.
Before leaving, we made two forays from Krakow. The first, to Auschwitz (70km to the west), was an experience so affecting that – weeks on – I still think about it every day. The second took us deep underground, to a happier time in Poland's story. In the 1280s, rock salt was discovered at Wieliczka, and a mine began. Now, seven centuries later, there are over 240km of tunnels, and we saw around 1% in an afternoon. It was a magnificent walk, past underground lakes and through cathedrals of salt. You could almost feel Lucy's young imagination being gently stretched. There was also a comforting sensation of wealth and fantasy restored.
So would we return to Poland? Each of us felt our appetite for this remarkable country was merely whetted. So I'm sure we'll be back, if not in time for the bears' first breakfast.
• The trip was provided by Baltic Travel (0845 6800 642, baltictravelcompany.com). The seven–day City and Snow trip costs from £785pp based on two people sharing, including flights from London or Liverppol to Krakow, transfers, two nights hotel accommodation in Krakow and four in Zakopane and breakfasts, but not lift passes and ski rental equipment. For further information visit poland-tourism.pl or visitpoland.org
