the Pieniny·Poland
Photo: Zalasem1 · Wikimedia · CC BY 4.0
The Dunajec cuts a gorge along the Slovak border, and the flisacy have been poling wooden rafts down it for two centuries — a guild, with its own dress and its own rules about who gets to do it.
It is unashamedly a tourist tradition and it is also genuinely lovely: eighteen kilometres of limestone walls with the river doing the work. Walk up Trzy Korony the next morning and look straight down on the whole thing.
In season: Apr–Oct
A scheduled, commercial experience rather than a wilderness one, and a summit platform that gets very busy.
Rafts run to a seasonal timetable through the flisacy guild. Do Trzy Korony early in the morning to have the platform to yourself.
RaftingUnited States
Eighteen days and 360 kilometres on the Colorado, out of contact, camping on beaches inside the canyon.
RaftingSlovenia
The Soča's colour is genuinely unlike any other river in Europe — it's the reason people come.
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