The Tatras are quite small compared to mountains like the Himalayas, but they are very dramatic. The peaks were shaped by glaciers - huge sheets of slow-moving ice - during the last ice age. As the ice melted, it left behind sharp ridges and over 100 mountain lakes, some a beautiful deep green colour.
The most famous lake is Morskie Oko, which means 'Eye of the Sea'. It sits in a giant bowl of rock, with cliffs rising straight out of the water. People walk for about two hours from the road to reach it, and there is a little wooden mountain shelter on the shore where you can buy hot tea.
The town at the foot of the mountains is called Zakopane. It is full of wooden houses with carved roofs, built in a special local style. The people who live in this region are called the G贸rale (mountain folk). They have their own music, their own clothes, and a way of speaking that other Polish people find funny and lovely.
Animals live high up in the Tatras too: marmots that whistle when danger comes, mountain goats called chamois jumping between rocks, golden eagles circling above, and brown bears in the forests at the bottom. In winter the whole area is covered in deep snow and becomes a paradise for skiing.