The Dolina Koscieliska is the most beautiful and most interesting valley
in the Western Tatras. It stretches for about 8 km, right up to the main
ridge of the Tatras. Near the exit the valley is narrow but farther up it
fans out into several lateral branches, above which rise rounded summits
of the Western Tatras, the highest of which is
Mt. Bystra (2248 m), on
the Slovak side of the frontier. The Dolina Koscieliska owes its
exceptional charm not only to its beauty spots, but also to its numerous
forms characteristic of limestone country: caves, wells, and fantastically
shaped rocks and crags.