The ZSSK GTW 425 962-8 in the High Tatras near Felsőhági (Vysné Hágy, Slovakia)

The High Tatras (Magas-Tátra in Hungarian, Vysoké Tatry in Slovakian) offer a rather different setting for the mountain railway than the Alps in Austria or Switzerland. Here the trains don't traverse the moutain range in long valleys and mountain passes, but stick to the feet of the mountains, climbing higher and higher from the plateau around Poprad and Štrba until they are about 400 metres higher than the normal gauge railway running below. The background is very similar though: the High Tatras offer alpine peaks with little vegetation, massive rock walls and breathtaking hiking trails.