Gdańsk & Pomerania
If you’re keen on stuffed sea life, you’ll be delighted by the static displays of albatrosses, sharks and seals, along with fishing paraphernalia, model…
Must-see attractions in Poland
Silesia
The European bison, the continent's largest mammal, grazes contentedly on this 10-hectare 'farm' on the western edge of Pszczyna's great belt of parkland…
Carpathian Mountains
Built in the 14th century and continually improved over the centuries in which it guarded Hungary's northern border, this superbly preserved lakeside…
Carpathian Mountains
Biecz's monumental Gothic parish church, rearing skywards in red brick, dates in its earliest parts to the 15th century and testifies to the Renaissance…
Warmia & Masuria
This Gothic cathedral dates from the 14th century, though its huge 60m tower was only added in 1596. As in Olsztyn's castle, the most impressive…
Warsaw
Considered the oldest of Warsaw’s churches, St John's was built at the beginning of the 15th century on the site of a wooden church, and subsequently…
Gdańsk & Pomerania
Behind the baroque Town Hall on Darłowo’s Rynek rises this massive brick church. Originally dating from the 1320s it has preserved its Gothic shape well…
Warsaw University Library Garden
Warsaw
Measuring over a hectare, the rooftop garden atop Warsaw University Library provides a lush perch from which to admire the city skyline with views over…
Kraków
The Cistercian Abbey consists of a church and monastery, with a large garden-park behind it. The Cistercians came to Poland in 1140 and founded abbeys…
Warsaw
Marek Budzyński was one of the architects responsible for this impressive building, completed in 2000. It features a facade of copper-clad columns…
Gdańsk
According to legend, the Neptune Fountain, next to the Town Hall, once gushed forth with the trademark Gdańsk liqueur, Goldwasser. As the story goes, it…
Warsaw
Warsaw's largest public square once stood in front of the Saxon Palace, destroyed during WWII. The only part of the palace that remains is the Tomb of the…
Mazovia & Podlasie
The picturesque remnants of this 13th-century Gothic castle are courtesy of a major flood of the Vistula in 1532, when half the castle and part of the…
Małopolska
The Gothic parish church presiding over the Rynek was built in the mid-14th century, and remodelled when Renaissance styles swept Poland in the 16th…
Poznań
This museum houses an extensive collection of Polish and European art displayed across numerous rooms. Polish painting of the last two centuries is…
Silesia
Pszczyna's elongated, leafy market square is lined with old burghers’ houses dating mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries. On its northern side is the…
Mazovia & Podlasie
Before WWII, central Białystok had 60 synagogues serving a population of over 40,000 Jews, or about half of the city's population. Only three synagogue…
Warsaw
Since 1994, this neoclassical palace has been the Polish president’s official residence and is not open to the public. It's guarded by four stone lions…
Carpathian Mountains
Northwest of the Rynek is the Bernardine Church, with its opulent furnishings and decoration. It was built for Ligęza as his mausoleum, and there are…
Carpathian Mountains
Przemyśl's cathedral lords over the upper (southern) end of the Rynek. There's been a church here since at least the 12th century, but the current…
Gdańsk & Pomerania
The Cathedral Hill complex (Wzgórze Katedralne) is today the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum. It covers several sights within the fortified complex, each…
Museum of Technology & Transport
Szczecin
This surprisingly good museum 2.5km north of the centre has a fascinating collection of vehicles, mostly of Polish origin – interesting as today Poland…
Carpathian Mountains
This branch of the city’s regional museum has Europe’s only permanent collection relating to Roma culture. In the backyard there's an open-air exhibition…
Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature
Warsaw
Occupying two historic tenement buildings in the Old Town Sq, this museum does a good job of covering the life and times of Poland's national poet Adam…
Warsaw
A natural spot from which to start exploring the Old Town is triangular Castle Sq. Attracting snap-happy tourists by the hundreds each day is the square's…
Warsaw
The first woman to win the Nobel Prize, Marie Curie was born in this building in 1867 and lived here for her first 19 years. It is now a small museum…
Carpathian Mountains
The Germans' almost complete destruction of Tarnów's synagogue, once the focus of spiritual life for the 25,000 Jews who lived here, is only more…
Małopolska
Uphill from the parish church, a path to the right leads to the Hill of Three Crosses, where the namesake crosses stand to commemorate victims of the…
Warsaw
The red-brick Barbican, a semicircular defensive tower topped with a decorative Renaissance parapet, is part of the medieval fortifications surrounding…
Mazovia & Podlasie
This historic mosque was built by Muslim Tatars who settled here at the end of the 17th century, and is one of only two surviving in Poland (the other is…
Warsaw
A meticulous replica, following its destruction by the Germans in WWII, this baroque palace was originally completed in 1683 for the nobleman Jan…
Carpathian Mountains
Two 16th-century townhouses on the central square comprise the main regional museum, largely used for rotating exhibitions. The main part of the small…
Wielkopolska
Behind Kórnik's castle is this large, English-style park known as the Arboretum, which was laid out during the castle’s reconstruction and stocked with…
Mazovia & Podlasie
Museum housed in a 17th-century missionary college designed by Dutch architect Tylman van Gameren; its highlight is the former priests' chapel, with its…
Carpathian Mountains
The home where future pope Karol Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920 is now a popular museum, restored to its historical appearance. The Wojtyła family lived…
Kraków
Housed in vaulted Gothic rooms surviving from the 14th-century castle, the most famous object in the treasury is the Szczerbiec (Jagged Sword), dating…
Kraków
This small synagogue, which started life as a hospital, dates from the mid-16th century and was partly built into the Kazimierz city walls (still visible…
Carpathian Mountains
The tallest structure in town, Biecz's 58-metre-high town-hall tower offers commanding views of the Ropa Valley and Carpathian Foothills. Built between…
Museum of Municipal Engineering
Kraków
Trams and trucks fill the yard of this former tram depot, while inside there's a fun collection of cars and motorbikes. A room of hands-on magnetic and…
Poznań
Construction of this richly decorated baroque church was begun in 1674 and completed only in 1757. Highlights are its magnificent frescoes, including…
