Nowa Huta's newest attraction opened in 2019 and focuses on the quarter's extensive network of atomic fallout shelters, built up in the 1950s and '60s. The museum is located in the basement of a school and guided tours take visitors through an elaborate series of shelters, each holding an exhibition on various aspects of civil defence during Poland's communist regime.
Nowa Huta Underground
Kraków
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
6.47 MILES
Some 14km southeast of Kraków, the Wieliczka (vyeh-leech-kah) salt mine has been welcoming tourists since 1722 and today is one of Poland's most popular…
5.32 MILES
As the political and cultural heart of Poland through the 16th century, Wawel Royal Castle is a potent symbol of national identity. It's now a museum…
4.44 MILES
Despite the name, this museum covers more than the story of Oskar Schindler, the Nazi German industrialist who famously saved the lives of members of his…
5.34 MILES
Wawel Cathedral has witnessed many coronations, funerals and burials of Poland’s monarchs and nobles. The present cathedral is basically a Gothic, but…
5.07 MILES
This striking brick church, best known simply as St Mary’s, is dominated by two towers of different heights. The first church here was built in the 1220s…
5.31 MILES
The Collegium Maius, part of Jagiellonian University, is the oldest surviving university building in Poland, and one of the finest examples of 15th…
5 MILES
The name of this museum doesn’t sound that exciting, but the Jagiellonian University Medical School’s Museum of Pharmacy is one of the largest museums of…
5.17 MILES
The Jesuits erected this church, the first baroque building in Kraków, after they had been brought to the city in 1583 to do battle with supporters of the…
Nearby Kraków attractions
0.51 MILES
Two blocks north of Plac Centralny, the Nowa Huta Museum is more like a glorified tourist office, but there is a small, well-curated exhibit space…
0.6 MILES
This graceful, park-like avenue runs through the centre of the Nowa Huta workers' housing estate.
3. Museum of the People's Republic of Poland
0.62 MILES
This museum and exhibition space, located in the socialist-realist Światowid cinema, focuses on the communist history of Nowa Huta and of Poland in…
0.66 MILES
This sprawling square and tram stop serves as the centrepoint of the Nowa Huta workers' housing estate. The square dates from 1949, and the buildings here…
0.75 MILES
The small, shingled Church of St Bartholomew dates from the mid-15th century, which makes it Poland’s oldest surviving three-nave timber church. It was…
0.76 MILES
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…
0.8 MILES
Nowa Huta's socialist-realistic architectural aesthetic extends to the area's main theatre, which was built in 1955. Early shows may have been dedicated…
1.13 MILES
The retro-modern Arka Pana was the first church in Nowa Huta, built from 1967 to 1977 after much controversy. Authorities had intended the workers' suburb…