Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Selected city: olsztyn
Hidden gemChurches & monasteries
Olsztyn
In the winter of 1807 the French locked about 1,500 prisoners of war inside St James's Church in Olsztyn, and to survive the frost they burned almost everything made of wood. That is why the interior of today's co-cathedral is plainer than…
Hidden gemCastles
Olsztyn
Warmian Chapter Castle in Olsztyn (pronounced roughly "OL-shtin") is a 14th-century Gothic brick fortress and the top sight in the capital of Poland's Warmia and Masuria lake region. Nicolaus Copernicus ran the surrounding estates from her…
Landmarks
Olsztyn
The small building on ul. Zyndrama z Maszkowic is the first completed work of Erich Mendelsohn – the Olsztyn-born architect later famous for the Einstein Tower in Potsdam. The former Jewish pre-burial house Bet Tahara (Hebrew for House of…
Lakes
Olsztyn
Lake Ukiel (pronounced "OO-kyel"), known locally as Krzywe ("the crooked lake"), is the largest lake inside the city of Olsztyn and its favorite summer playground. Covering more than 400 hectares (about 1,000 acres) and reaching 43 meters…
Nature
Olsztyn
From the High Gate in Olsztyn, a red-marked trail leads straight into a forest where it is easy to forget you are still in a city. Olsztyn City Forest covers 1,415.87 ha, entirely within the city limits, and Olsztyn describes it as the lar…
Museums
Olsztyn
The Olsztyn Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory is one of the best family-friendly things to do in Olsztyn, the city where Nicolaus Copernicus once lived and worked. Opened in 1973, the planetarium's dome is a local landmark, but the…
Old towns & squares
Olsztyn
Olsztyn's Old Town Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta, pronounced roughly "OL-shtin") is the heart of the capital of Warmia and Masuria in northeastern Poland and the natural starting point for exploring the city's compact old town. A red…
Landmarks
Olsztyn
The High Gate in Olsztyn (Polish: Wysoka Brama, "VIH-so-kah BRAH-mah"), historically called the Upper Gate, is a 14th-century Gothic town gate and the classic entrance to the Old Town of this lakeside city in northeastern Poland. It is the…