Revolving Café on Piękna Góra near Gołdap

At the top of Piękna Góra near Gołdap there is a café in which the whole room slowly turns on its axis. A full rotation takes about 50 minutes, so over one coffee and a slice of cake you can take in the entire panorama: Gołdap and its lake, the hills of Humpy Masuria and the forests of the Romincka Forest. It is the only café of its kind in the region.

Piękna Góra, or Gołdap Mountain

Piękna Góra (272 m above sea level), also called Gołdap Mountain, is one of the highest hills of the Szeskie Hills and one of the best viewpoints in the area. It lies about 3 km south of the centre of Gołdap, by the village of Konikowo. From the top you can see where the name Humpy Masuria comes from: the landscape is made up of countless glacial hillocks and humps. On the neighbouring summit, Castle Hill, traces of a Yotvingian stronghold survive.

On the eastern slopes there is a ski resort with a two-seat chairlift 750 m long — one of only two in northern Poland — plus button lifts and a 1,250 m toboggan run. Skiing has a long tradition here: in 1964 a wooden ski jump with a K-point of 37 m opened and was used until 1988.

What to see

• The revolving café at the summit — coffee, tea and homemade cakes at a table that “travels” around the whole horizon within an hour.
• A steel cross next to the café commemorating Pope John Paul II's visit to Masuria.
• The panorama of the Romincka Forest, Lake Gołdap and the Szeskie Hills.
• In summer a rope park with three courses, in winter ski slopes with snowmaking and a snow park.

Did you know?

In 2009 the resort was bought by the Rudziewicz family, who also run a farm next door with fallow deer, red deer and other animals. In the winter season the chairlift carries visitors to the top, and when snow conditions allow, the toboggan run is open.

Do not mix it up: in Gołdap itself, on Paderewskiego Street, there is a second café with a view — in the historic water tower of 1905. That is a separate attraction; this page is about the revolving café on Piękna Góra.

Tripto tips

You can ride the chairlift to the top or walk up in about 15–20 minutes. Allow an hour for the café and the views — roughly the time of one full rotation. Come on a clear day, when the Romincka Forest is visible. Opening hours of the café and the lift change with the season, so check them before you go.