Things to do in Lesser Poland

Morskie Oko Lake

Zakopane

240–300 min

Morskie Oko is one of the best-known places in the Tatra Mountains. The high mountain lake, the mountain shelter and the walls of the Mięguszowieckie Peaks create the view that brings many first-time visitors to the national park. Its popu…

Rysy

Brzegi

480–600 min

Rysy (2,499 m) is the highest point of Poland and the tallest summit reachable by a marked trail on the Polish side of the Tatra Mountains. The massif in fact has three peaks, and its main summit (2,503 m) already lies on the Slovak side o…

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wieliczka

120–150 min

**The Wieliczka Salt Mine** is one of Poland’s best-known industrial-heritage sites. Salt was extracted here from the 13th century until 1996, while the underground city reaches 327 metres and contains roughly 300 km of galleries. Visitors…

Wawel Cathedral

Kraków

60–120 min

**Wawel Cathedral**, formally the Royal Cathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, is one of Kraków’s most important landmarks and one of the key sites in Polish history. It was the coronation and burial church of Polish ruler…

St Mary's Basilica in Kraków

Kraków

45–60 min

**St Mary’s Basilica in Kraków** stands beside the Main Market Square and is one of the city’s most recognisable symbols. The Gothic church is known for Veit Stoss’s altarpiece, the hourly hejnał trumpet call and its rich furnishings. It r…

Bochnia Salt Mine

Bochnia

180–240 min

**The Bochnia Salt Mine** is Poland’s oldest salt mine, operating since the deposit was discovered in 1248. Its underground route leads through chambers and workings that preserve traces of centuries of mining. Signature elements include a…

Tatra National Park

Zakopane

180–300 min

The Tatra National Park covers almost the entire Polish part of the Tatras — the only mountains of Alpine character between the Alps and the Caucasus. Though the range occupies just 2% of Poland's area, you will find everything associated…

Wawel Hill, Kraków

Kraków

120–240 min

Wawel is a limestone hill on the Vistula that for centuries served as the heart of the Polish state: an early medieval stronghold of the Vistulan tribe stood here, kings later resided on the hill, and monarchs were crowned and buried in th…

Wawel Royal Castle

Kraków

120–240 min

The Royal Castle on Wawel Hill was the principal residence of Poland's monarchs and is today one of the country's most important museums. The stronghold's origins go back to the 11th century, and its Renaissance shape with the arcaded cour…

Babia Góra

Zawoja

360–480 min · Free entry

Babia Góra, specifically Diablak (1,725 m above sea level), is the highest peak of the Żywiec Beskids and the whole Western Beskids. Its open summit offers wide views, but the massif is also known for sudden weather changes, fog and strong…

Carmelite Museum in Czerna

Czerna

90–180 min

Hidden among wooded hills on the edge of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland lies Czerna, a Discalced Carmelite monastery founded in 1629 by Agnieszka Firlejowa née Tęczyński, widow of the Kraków voivode. The church went up between 1631 and 1640…

Nowa Huta

Kraków

180–360 min · Free entry

Nowa Huta is a town built from scratch — Poland’s largest exercise in socialist-realist urban planning and one of the few such vast projects in Europe. Construction began in 1949 for the workers of a new metallurgical combine; the Lenin St…

Babia Góra National Park

Zawoja

180–360 min

Babia Góra National Park protects the Babia Góra massif and Diablak (1,725 m), the highest peak of the Żywiec Beskids and the entire Western Beskids. The park was established in 1954, and in 1976 the area joined UNESCO’s Man and the Biosph…

Gorce National Park

Ochotnica Górna

180–480 min

Gorce National Park protects 7,030 hectares of mountain landscape in the Western Beskids. Established in 1981 around the Turbacz massif, it is shaped by continuous forests, open shepherd clearings and ridges with views towards the Tatras,…

Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)

Kraków

60–120 min

In the very heart of the Main Market Square stands the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) — a Renaissance merchants' hall whose trading traditions go back to the Middle Ages. After the great fire of 1555 the building was rebuilt in Renaissance style,…

Pieniny National Park

Sromowce Niżne

240–480 min

Pieniny National Park, established on 1 June 1932, is the oldest national park in Poland. It protects a mere 23.5 km2, but does so spectacularly: the limestone crags of Trzy Korony (982 m), Sokolica with its legendary relict pine clinging…

Krakus Mound

Kraków

20–40 min

**Krakus Mound** in Kraków’s Podgórze district is the city’s oldest and one of its most mysterious mounds. It stands on Lasota Hill, is about 16 metres high and, according to legend, marks the grave of Prince Krak, the city’s founder. Its…

Kraków Barbican

Kraków

Kraków Barbican, also known as the Rondel, is a late-Gothic part of the city’s former fortifications. It stands on Basztowa Street opposite St Florian’s Gate, at the northern edge of the Old Town. The circular brick structure shows how Kra…

St Andrew Church in Kraków

Kraków

**St Andrew’s Church in Kraków** at 56 Grodzka Street is one of Poland’s best-preserved Romanesque buildings. The stone church was founded in the late 11th century as a defensive temple, and its austere exterior contrasts with the richly d…

Orla Perć

Zakopane

Orla Perć is the **hardest marked trail in the Polish Tatras** and the longest ridge route of the High Tatras — it runs from Zawrat to Krzyżne, mostly along Świnica's eastern ridge, crossing several summits above 2,000 m. Chains, clamps an…

Sigismund Bell on Wawel Hill

Kraków

## Sigismund Bell on Wawel Hill The Sigismund Bell was hung in 1521 in the Sigismund Tower of Wawel Cathedral. It was cast in Kraków the year before and funded by King Sigismund I the Old. Hans Beham, a bell-founder from Nuremberg, gave it…