428 attractions in Lesser Poland, including Lanckorona Castle Ruins, Chabówka Railway Heritage Park (Parowozownia Chabówka) and Avenue of Stars in Kraków.
Hidden gemLandmarks
Lanckorona
On the wooded summit of Lanckorońska Góra in 1771, Polish insurgents of the Bar Confederation stopped none other than Alexander Suvorov — the Russian corps suffered heavy losses here and had to retreat. All that remains of King Casimir the…
Hidden gemMuseums
Chabówka
At Chabówka near Rabka, more than 100 historic railway vehicles stand on the tracks, and some of them still run. It is the largest collection of heritage rolling stock in Poland and one of the few places where you don't just look at steam…
Other
Kraków
Céline Dion, the Scorpions, Krzysztof Krawczyk and the TV detective Lieutenant Borewicz all share the same stretch of riverside path below Wawel Hill. Kraków's Avenue of Stars (Aleja Gwiazd) is a row of brass stars set into the paving of t…
Churches & monasteries
Olkusz
St. Andrew's Basilica in Olkusz (say "OL-koosh") is the Gothic parish church of Poland's old "Silver Town," standing at the corner of the Market Square about 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Kraków. Two treasures make it worth a detour: the l…
Museums
Wadowice
The John Paul II Family Home in Wadowice (say "vah-doh-VEE-tseh") is a biographical museum in the house where Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, was born on May 18, 1920. At its heart is the reconstructed apartment of the Wojtyła…
Caves
Jerzmanowice
Nietoperzowa Cave (pronounced "nyeh-toh-peh-ZHOH-vah," Polish for "Bat Cave") in Jerzmanowice is one of the best-known show caves of the Polish Jura, the limestone upland just northwest of Kraków. A guided walk takes you through spacious,…
Nature
Klimkówka
Lake Klimkówka (kleem-KOOF-ka), also called Lake Klimkowskie, is a reservoir on the Ropa River in the Low Beskids, a quiet range of wooded hills in southeastern Poland. Hemmed in by forested slopes and dotted with small coves, it is a desi…
Churches & monasteries
Ojców
The wooden Chapel on the Water ("Na Wodzie"), dedicated to St Joseph the Worker, straddles the Prądnik stream on concrete supports set into both banks, beneath white limestone crags known as the Prałatki. It is one of the most photographed…
Landmarks
Sucha Beskidzka
Above the entrance hangs a painted horse – just like the inn sign in Adam Mickiewicz's ballad "Pani Twardowska". The Rzym Inn (Karczma „Rzym”, literally "Rome") in Sucha Beskidzka is an 18th-century wooden inn closing the eastern side of t…
Mountains & peaks
Zakopane
Kasprowy Wierch (roughly "KAS-pro-vy VEERH", 1,987 m / 6,519 ft) is the most accessible high peak in the Polish Tatra Mountains and one of the most visited summits in Poland. It rises on the Polish–Slovak border above the mountain resort o…
Technical monuments
Zakopane
The Kasprowy Wierch cable car is Poland's most famous mountain lift: in about 20 minutes it carries you from Kuźnice, on the edge of Zakopane, to 1,959 m (6,427 ft), just below the summit of Kasprowy Wierch in the Tatra Mountains. Running…
Churches & monasteries
Korzkiew
On the high altar stands a small Gothic reliquary which, according to its inscription, holds a splinter of the True Cross and a piece of the table from the Last Supper. The Church of the Nativity of St John the Baptist in Korzkiew was buil…
Mountains & peaks
Bogdanówka
A few decades ago the flat, grassy top of Koskowa Góra (866 m) was still ploughed. All that is left of the fields are overgrown heaps of stones, and from the summit you can see almost the whole horizon: from Babia Góra and the Gorce range…
Mountains & peaks
Lubomierz
The summit of Kudłoń itself is wooded and has no view, yet it is one of the most rewarding goals in the Gorce Mountains. The slopes of this 1,274 m peak (Gorce National Park gives 1,276 m) hold the range's best-known rock outcrops, led by…
Mountains & peaks
Rzyki
Many hikers "climb Madohora" without knowing that the name was transferred to this peak by mapmakers' mistake. Its proper name is Łamana Skała (929 m) – the second-highest peak of the Little Beskids (Beskid Mały) and the highest in the And…
Mountains & peaks
Targoszów
Leskowiec is one of the best viewpoints in the Beskid Mały (Little Beskids): from the meadow on its summit you can see Babia Góra, Pilsko and, on a clear day, the Western Tatras. As a schoolboy Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II,…
Landmarks
Kraków
Of the more than three kilometres of medieval walls that once ringed Kraków, only about 200 metres survive – thanks to one professor who argued in the city senate that the walls protected St Mary's Basilica from nasty winds blowing in from…
Museums
Zakopane
Jan Kasprowicz bought the wooden villa at Harenda in 1923 from an English painter for 500 pounds, money he had earned translating Shakespeare. He lived here for only three years, until his death in 1926, but his widow Maria kept the house…
Museums
Chrzanów
The Irena and Mieczysław Mazaraki Museum in Chrzanów is the regional museum of western Małopolska, housed in a historic manor building that locals call the "Inkwell" (Kałamarz). It covers the area's prehistory, the old town and its Jewish…
Museums
Zubrzyca Górna
At the heart of this open-air museum is a manor house that was never moved here: it has stood on this spot since the 17th century. The Orava Ethnographic Park in Zubrzyca Górna was the first open-air museum opened in post-war Poland. On al…
Amusement parks
Inwałd
"Świat Marzeń" Miniature Park in Inwałd is a family park with models of 65 famous buildings from Poland and around the world, set between Andrychów and Wadowice. In a single day you can stand beneath the Eiffel Tower, St Peter's Basilica a…
Other
Kraków
Just a few steps from the bustle of the Main Market Square lies St Mary's Square – an intimate square around St Mary's Basilica where, until the early 19th century, the dead were buried. Pale paving now marks the area of the old cemetery,…
Lakes
Kościelisko
Unlike most Tatra lakes, Smreczyński Staw does not sit in a rocky cirque but in the forest, at 1,226 m above sea level, between the moraines of two former glaciers. Kamienista, Błyszcz and Bystrá rise above the spruces, and a short black-m…
Lakes
Kraków
Zakrzówek in Kraków is a flooded former limestone quarry with turquoise water framed by white cliffs – one of the most unusual places to relax in any Polish city. It lies in the Dębniki district, a few kilometres from the Main Square, and…