Sensory Gardens in Muszyna

In March or April, depending on the winter, the slope of Sucha Góra in Muszyna is covered with millions of crocuses. The Sensory Gardens, also called the Gardens of the Senses, are a free spa park designed to engage sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. From the viewing tower you can see the castle ruins and the whole spa town, and in good weather the Tatra Mountains. The paths are wheelchair-friendly, and the information boards are also written in Braille.

Eight zones

According to Muszyna council, the gardens are divided into eight zones:

• health zone – outdoor exercise equipment,
• scent zone – plants chosen for the most intense fragrance,
• sound zone – rustling trees, birdsong, a murmuring stream and gravel crunching underfoot,
• scent-and-touch zone – plants with leaves and flowers of different textures,
• taste zone – fruit bushes and trees where you can follow the whole growing year,
• sight zone – flowerbeds that attract butterflies and bees, and a viewing tower overlooking the castle ruins, the Baroque church, the ponds and the "Antoni" mineral water pump room,
• Aphrodite zone – crab apple trees planted by newlyweds from Poland and abroad,
• fairy tale and legend zone – the newest, inspired by the old Muszyna estate.

History and legends

The Sensory Gardens were created as one stage of Muszyna's Spa Park. As Radio Kraków reported in 2014, the next stage was laid out right next door – the Garden of Love, covering 27,000 m², with two ponds, a fountain and illuminated water jets, at a cost of over PLN 2.3 million. In 2019 the Garden of Fairy Tales and Legends opened, costing almost PLN 6 million. It features the hut of a witch who, according to legend, was executed on Muszyna's market square in the 18th century, a miller's hut by the "Dry Stream" whose water the devil is said to have taken, robbers' caves and a tower with a well recalling legends of the castle's treasure.

Practical information

• Free admission – it is a public spa park.
• Entrances: from ul. Mściwujewskiego, above the sanatoriums, convenient for wheelchairs and families with children, or by steps from the "Antoni" pump room to the top of Sucha Góra.
• Animals: not allowed, except guide dogs.
• Fires: there is a shelter where you can light a fire; bring your own wood and leave the place clean.

Tripto tip

Allow 1–1.5 hours for a walk including the tower. Spring, when the crocuses bloom, is the most beautiful time; in summer the flowerbeds bloom and the fruit bushes in the taste zone ripen. If you have a dog, plan another walk, as animals are not allowed in the gardens. The visit combines easily with the "Antoni" pump room and the castle ruins.