Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
Brzesko
Szczepanów, a village a few kilometres from Brzesko, is by tradition the birthplace of St Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Bishop of Kraków and patron saint of Poland. The brick neo-Gothic basilica with its tall tower encloses a Gothic church fro…
Churches & monasteries
Czerna
Above the church portal in Czerna is a Latin inscription praising blessed solitude, and it sums up the place well. For almost two centuries the Discalced Carmelite monastery in the Eliaszówka Valley was a hermitage closed to lay people. To…
Waterfalls
Zakopane
Siklawa (roughly "shee-KWAH-vah") is Poland's highest waterfall, dropping about 65 to 70 m from the edge of the Great Pond into the Roztoka Valley in the High Tatras. It is one of the most spectacular things to see on a day hike from Zakop…
Waterfalls
Zakopane
Siklawica Waterfall (shee-klah-VEE-tsah) at the head of the Strążyska Valley is the easiest Tatra waterfall to reach from Zakopane. The Strążyski stream drops over two almost vertical rock steps below the cliffs of Giewont, the mountain th…
Nature
Skała
Where road 773 meets the road to Ojców, limestone crags rise from the left side of the Prądnik valley. Seen from the opposite bank of the stream, one of them looks like a walking man – hence its name, Skamieniały Wędrowiec, the Petrified W…
Museums
Dobczyce
Below the ruins of a royal castle, on a slope above Lake Dobczyce, stand a handful of wooden buildings rescued from flooding and demolition. The open-air section of the PTTK Regional Museum, named after Władysław Kowalski, was created whil…
Amusement parks
Zakopane
Every winter a snow maze is built from scratch at the foot of the Wielka Krokiew ski jump in Zakopane – the organisers stress that it is the only structure of its kind in Poland and call it the largest snow maze in the world. Producing the…
Mountains & peaks
Krościenko nad Dunajcem
At the edge of Sokolica's rocky ridge (747 m) grows a pine that has become one of the icons of the Pieniny, and its neighbours are among the oldest pines in Poland — a study of three trees in 1995–1996 found them to be about 550 years old…
Amusement parks
Niedzica
At Spiska Kraina, Dunajec Castle, the Red Monastery and the wooden church in Dębno stand just a few steps apart – at a scale of 1:20. This family amusement park in Niedzica-Zamek began with a miniature park of monuments of Podhale, Spiš an…
Other
Sromowce Wyżne
The oldest picture of a trip down the Dunajec dates from 1589 – a wall painting in the old church at Krościenko. Today raftsmen in highland costume take visitors on wooden rafts through the Pieniny Gorge of the Dunajec: about 8 km of meand…
Ski resorts
Krynica-Zdrój
Jaworzyna Krynicka (say "yah-vo-ZHI-nah kri-NITS-kah") is the largest ski area in the Sądecki Beskids. It rises above Krynica-Zdrój, one of Poland's best-known spa towns, to a summit of 1,114 m (3,655 ft). A year-round gondola runs to the…
Ski resorts
Zakopane
Polana Szymoszkowa (poh-LAH-nah shih-mosh-KOH-vah) is a ski area on the south slope of Gubałówka hill in Zakopane, Poland's best-known mountain town, and it is famous for its views: from the slopes you look straight at the High Tatras and…
Other
Tylicz
Tylicz Ski Station sits on the slopes of Bradowiec, a few kilometres from Krynica-Zdrój but away from its crowds. It has about 6 kilometres of runs, two chairlifts and separate beginner areas, and the slopes have snowmaking and floodlights…
Ski resorts
Wierchomla Mała
Wierchomla Ski Station lies in Wierchomla Mała, in a side valley between Piwniczna-Zdrój and Muszyna, within Poprad Landscape Park. Its slopes run between 590 and 896 m above sea level, and its signature lift is a 1,600 m four-seat chairli…
Ski resorts
Witów
From the top station of the chairlift in Witów you get a full view of Giewont, the Czerwone Wierchy ridge and the whole of the Western Tatras, and the way down is a wide, gentle slope without the crowds of Zakopane. Witów-Ski is a family s…
Old towns & squares
Kraków
Kraków Old Town (Stare Miasto) is the medieval core of Poland's former royal capital: a compact grid of streets, churches and university colleges wrapped in a ring of parkland, centered on one of the largest market squares in Europe. Toget…
Mountains & peaks
Chabówka
A road from Kraków to Hungary once crossed the glade at Stare Wierchy, with a toll point and an inn frequented by highwaymen. Today a PTTK mountain hut stands here, and the wide glade offers a panorama of the Tatras and Babia Góra. Stare W…
Historic sites
Tarnów
The Old Cemetery in Tarnów (Stary Cmentarz, once called the Zabłocie Cemetery) is one of the oldest surviving cemeteries in Poland — older than Warsaw's famous Powązki. Spread over less than four hectares in the south of this Renaissance t…
Churches & monasteries
Zakopane
The Old Church in Zakopane (Stary Kościół, pronounced roughly "STAH-ri KOSH-choow"), officially the Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa, is the oldest parish church in Poland's best-known mountain resort. This small wooden church on Kościeli…
Lakes
Klucze
At the northern foot of Rudnica hill in Klucze lie two small ponds: Staw Zielony (Green Pond) and Staw Czerwony (Red Pond). The Małopolska regional tourism portal lists them among the most charming spots in the Klucze municipality. Greenis…
Mountains & peaks
Wiśniowa
In spring the broad saddle of the Sucha Pass turns purple with crocuses, and all year round trails from Dobczyce, Myślenice and Kudłacze meet here. Yet Sucha Polana in the Lubomir and Łysina range is more than a place for a campfire: durin…
Mountains & peaks
Zakopane
Suche Czuby – properly Suche Czuby Kondrackie – are three granite crags on the main ridge of the Western Tatras, between Goryczkowa Czuba and Suchy Wierch Kondracki. The Polish–Slovak border runs along them, and the red trail from Kasprowy…
Landmarks
Nowy Sącz
The walls of the Nowy Sącz synagogue are only 8 m high – a privilege of 1699 stipulated that it could not rise above the smallest church in town. The Baroque Town Synagogue (Synagoga Grodzka) of 1746 stands at the heart of the former Jewis…
Landmarks
Czorsztyn
More than 1,500 km of routes and over 250 wooden monuments – Catholic and Orthodox churches, bell towers, manor houses, villas and open-air museums – make up the Wooden Architecture Route in the Małopolska region. Eight of them are UNESCO…