Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Fortifications
Węgierska Górka
In the woods on the slope above Cisiec, a short walk from the centre of Węgierska Górka, stands a moss-covered concrete block with dark gun embrasures. This is "Waligóra", a large bunker of the September 1939 defence line – an artillery ca…
Fortifications
Węgierska Górka
The concrete walls of this bunker still bear the marks of shells from September 1939. "Wędrowiec" was the heart of the defence of Węgierska Górka: Captain Tadeusz Semik commanded from here, and the crew surrendered only after three days of…
Mountains & peaks
Brenna
On the ridge of Grabowa, archaeologists have found traces of Middle Palaeolithic early humans, probably of the Mousterian culture. Today, right next to the summit of this mountain (907 m), stands Chata Grabowa — a lodge in highland style,…
Nature
Mstów
According to local legend, this limestone rock above the Warta River is a pair of lovers turned to stone by the girl's mother. Skała Miłości, the "Rock of Love" in Mstów, a dozen or so kilometres from Częstochowa, is about 15 m high and is…
Mountains & peaks
Ogrodzieniec
The iron cross on top of Skała Rzędowa is visible from afar, because this limestone outcrop rises alone from the fields on the eastern edge of Bzów, a district of Zawiercie. According to the town, it is one of the highest points in the are…
Mountains & peaks
gmina Niegowa
Between the ruin of Mirów Castle and the rebuilt fortress of Bobolice runs a rocky ridge where the Trail of the Eagles' Nests leads quite literally over the tops of the limestone outcrops. In one of the caves here, the unassuming Stajnia (…
Nature
Podzamcze
Two limestone rocks by the walls of Ogrodzieniec Castle share a common base, which is why they are called the Two Sisters – Sfinks (Sphinx) and Lalka (Doll), with a third, Niedźwiedź (Bear), standing next to them. The Podzamcze Rock Town i…
Nature
Zawiercie
White limestone outcrops rising out of the woods and fields are the signature of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland – and the reason the whole region is simply called the Jura. The rock formed on the floor of a shallow sea in the Late Jurassic,…
Mountains & peaks
Włodowice
Above the fields east of Rzędkowice runs a wall of white limestone outcrops more than a kilometre long, visible from afar because it stands in open country rather than forest. The Rzędkowice Rocks are one of the most popular climbing areas…
Museums
Pszczyna
In the eastern part of Pszczyna's historic park, in the shade of old trees, stands a village that never stood here. Its cottages, barns, granaries and forge were moved from villages around Pszczyna, and since 1975 they have formed the Zagr…
Other
Racibórz
Next to the oldest church in Racibórz lies a small square with a fountain and benches. It is named after Monsignor Stefan Pieczka, for many years parish priest of the church next door – a man locals remember as someone who could talk to an…
Gardens
Chudów
The Silesian Botanical Garden in Mikołów (pronounced roughly "mee-KOH-woof") is one of the largest botanical gardens in Poland, covering about 117 hectares (290 acres) on the southern edge of the Katowice metropolitan area. It occupies a f…
Gardens
Radzionków
On Księża Góra hill in Radzionków, nature is reclaiming land that miners dug up for centuries. The Silesian Botanical Garden in Radzionków is a habitat garden: instead of neat flowerbeds it shows meadows, grasslands and thickets that are b…
Museums
Katowice
In the Brynów district of Katowice stands the red-brick former clothing store of the Wujek coal mine. On 16 December 1981, three days after martial law was declared in communist Poland, a special riot-police (ZOMO) platoon fired on strikin…
Museums
Węgierska Górka
In Cięcina, in the Żywiec Beskids, the Stopka family rescues old wooden cottages from across the region and assembles them into a new-old highland hamlet. Next door grazes a flock of several hundred sheep, and in a wooden shepherd's hut sh…
Landmarks
Olsztyn
At the northern foot of the castle ruins in Olsztyn, near Częstochowa, stands a building that spent more than two centuries somewhere else entirely. This larch-wood granary from 1783 was built on a manor farm in Borowno, taken apart beam b…
Other
Częstochowa
Near Częstochowa the Warta does something unexpected: flowing along the edge of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, it suddenly turns east and cuts through Jurassic limestone, creating a gorge some 12 km long. From a kayak you see limestone out…
Other
Stara Wieś
Kayaking the Liswarta River (lees-VAR-tah) is one of the most popular paddling trips in Poland's Silesian region. This small, winding river in Kłobuck County, about 30 km northwest of Częstochowa, slips through forest and meadow, and its l…
Ski resorts
Bytom
In the middle of Upper Silesia, a few steps from a beech forest, skiers glide down a slope created on the site of a former dolomite mine. Sport Dolina (formerly Dolomity Sportowa Dolina) has operated since 1 December 2002 in Bytom's Sucha…
Ski resorts
Wisła
Soszów Ski Area in Wisła (say "SO-shoof" and "VEE-swah") sits in the Jawornik valley on the slopes of Soszów Wielki (886 m / 2,907 ft) in the Silesian Beskids, now branded as Wisła Soszów Ski&Bike Arena. It is one of the most popular ski h…
Mountains & peaks
Zwardoń
Zwardoń sits high on a pass by the Slovak border, and snow lasts longer here than in the valleys. The biggest ski area in the village is Zwardoń Ski on the western slope of Mały Rachowiec – with the first chairlift in the area and a run yo…
Museums
Pszczyna
The ducal horses of Pszczyna lived in a Gothic Revival hall with rib vaults resting on cast-iron columns, each in one of 36 stalls – the interior looks more like a church than a stable block. The Ducal Stables on ul. Basztowa, a few steps…
Museums
Milówka
The Old Cottage (Stara Chałupa) at 1 Piastowska Street in Milówka is a timber house built in 1739, one of the oldest surviving examples of folk architecture in the Żywiec region. Today it houses a small museum run by the municipal cultural…
Other
Jeleśnia
On the market square of Jeleśnia, in the heart of the Żywiec region, stands a wooden inn where people have been eating and drinking for generations – and still do. The Stara Karczma (Old Inn) is a vanishing type of Polish village inn and o…