Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Old towns & squares
Zakopane
Krupówki is the backbone of Zakopane: more than a kilometre of pedestrian street climbing steadily uphill from the junction with Nowotarska and Kościeliska streets to ul. Zamoyskiego and al. 3 Maja. Cars – and even bicycles – are banned. I…
Old towns & squares
Gdynia
Gdynia's Modernist City Centre is Poland's newest UNESCO World Heritage Site: an entire downtown built between 1926 and 1939 around a brand-new seaport on the Baltic coast. Instead of a single monument, you get a walkable district of pale,…
Old towns & squares
Sopot
Monciak (say "MON-chak"), officially Bohaterów Monte Cassino Street, is the main pedestrian promenade of Sopot and one of the busiest spots on the whole Polish Baltic coast. The car-free street runs downhill from the railway station and St…
Old towns & squares
Warszawa
Warsaw's New Town (Nowe Miasto, pronounced "NO-veh MYAH-stoh") is a former independent town founded in the early 15th century just north of the Old Town, and today it is one of the most pleasant corners of the Polish capital's historic cen…
Old towns & squares
Poznań
Ostrów Tumski (say "OSS-troof TOOM-skee"), Poznań's Cathedral Island, is where the story of Poland began. On this island between the Warta and Cybina rivers stood the stronghold of Mieszko I, the first historical ruler of Poland; here the…
Old towns & squares
Wrocław
Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław (Cathedral Island, pronounced roughly OS-troof TOOM-skee, VROTS-wahv) is the oldest part of the city: a former island in the Oder River where the Piast dynasty built a stronghold in the 10th century and where a bis…
Old towns & squares
Wiślica
The name Plac Solny – Salt Square – recalls that Wiślica was once a town of merchants, not just of royal assemblies. Here, at the foot of King Casimir the Great's Gothic collegiate church, stands the glass pavilion of the Archaeological Mu…
Old towns & squares
Warszawa
Praga-Północ (roughly "PRAH-gah POO-wnots", meaning "Praga North") is the Warsaw district on the east bank of the Vistula where the prewar city still stands. Unlike the rebuilt center, much of Praga survived World War II, so you'll find re…
Old towns & squares
Płock
The Płock pier is a 358 m steel walkway that, instead of running straight out into the Vistula, curves along the bank. According to the city, it is the only structure of its kind in Poland. From the deck you look up at the escarpment with…
Old towns & squares
Międzyrzecz
Every day at noon the town bugle call sounds from the tower of Międzyrzecz town hall. The pink-and-white building with its neo-Gothic spire stands in the middle of an irregular square, surrounded by townhouses and St Adalbert's Church. It…
Old towns & squares
Kraków
Kraków's Main Market Square (Rynek Główny, say: RIH-nek GWOO-vnih) is the heart of the Old Town and one of the largest medieval town squares in Europe – roughly 200 by 200 meters, about 10 acres, laid out when Kraków received its town char…
Old towns & squares
Wieliczka
On Wieliczka's Upper Market Square the paving suddenly seems to open up and miners climb out of the crevice. This is "Salt World", a three-dimensional painting covering 350 m² and regarded as the largest work of its kind in Poland. The squ…
Old towns & squares
Międzylesie
The market square in Międzylesie is not square at all – it is an elongated triangle, with a Baroque column topped by the Virgin Mary rising from a small green in the middle. It was put up after a run of disasters struck the town at the end…
Old towns & squares
Kluczbork
The relief in the tympanum on the west wall of the town hall shows a square that no longer exists: the town hall surrounded by twelve small houses known as the "Twelve Apostles". A fire in 1925 destroyed eight of them; the two survivors st…
Old towns & squares
Lubomierz
Lubomierz escaped destruction in the Second World War, so its centre has kept the shape of a medieval market town. At its heart is plac Wolności (Freedom Square) – the old market place and main street in one, lined almost entirely with his…
Old towns & squares
Namysłów
Every day around midday a fanfare for three trumpets sounds from the tower of Namysłów town hall. Built in 1374–1378, with a 57-metre tower, the town hall stands in the middle of the square of the town where a peace treaty ending a Polish–…
Old towns & squares
Opole
Opole Market Square (Rynek, pronounced "RIH-nek") with its Town Hall is the historic heart of Opole, the capital of the Opole region in southern Poland, and the natural place to start any visit. The square keeps its medieval rectangular pl…
Old towns & squares
Trzebiatów
Trzebiatów Market Square and Town Hall (Trzebiatów is pronounced roughly "tsheh-BYAH-toof") form the heart of a small medieval town in northwestern Poland, about 30 km southwest of the Baltic resort of Kołobrzeg and some 110 km northeast o…
Old towns & squares
Białystok
Kościuszko Market Square (Rynek Kościuszki) is the main square of Białystok (say "BYAH-wis-tok"), the capital of the Podlasie region in northeastern Poland, about 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Warsaw. This long, car-free promenade center…
Old towns & squares
Toruń
The New Town Market Square (Rynek Nowomiejski) is the heart of what was once a second, completely separate Toruń. It was laid out when the New Town received its charter in 1264, and although it lies just a few minutes from the Old Town Mar…
Old towns & squares
Toruń
The Old Town Market Square in Toruń (pronounced roughly "TOR-oon") is the heart of one of Europe's best-preserved medieval towns and the natural first stop on any visit. In the middle stands the brick Gothic Old Town Hall with a 40-meter v…
Old towns & squares
Bielsko-Biała
The Market Square in Bielsko-Biała (roughly "BYEL-skoh BYAH-wah") is the heart of the city's Old Town, a sloping 80 × 60 m square on a hilltop where the medieval town of Bielsko was founded in the early 14th century. Lined with restored 18…
Old towns & squares
Bolesławiec
In the Wedding Hall of Bolesławiec town hall, newlyweds stand beneath a vault that Wendel Roskopf modelled on the royal Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle. That is the best reason to look not only into the ceramic shop windows on Bolesławiec'…
Old towns & squares
Bolków
Bolków's market square is not flat: it slopes towards the town hall, and steps lead up to the tall arcades of the houses on its west side. This layout is rare in Poland and easy to appreciate from any corner. Bolków Castle, also known toda…