Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Technical monuments
Wrocław
Wrocław Market Hall (Hala Targowa, say "HAH-lah tar-GOH-vah") is a working food market that has been trading since 1908 – and a landmark of early concrete engineering. Behind its red-brick facade, giant reinforced-concrete arches soar over…
Lakes
Leśna
Lake Złotnickie is a narrow reservoir, roughly eight kilometres long, on the Kwisa river, held back by a stone dam built a century ago. It lies in the Izera Foothills between Gryfów Śląski and Leśna, right next to a former mining town that…
Nature
Gruszków
The Colorful Lakes (Kolorowe Jeziorka, say "ko-lo-RO-veh yeh-ZHOR-ka") in the Rudawy Janowickie mountains are four small ponds filling old pyrite mine pits above the village of Wieściszowice in Lower Silesia, southwestern Poland. Each has…
Nature
Trzebnica
A short walk from the Basilica of St Hedwig, the Beech Forest begins – locals also call it Pustelnik, "the Hermit". Under tall beeches stand the chapels of an 18th-century Calvary, a brick forest church from 1886, a Lourdes grotto and the…
Lakes
Wrocław
Grunwald Bridge in Wrocław (Most Grunwaldzki, roughly grun-VAHLD-skee; the city is VROTS-wahf) is a 1910 steel suspension bridge over the Oder River and one of the most photographed landmarks in this western Polish city. Its chunky granite…
Other
Wrocław
On the north-western edge of Wrocław a white pylon 122 metres high, the tallest in Poland, rises above the Oder. Hanging from it, the Rędziński Bridge carries the A8 motorway over the river and over Rędzin Island with its historic locks. I…
Landmarks
Wrocław
Tumski Bridge in Wrocław (say "TOOM-skee") is the green steel bridge that carries you across the Oder River onto Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island), the oldest part of the city. Known locally as the Lovers' Bridge, it frames the twin spires…
Historic sites
Rogoźnica
In Rogoźnica near Strzegom, next to a former granite quarry, stood the German concentration camp Gross-Rosen. Some 125,000 prisoners passed through the main camp and its sub-camps, and the museum estimates the number of victims at about 40…
Other
Wrocław
Nadodrze is a district of tenement houses, workshops and painted courtyards just across the Oder, about 10 minutes' walk from the Market Square. In 1945 it suffered far less damage than the centre, so today it shows pre-war Wrocław in its…
Nature
Świerzawa
On the slope of Wielisławka hill, dozens of vertical stone columns stand side by side like the pipes of a giant organ. Organy Wielisławskie, the "Wielisław Organ Pipes" in Sędziszowa near Świerzawa, are the remains of a volcano more than 2…
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…
Gardens
Świdnica
Fountains, a rose garden, a pond with footbridges and a stone smith from Germanic mythology: Central Park in Świdnica is the town's best-known green space. It covers more than 9 ha and lies just south of the Old Town, so it fits easily int…
Landscape parks
Pilchowice
Bóbr Valley Landscape Park (Park Krajobrazowy Doliny Bobru, roughly "PAHRK krah-yo-brah-ZOH-vee doh-LEE-nee BOH-broo") protects the winding valley of the Bóbr River between Jelenia Góra and Lwówek Śląski in Lower Silesia, southwestern Pola…
Landscape parks
Sokołowsko
Sudety Wałbrzyskie Landscape Park (Park Krajobrazowy Sudetów Wałbrzyskich, roughly "PAHRK krah-yo-brah-ZOH-vee soo-DEH-tuv vahw-BZHIS-kikh") is a quiet mountain park south of the city of Wałbrzych in Lower Silesia, southwestern Poland. It…
Gardens
Legnica
Legnica City Park (Park Miejski, pronounced "park MYAY-skee") is the oldest and largest park in this Lower Silesian city: about 58 hectares of greenery right next to the Old Town, stretching along the Kaczawa River and the Młynówka mill st…
Gardens
Polanica-Zdrój
In Polanica-Zdrój chess is more than a game on a park bench. Since 1963 the spa town has hosted the Akiba Rubinstein Memorial, a tournament that has attracted world champions, and the Spa Park has a corner dedicated to the royal game. The…
Gardens
Wrocław
Szczytnicki Park (roughly "shchit-NEE-tskee") is Wrocław's grand green lung: about 250 acres (100 ha) of old trees, ponds and lawns right next to the UNESCO-listed Centennial Hall. Laid out in 1783, it was one of the first English-style la…
Gardens
Lubin
A Tyrannosaurus among century-old oaks, white-tailed eagles and capercaillies in aviaries, and next to them a wild riverside forest that nobody touches with an axe. Wrocławski Park is the oldest and most valuable park in Lubin in Lower Sil…
Gardens
Kudowa-Zdrój
Just beyond the pond at the western end of the Spa Park in Kudowa-Zdrój runs the border with the Czech Republic – that is how close to the border the green heart of this Sudeten spa town lies. The historic park, covering 12.97 hectares, wa…
Gardens
Polanica-Zdrój
The Spa Park in Polanica-Zdrój is home to 19 tree species from North America – among them Weymouth pine, silver maple and Douglas fir – and 15 of its trees are protected natural monuments. Almost 13 hectares of greenery right in the centre…
Gardens
Szczawno-Zdrój
Every day at noon and at 20:00, Henryk Wieniawski's "Polish Song" rings out from the Anna Tower above the Spa Park in Szczawno-Zdrój – the violinist is the patron of the park and of a festival named after him. Founded in 1812, it is the to…
Gardens
Wrocław
The Pergola and Multimedia Fountain in Wrocław (say "VROTS-wahf") is one of the city's favorite free things to do: a vine-covered, half-oval colonnade from 1913 wraps around a pond where Poland's largest multimedia fountain has danced to m…
Monuments & mounds
Bolesławiec
A dark obelisk about 10 metres tall, guarded by four lions, stands by the old town walls of Bolesławiec. It commemorates the Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Napoleon's nemesis, who died here in 1813. The monument was designed by Kar…
Viewpoints
Ostroszowice
The viewing platform below Wrona stands at about 429 m above sea level on a yellow-marked trail above the village of Ostroszowice, near Bielawa. Wrona itself (458 m) is the highest hill of the Niemcza-Strzelin Hills and one of the Crown of…