Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Coast
Frombork
Frombork harbour is at once a fishing, yacht and passenger harbour, and the cathedral helps with navigation: a red light in a tower window on Cathedral Hill serves as the rear leading mark. From the quay you therefore see the same towers t…
Nature
Giżycko
In the heart of the Borecka Forest, between Giżycko and Olecko, lies the Borki reserve – the central and best-preserved part of one of the most valuable forests of the Masurian Lake District. It is a realm of oak–hornbeam–lime woodland and…
Nature
Mikołajki
Lake Łuknajno (say "wook-NIGH-no"), about 5 km (3 miles) east of Mikołajki in Poland's Masurian Lake District, is a shallow, reed-fringed lake protected for its birds – above all the mute swan. It was the first site in Poland listed under…
Old towns & squares
Gołdap
Victory Square (Plac Zwycięstwa) is the former market square of Gołdap – a space so large that before the war it was regarded as the second-largest market square in East Prussia. Today it is hard to recognise the old trading centre: instea…
Old towns & squares
Olsztyn
Olsztyn's Old Town Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta, pronounced roughly "OL-shtin") is the heart of the capital of Warmia and Masuria in northeastern Poland and the natural starting point for exploring the city's compact old town. A red…
Old towns & squares
Frombork
Frombork's Market Square is laid out like a model of the Solar System: dark arcs in grey granite paving are the orbits, benches stand in for the planets, and Nicolaus Copernicus sits on the third one, Earth. The bronze figure looks towards…
Technical monuments
Ruciane-Nida
The Guzianka Lock (say "goo-ZHAN-ka") in Ruciane-Nida is a pair of chamber locks linking Lake Bełdany with the small Lake Guzianka Mała – the gateway from the main Great Masurian Lakes waterway to Ruciane-Nida and Lake Nidzkie in northeast…
Old towns & squares
Elbląg
Elbląg Old Town (say "EL-blonk") is one of the most unusual historic centers in Poland: it looks medieval at first glance, yet most of its gabled townhouses are less than forty years old. After the old Hanseatic town was flattened in 1945,…
Churches & monasteries
Święta Lipka
The Sanctuary of Święta Lipka (say "SHVYEN-tah LEEP-kah", meaning "Holy Linden") is a Baroque pilgrimage basilica in Poland's Warmia and Masuria lake district, run by the Jesuits. Its pink-and-ochre facade, arcaded cloisters and a famous o…
Landmarks
Olsztyn
The High Gate in Olsztyn (Polish: Wysoka Brama, "VIH-so-kah BRAH-mah"), historically called the Upper Gate, is a 14th-century Gothic town gate and the classic entrance to the Old Town of this lakeside city in northeastern Poland. It is the…