Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
Reszel
Above the rooftops of Reszel, a few steps from the castle of the Prince-Bishops of Warmia, rises the brick tower of the parish church – 52 metres high and eight storeys tall. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul was almost destroyed by fire…
Museums
Elbląg
The Archaeological and Historical Museum in Elbląg (say "EL-blonk") is the city's main museum and one of the most rewarding archaeology museums in northern Poland. Housed in two historic buildings on the riverside grounds of the former Teu…
Museums
Ruciane-Nida
The Masurians used to say that the meadow above Lake Nidzkie "prała" – that it smoked with morning mist – and that word gave the Pranie forester's lodge its name. From 1950 to 1953 Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński came here, and in this house…
Museums
Frombork
The Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork is a regional museum, founded in 1948, devoted to the astronomer who lived in this small town on the Vistula Lagoon for nearly three decades. It is not a single building but a group of sites: the…
Museums
Piecki
The former home of a collector in Piecki holds Poland's richest privately assembled collection of clay figures by Władysława Prucnal of Medynia Głogowska. Many of the scenes were designed by the founder herself, Walentyna Dermacka née Sapi…
Museums
Olsztyn
The Olsztyn Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory is one of the best family-friendly things to do in Olsztyn, the city where Nicolaus Copernicus once lived and worked. Opened in 1973, the planetarium's dome is a local landmark, but the…
Palaces
Morąg
Dohna Palace in Morąg (MOH-rong, the "ą" is a nasal vowel) is a Renaissance and baroque residence of the Dohna noble family, built in the 16th century, and since 2025 it has housed the Museum of Upper Prussia. The palace stands in the town…
Historic sites
Grunwald
The Grunwald Battlefield (say "GROON-vahld") in northern Poland's Warmia-Masuria region is where, on July 15, 1410, the combined armies of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania crushed the Teutonic Knights in one of the la…
Landmarks
Szczytno
Szczytno Town Hall looks like a medieval stronghold, but it is a reinforced-concrete building from 1936–1937, partly erected on the ruins of a Teutonic castle. A 46-metre tower rises above the four-winged block with its inner courtyard, an…
Museums
Barczewo
"We shall not abandon the land we come from" – the music for these words by Maria Konopnicka, the patriotic hymn "Rota", was written by a boy from Barczewo. Feliks Nowowiejski was born here on 7 February 1877, when the town was called Wart…
Churches & monasteries
Gietrzwałd
The Gietrzwałd Marian Shrine (gyet-ZHVAHLD) is the only site in Poland where Marian apparitions have been officially approved by the Catholic Church. In the summer of 1877 two girls reported seeing the Virgin Mary here, and today pilgrims…
Churches & monasteries
Lidzbark Warmiński
A Baroque rotunda surrounded by cloisters with corner chapels stands among the fields of Warmia, far from any town. In 1953 the communist authorities imprisoned the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, here – his cell and a memori…
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
Barczewo
On ul. Kościuszki stands a pale Neoclassical building with large round-arched windows that looks more like a concert hall than a house of prayer. It is Barczewo's former synagogue, the only one surviving in the Olsztyn district. It was sav…