Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
Olsztynek
The Gothic church in the centre of Olsztynek burned at least three times, lost its vault in 1914 and was almost completely destroyed at the end of the Second World War. Yet it still stands – one of the oldest buildings in town and, in summ…
Landmarks
Olsztyn
The small building on ul. Zyndrama z Maszkowic is the first completed work of Erich Mendelsohn – the Olsztyn-born architect later famous for the Einstein Tower in Potsdam. The former Jewish pre-burial house Bet Tahara (Hebrew for House of…
Other
Giżycko
Five minutes' walk from Giżycko station is the town's largest yacht and passenger harbour. Ekomarina sits on the northern shore of Lake Niegocin, which covers more than 2,600 ha and is almost 40 metres deep, and has berths for 238 vessels.…
Technical monuments
Ełk
The Ełk Narrow Gauge Railway (Ełk is pronounced roughly "ewk") is a heritage line that takes visitors from the Masurian town of Ełk to Sypitki through forests, villages and lakeshores. It is the only active narrow gauge railway in Warmia-M…
Lakes
Mrągowo
Lake Czos is a narrow, deep ribbon lake that lies entirely within the town limits of Mrągowo – together with the Four Winds Peninsula. From the market square you reach the shore in a few minutes, and a promenade leads on to the beaches, th…
Lakes
Susz
Lake Gaudy covers 152 hectares, yet it is nowhere deeper than 2 metres, and its bed is covered by sediment several metres thick. Vast, dangerous marshes surround it, protected as a nature reserve since 1957. This is not a place for swimmin…
Lakes
Mikołajki
Lake Mikołajskie is a narrow glacial trough lake that links three of the big Masurian lakes: Tałty, Bełdany and Śniardwy. Water from the central and southern parts of the Great Masurian Lakes flows through it, and so do sailors and passeng…
Lakes
Giżycko
Niegocin is the lake on which Giżycko stands: from the town beach and concrete pier to the marinas at Wilkasy, more than 26 km² of water stretch out, crossed by the main sailing route of the Great Masurian Lakes. From here boats head north…
Lakes
Olsztynek
Lake Pluszne, officially Pluszne Wielkie, is 52 m deep – only slightly less than neighbouring Lake Łańskie (53.8 m) and Lake Wulpińskie (54.6 m). It lies among the Łańskie Forests on the Olsztynek Plain, and the whole lake is a quiet zone,…
Lakes
Mikołajki
Lake Śniardwy (say "SHNYAR-dvih") is the largest lake in Poland and the centerpiece of the Masurian Lake District, a glacial lake region in the country's northeast. Sailors call it the "Masurian sea": on a windy day you can barely see the…
Lakes
Olsztyn
Lake Ukiel (pronounced "OO-kyel"), known locally as Krzywe ("the crooked lake"), is the largest lake inside the city of Olsztyn and its favorite summer playground. Covering more than 400 hectares (about 1,000 acres) and reaching 43 meters…
Churches & monasteries
Elbląg
St. Nicholas Cathedral in Elbląg (say "EL-blonk") is a Gothic brick church whose 97-meter tower is the tallest church spire east of the Vistula River and the landmark you will see first as you approach this northern Polish city. Standing a…
Churches & monasteries
Frombork
Frombork Cathedral (Frombork is pronounced roughly "FROM-bork") is a vast Gothic brick church on Cathedral Hill above the Vistula Lagoon in northern Poland, and the burial place of Nicolaus Copernicus. The astronomer spent much of his work…
Technical monuments
Gołdap
At the top of Piękna Góra near Gołdap there is a café in which the whole room slowly turns on its axis. A full rotation takes about 50 minutes, so over one coffee and a slice of cake you can take in the entire panorama: Gołdap and its lake…
Churches & monasteries
Ruciane-Nida
On Lake Duś, a kilometre from the Masurian village of Wojnowo, stands a modest yellow building with an eight-pointed cross on its small tower. This is a former monastery of the Old Believers – Russian Orthodox Christians who rejected the c…
Churches & monasteries
Ostróda
On a high escarpment above Ostróda's old town and Lake Drwęckie stands the Neo-Gothic Protestant church of 1907–1909, whose massive tower with a double cupola can be seen from afar. It was designed by Berlin architect Oskar Hossfeld, and t…
Churches & monasteries
Mikołajki
The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Mikołajki (roughly "mee-ko-WAY-kee") is a pale, Neoclassical church with a tall yellow-brick clock tower, a short walk from the town's busy marina in the heart of the Masurian Lake District. Next door, t…
Churches & monasteries
Lidzbark Warmiński
The tower of Lidzbark's parish church is 66 m high and has shaped the skyline of the former seat of the Warmian bishops for centuries. The Collegiate Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul stands on Plac Kościelny, a few minutes from t…
Churches & monasteries
Prostki
In 1656, Tatar troops returning with their plunder from the battle of Prostki burned Ostrykół to the ground, together with its church and library, and carried off 1,326 people from the parish into captivity. The village was rebuilt, and a…
Churches & monasteries
Iława
In 1940 the people of Iława took their 18th-century bells down from the tower and handed them over to be melted down for the war industry. Yet the bells survived: in 1952 Pastor Schäffer from Osterode am Harz found them in the "bell cemete…
Churches & monasteries
Barczewo
In a side chapel of the church in Barczewo a stone cardinal kneels under an arch, while below him lies a knight in armour. They are Andrew and Balthasar Báthory, nephews of King Stephen Báthory of Poland, and the tomb was made in 1598 by t…
Churches & monasteries
Barczewo
The tallest landmark above Barczewo's roofs is the brick tower of the Church of St Anne and St Stephen, topped by a Baroque spire with a weathervane dated 1800. This is the town's parish church and one of the finest examples of Gothic chur…
Churches & monasteries
Orneta
The Church of St. John the Baptist in Orneta (or-NEH-ta) is a Gothic brick basilica with a 45 m tower, and it is one of the finest churches in the historic region of Warmia in northern Poland. Built of red brick, it stands out for its deco…
Churches & monasteries
Kętrzyn
St. George's Basilica in Kętrzyn (say KENT-shin) is one of the best-preserved fortified churches in Masuria, the lake district of northeastern Poland. Its red-brick Gothic walls once formed part of the town's medieval defenses, and the bui…