Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Fortifications
Hel
The Heliodor Laskowski Battery in Hel is a pre-war Polish coastal artillery battery hidden in the pine forest at the very tip of the Hel Peninsula, a few hundred meters from Hel Lighthouse. In September 1939 its four Swedish-made Bofors gu…
Nature
Elbląg
Bażantarnia in Elbląg (roughly "ba-zhan-TAR-nya," meaning "pheasantry") is a historic forest park of 369 hectares (about 910 acres) inside the city limits, on the edge of the Elbląg Upland. Deep ravines, streams and beech-covered hills ear…
Gardens
Siemianowice Śląskie
Bażantarnia is a forest in Bańgów, a district of Siemianowice Śląskie, protected since 1997 as an ecological site of around 39 ha. Oaks, limes, ash trees and sycamores grow here, and right next to the woods are ponds and a small brine grad…
Churches & monasteries
Szczecin
The Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Szczecin (pronounced roughly "SHCHEH-cheen") is the city's mother church and one of the great brick Gothic landmarks of the Baltic coast. Its spire rises just over 110 meters (361 ft), making it the s…
Churches & monasteries
Kraków
The Dominican Basilica in Kraków – the Basilica of the Holy Trinity on Stolarska Street – is a soaring Gothic brick church just a few minutes from the Main Market Square. Dominican friars have been based here since 1222, and the church is…
Churches & monasteries
Kraków
The Franciscan Basilica in Kraków – formally the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, on All Saints' Square (plac Wszystkich Świętych) – is one of the oldest churches in the Old Town and a must for anyone who loves Art Nouveau. Its interior…
Churches & monasteries
Legnickie Pole
The Basilica and Abbey in Legnickie Pole (say "leg-NEETS-kyeh POH-leh"; German: Wahlstatt) is a Baroque former Benedictine monastery in Lower Silesia, built on the site of the Battle of Legnica — the 1241 clash in which a Polish-led army w…
Churches & monasteries
Trzebnica
The Basilica and Sanctuary of St. Hedwig in Trzebnica (say "tsheb-NEE-tsah") is Silesia's oldest shrine and the resting place of St. Hedwig of Silesia, patron saint of the region. A Romanesque brick church from the early 13th century, the…
Churches & monasteries
Inowrocław
Locals in Inowrocław still call this church "the Ruin", even though it has had a roof again for more than a century and serves as a parish church. Built of granite blocks between 1180 and 1230, it is the oldest church in the town and one o…
Churches & monasteries
Dobre Miasto
The Collegiate Basilica in Dobre Miasto (DOH-breh MYAH-sto, "Good Town") is a 14th-century Gothic complex and the second largest church in Warmia, northern Poland. A red-brick church with a tall tower stands inside a compact quadrangle of…
Churches & monasteries
Pułtusk
The Collegiate Basilica of the Annunciation in Pułtusk (pronounced "poo-WTOOSK") is one of Mazovia's finest churches and an official Polish "Monument of History". The Gothic and Renaissance building is famous for the "Pułtusk vault", a Ren…
Churches & monasteries
Kołobrzeg
The Co-Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Kołobrzeg (say "koh-WOH-bzheg") is the Baltic resort town's greatest monument: a five-aisled Gothic brick church whose massive tower block rises over the old town. Inside are rare medieval tre…
Churches & monasteries
Chełm
The white towers and green dome on top of Chełm Hill are visible from far away, and the building itself bears the marks of three Christian traditions. It was built in the 18th century as a Uniate (Greek Catholic) cathedral, turned into a R…
Churches & monasteries
Sejny
The Basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sejny (SAY-nih) is one of only two churches in Poland built in the Vilnius Baroque style, and it is well worth a stop if you are exploring far northeastern Poland. Its twin-tower…
Churches & monasteries
Wambierzyce
A monumental stone staircase leads up to the basilica in Wambierzyce: 56 steps, with 33 in the central flight symbolising the years of Christ's life. Above it rises a palace-like façade 52.5 m high, its balustrade lined with statues of the…
Churches & monasteries
Kodeń
The Basilica of St Anne in Kodeń (say KO-den-yuh) is a late Renaissance church with a Baroque facade, home for more than 300 years to the icon of Our Lady of Kodeń, called the Queen of Podlasie and the Mother of Unity. It stands on the mar…
Churches & monasteries
Rybnik
Two soaring towers with copper spires can be seen from almost anywhere in Rybnik. The neo-Gothic Basilica of St Anthony, informally called the Cathedral of the Rybnik Land, is considered the tallest church in Upper Silesia – Polish sources…
Churches & monasteries
Zawiercie
Five red-brick towers above central Zawiercie are a reminder of the days when the town grew up around a huge cotton mill. The neo-Gothic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul was built for the workers of the Zawiercie Joint-Stock Company (TAZ)…
Churches & monasteries
Gdańsk
St Bridget's Basilica in Gdańsk is a Gothic church in the Old Town known as the "church of Solidarity". In the 1980s it was one of the key centers of anti-communist opposition in Poland, and today it also draws visitors with its monumental…
Churches & monasteries
Ziębice
In German the church was called "Münster auf dem Berge", the minster on the hill, and the town itself Münsterberg. St George's Basilica has towered over the town since the second half of the 13th century, with a separate, free-standing bel…
Churches & monasteries
Braniewo
St. Catherine's Basilica in Braniewo (bra-NYEH-vo) is a monumental Gothic hall church with a 63 m tower, blown up in 1945 and rebuilt from ruins between 1979 and 1986. Today it is a minor basilica and a Fatima shrine, and its brick tower i…
Churches & monasteries
Bydgoszcz
The Basilica of St. Vincent de Paul in Bydgoszcz is a monumental neoclassical rotunda modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, standing on Ossolińskich Avenue just north of the city center. Vincentian priests began building it in 1924 as a votive…
Churches & monasteries
Strzegom
This Gothic church is about 80 metres long, built of local granite and basalt, and its tower still holds a bell cast in 1318 – one of the oldest working church bells in Poland. The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Strzegom was built by…
Churches & monasteries
Bolesławiec
A slender 55-metre tower and a brick-and-white gable patterned with lozenges are Bolesławiec's landmark, visible from many streets in the Old Town. Inside the 15th-century Gothic hall lies a completely different world: Baroque altars, gild…