Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Monuments & mounds
Góra Świętej Anny
The Monument to the Silesian Insurgents on St. Anne's Mountain (Góra Świętej Anny, roughly "GOO-ra SHVYEN-tey AH-nee") is a massive granite memorial by sculptor Xawery Dunikowski, unveiled in 1955 above a former quarry turned giant amphith…
Monuments & mounds
Jarocin
A boot more than two metres tall, with a high leg, stands by one of Jarocin's busier junctions and tells you at once where you are. The "glan" – the heavy leather boot worn by the punks who flocked to Jarocin's concerts – became the symbol…
Monuments & mounds
Susiec
Kargul and Pawlak, the heroes of the cult Polish comedy "Sami swoi" ("All Friends Here"), stand in Susiec for a reason. This is where Sylwester Chęciński, director of the comedy trilogy about two feuding neighbours from beyond the Bug rive…
Monuments & mounds
Marcinkowo Górne
Nagi książę pędzący konno ze strzałą w plecach — ten nietypowy pomnik przypomina o jednym z najbardziej dramatycznych wydarzeń średniowiecznej Polski.
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…
Monuments & mounds
Toruń
Since 1853 a bronze Copernicus has stood in the south-eastern corner of Toruń's Old Town Market Square, one finger raised to the sky. The city calls it the most popular meeting point in Toruń and the most photographed sight in town. It pay…
Monuments & mounds
Frombork
Copernicus with a sprig of lily of the valley in his hand, six metres tall and distinctly unconventional: Mieczysław Welter's monument, unveiled in 1973, divided opinion from the start. Critics compared it to a block topped with a small he…
Monuments & mounds
Brochów
A tall concrete obelisk stands on the Vistula embankment at the edge of the Kampinos Forest. Here, on 18 September 1939, in the last days of the Battle of the Bzura, Wehrmacht soldiers shot Polish prisoners of war and civilians from the su…
Monuments & mounds
Gdańsk
The Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970 in Gdańsk – three soaring steel crosses with anchors on Solidarity Square, outside Gate No. 2 of the former shipyard – honors workers killed when the communist authorities crushed protest…
Monuments & mounds
Poznań
The Poznań June 1956 Monument, known locally as the Poznań Crosses (Poznańskie Krzyże), stands on Adam Mickiewicz Square in the city's Imperial District, next to the Imperial Castle. Two joined steel crosses, 19.5 m and 21 m tall and bound…
Monuments & mounds
Czerniejewo
By the old forest road known as the Leśniewo Track stands a white obelisk with a cross, and its base records the exact time of death: 12 noon, 30 December 1912. This is where Count Witold Skórzewski was killed in a hunting accident – a dip…
Monuments & mounds
Kołobrzeg
The Poland's Wedding to the Sea Monument in Kołobrzeg (roughly "ko-WOB-zheg") is a bold modernist landmark in the seaside park between the lighthouse and the pier. Unveiled in 1963, it commemorates the symbolic "wedding" of Poland and the…
Monuments & mounds
Mrzeżyno
Among the coastal pines of Mrzeżyno stands a large fieldstone boulder with a plaque, flanked by flagpoles. It marks 17 March 1945, when soldiers of the 1st Warsaw Cavalry Brigade reached the Baltic here and performed Poland's "wedding to t…
Coast
Ustka
Ustka began with its harbour: it was the medieval town of Słupsk that founded a landing place at the mouth of the Słupia, giving itself a window on the Baltic. Today fishing boats, yachts and excursion ships moor along the harbour canal, a…
Coast
Kołobrzeg
Kołobrzeg Harbor (roughly "ko-WOB-zheg") is the lively heart of this Baltic spa town: at the mouth of the Parsęta River, fishing boats, excursion ships and yachts share the quays, while a lighthouse on an 18th-century fort watches over the…
Coast
Mrzeżyno
Mrzeżyno harbour was founded — as its own port authority puts it — "for the sake of peace and quiet". In 1457 the townspeople of Trzebiatów, tired of disputes with Gryfice over navigation on the Rega and of an armed clash with Kołobrzeg, w…
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…
Old towns & squares
Warszawa
Praga-Północ (roughly "PRAH-gah POO-wnots", meaning "Praga North") is the Warsaw district on the east bank of the Vistula where the prewar city still stands. Unlike the rebuilt center, much of Praga survived World War II, so you'll find re…
Old towns & squares
Płock
The Płock pier is a 358 m steel walkway that, instead of running straight out into the Vistula, curves along the bank. According to the city, it is the only structure of its kind in Poland. From the deck you look up at the escarpment with…
Coast
Ustronie Morskie
The Ustronie Morskie promenade and beach (say oo-STRO-nyeh MOR-skyeh) are the heart of a laid-back Baltic resort about 10–12 km (6–7 miles) east of Kołobrzeg, on Poland's northwest coast. A wide sandy beach lined with wooden groynes, a sea…
Coast
Ustka
The Ustka seaside promenade is the walk that defines this small Polish Baltic resort: a raised boardwalk-style path running along the dunes from the lighthouse and harbor mouth eastward above a wide sandy beach. Ustka (say "OOST-kah"), onc…
Coast
Dziwnów
Dziwnów Promenade (pronounced roughly "JEEV-noof") is a seaside walkway of about 2.5 km in the small Baltic resort of Dziwnów in northwestern Poland. Its newest stretch, the Western Promenade, runs along the very top of a white sand dune,…
Other
Kórnik
The Kórnik Promenade (Kórnik is pronounced roughly "KOOR-neek") is a lakeside walking and cycling path along Lake Kórnik, a small town about 20 km southeast of Poznań in western Poland. Named after the Nobel Prize-winning poet Wisława Szym…
Coast
Międzyzdroje
The seafront promenade is Międzyzdroje's drawing room: it runs along the beach, links the pier, the Avenue of Stars and the Spa Park, and since 1996 its main section has been called Promenada Gwiazd (Promenade of Stars). Resort villas bega…