Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Historic sites
Tarnów
The Old Cemetery in Tarnów (Stary Cmentarz, once called the Zabłocie Cemetery) is one of the oldest surviving cemeteries in Poland — older than Warsaw's famous Powązki. Spread over less than four hectares in the south of this Renaissance t…
Old towns & squares
Bydgoszcz
Old Fordon (Stary Fordon) is a former small town on the Vistula, part of Bydgoszcz since 1973 – with an intimate market square, churches, a historic synagogue and a view of the Fordon truss bridge. It looks nothing like big-city Bydgoszcz:…
Churches & monasteries
Zakopane
The Old Church in Zakopane (Stary Kościół, pronounced roughly "STAH-ri KOSH-choow"), officially the Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa, is the oldest parish church in Poland's best-known mountain resort. This small wooden church on Kościeli…
Old towns & squares
Bydgoszcz
The Old Market Square (Stary Rynek, "STAH-rih RIN-ek") in Bydgoszcz, Poland, is the heart of the medieval town founded in 1346 – a rectangular square of about 100 × 125 m (330 × 410 ft) framed by colorful townhouses, the town hall in a for…
Old towns & squares
Poznań
Poznań's Old Market Square (Stary Rynek, say "STAH-ri RIN-ek") is the historic heart of one of Poland's oldest cities and among the most colorful squares in Central Europe. A Renaissance town hall with mechanical goats, a row of painted me…
Lakes
Świętochłowice
In the northern part of Świętochłowice, where the districts of Lipiny and Chropaczów meet, lies a small valley that locals simply call Ajska. Its largest body of water is Ajska Pond, ringed by reeds and by rust-coloured spoil heaps left by…
Lakes
Złoty Potok
Amerykan is the largest pond in Złoty Potok and the easiest starting point for the Wiercica Valley in the Polish Jura. From the water a short walk takes you to the Krasiński manor, and within an hour you reach the springs and limestone roc…
Lakes
Miasteczko Śląskie
Gierzyna is a group of small woodland ponds in Miasteczko Śląskie, protected as an ecological site (użytek ekologiczny) since 2010. Its five shallow pools formed in old sand pits, and today they are a refuge for rare aquatic plants and amp…
Lakes
Siemianowice Śląskie
Rzęsa is the largest pond in Siemianowice Śląskie and the heart of the Bażantarnia nature and recreation area on the edge of town. Water has filled a former sand pit here, and today the pools are ringed by walking and cycling paths, a brin…
Lakes
Klucze
At the northern foot of Rudnica hill in Klucze lie two small ponds: Staw Zielony (Green Pond) and Staw Czerwony (Red Pond). The Małopolska regional tourism portal lists them among the most charming spots in the Klucze municipality. Greenis…
Lakes
Złoty Potok
This small pond on the upper Wiercica has two names: a plain one, the Green Pond, and a poetic one, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". According to local tradition the second was coined by the Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński, who spent the summe…
Technical monuments
Świnoujście
Stawa Młyny (roughly "STAH-vah MWIH-nih", "the Mills beacon") is a white, 10-meter navigation mark shaped like a windmill at the tip of the western breakwater in Świnoujście, where the Świna River meets the Baltic Sea. It is the town's bes…
Lakes
Zwierzyniec
The Echo Ponds (Stawy Echo, say "STAH-vih EH-ho") in Zwierzyniec are the most visited spot in Roztocze National Park in eastern Poland: four shallow ponds framed by pine forest and sand dunes, with a wooden viewing platform, boardwalks, a…
Lakes
Tworóg
The Szkarotkowe Ponds near Połomia make a good goal for a quiet walk or bike ride in the forests of Tworóg municipality: a string of woodland ponds covering about 10 ha in total, a shelter, benches and a wooden jetty. There's no boat hire…
Landmarks
Mstów
On a hill outside Mstów stand white stone walls without roofs, with a few barns still roofed among them – from a distance it looks like an abandoned village. This is the old barn quarter on Ściegna hill: a group of about thirty masonry bar…
Landmarks
Żarki
In the eastern part of Żarki, next to one of the largest markets in the region, stands a group of several dozen historic barns built of limestone and brick. They were put up after a fire in 1938 destroyed the earlier timber, thatched build…
Nature
Ogrodzieniec
On top of Straszykowa Góra (485 m), white limestone towers rise above the pine canopy, bearing names given by climbers: Felin, Fircyk, Skrzynia, Weselna, Dupinek, Kominowa and Skała pod Słupem. These are the Straszykowe Rocks – one of the…
Technical monuments
Katowice
On the site of the Katowice colliery, closed in 1999, three buildings went up in 2011–2015 that changed the city's image: the new Silesian Museum, the home of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) and the International Congr…
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…
Monuments & mounds
Ustka
In the design she had a graceful tail and a slender figure, but once cast in bronze – as the sculptor himself complained – she was holding not a salmon but "a dead carp". Despite its stormy beginnings, the Ustka Mermaid (Syrenka Ustecka) s…
Monuments & mounds
Warszawa
The Warsaw Mermaid (Syrenka, pronounced "sih-REN-kah") on the Old Town Market Square is the city's best-known monument to its own coat of arms: a sword-wielding mermaid with a round shield, standing in the middle of a square of pastel town…
Other
Łódź
It all started with a refusal: the committee of Łódź's Walk of Fame would not give a star to Miś Uszatek (Floppy-Eared Teddy) because – as its chairman Jan Machulski reportedly put it – it was a waste of money on "some teddy bear". Instead…
Historic sites
Białystok
The Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok (pronounced "bee-AH-wih-stok") is a marked walking route through the places that tell the story of Jewish life in this northeastern Polish city: synagogues, industrialists' villas, old neighborhoods,…
Landmarks
Wierzenica
The Trail of Wooden Churches around Zielonka Forest (Szlak kościołów drewnianych wokół Puszczy Zielonka) is a signposted driving route that links 12 wooden village churches just northeast of Poznań in western Poland. Built between the 16th…