Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Lakes
Wrocław
Grunwald Bridge in Wrocław (Most Grunwaldzki, roughly grun-VAHLD-skee; the city is VROTS-wahf) is a 1910 steel suspension bridge over the Oder River and one of the most photographed landmarks in this western Polish city. Its chunky granite…
Lakes
Tychy
Lake Paprocany, known locally simply as Paprocany, is not a natural lake. It is an artificial reservoir of 132 ha, dammed for a former ironworks whose water cooled the furnace casing and drove the bellows and the hammer. Today it is the mo…
Lakes
Augustów
Augustów's town beach lies on the southern shore of Lake Necko, in the Zarzecze area, close to where the Netta flows out of the lake – the river that continues as the Augustów Canal. A sandy shore, a wooden pier with lamp posts and the gua…
Lakes
Czernichów
The lake beside Czernichów's beach was designed by the man who became Poland's first president. Gabriel Narutowicz, a hydraulic engineer, drew up the design for the dam on the Soła river together with Tadeusz Baecker, creating Lake Międzyb…
Lakes
Gołuchów
The sandy beach at ul. Leśna 1 is the lifeguarded bathing area of the Gołuchów Tourism and Sports Centre (GOTiS) on the reservoir formed by the Trzemna river. The water has an excellent record: in four consecutive official classifications…
Lakes
Dąbrowa Górnicza
Pogoria III in Dąbrowa Górnicza (say "DOM-brova goor-NEE-cha") is the most popular lake for summer fun in Poland's Upper Silesian metropolitan area: a man-made lake of about 205 hectares (500 acres) with a city beach, lifeguarded swimming…
Lakes
Dąbrowa Górnicza
The Kuźnica Warężyńska Reservoir, known locally simply as Pogoria IV, is the youngest and largest lake in the Dąbrowa Lake District: 560 ha of water in a former sand pit, up to 23 m deep. It lies within Dąbrowa Górnicza and the municipalit…
Lakes
Żory
The dozen or so forest ponds between Żory, Szczejkowice and Palowice were created not by nature but by industry. In the 19th century bog iron ore was dug here in open pits for the Waleska ironworks, and water filled the hollows left behind…
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…
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…
Lakes
Byczyna
The Biskupice-Brzózki reservoir was not built for sunbathers but to save the groundwater — west of Byczyna its level had dropped markedly. Built in 1995–1996 on the Pratwa river, the reservoir covers 42 ha, and on an island surrounded by a…
Lakes
Czarna Białostocka
The Czapielówka reservoir lies in a forest clearing right next to Czarna Białostocka, and it was created almost entirely by community effort: for nearly 10 years local residents, foresters and soldiers worked on it together. Today it serve…
Lakes
gmina Pilica
A few steps from the market square in Pilica, right by the springs of the river of the same name, lies a small reservoir whose shore offers a view of the town's church towers. In summer it has a bathing area with marked swimming zones and…
Lakes
Poraj
Poraj Reservoir was built not for holidaymakers but for steelworkers: its job was to store industrial water for the Częstochowa steelworks. Yet the planners allowed for recreation from the start, and recreation won. According to Poraj muni…
Lakes
Rybnik
Rybnik Reservoir (Zalew Rybnicki), which locals call the "Rybnik Sea", is a dammed lake on the Ruda river in the northern part of Rybnik, built for the Rybnik power station. For half a century it was famous for its warm water, which did no…
Lakes
Siemianówka
A railway embankment with two tracks – one standard-gauge and one broad-gauge – runs straight across the reservoir and ends at the Belarusian border. Siemianówka Reservoir (Jezioro Siemianowskie) is a dammed lake on the upper Narew River,…
Lakes
Jaworzno
Where the excavators of the Szczakowa sand mine finished work in the 1960s, there is now water. Sosina Reservoir covers about 50 hectares and is surrounded by another 30 hectares of woodland and meadows. In summer it is the main beach for…
Lakes
Mstów
Tasarki is a small artificial reservoir fed by springs, tucked into the Warta valley on the edge of Mstów, a village a dozen or so kilometres from Częstochowa. With a sandy beach, a wooden jetty and pine woods around it, it is where locals…