Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Castles
Łagów
Łagów Castle (pronounced roughly "WAH-goof") is a 14th-century Gothic stronghold built by the Knights Hospitaller on a narrow strip of land between two lakes in western Poland. Today it is a hotel and restaurant with a 35-metre brick tower…
Castles
gmina Słońsk
From the 15th century Słońsk, 12 km from the German border, was the seat of the Brandenburg branch of the Knights Hospitaller. Their castle was rebuilt in the 17th century as a Baroque palace on Dutch models, housed the order’s museum and…
Castles
Odrzykoń
Kamieniec Castle in Odrzykoń (kah-MYEH-nyets, oh-jeh-KOHN) is a romantic Gothic ruin on a rock at 452 m above sea level, a few kilometers from the town of Krosno in southeastern Poland. A feud between two families over a wall that split th…
Castles
Karnity
On the shore of Lake Kocioł, in the wooded Iława Lake District, stands a building that looks like a medieval castle, though it was built in the age of the railway. Karnity Castle is a neo-Gothic palace from 1856, erected on the site of a m…
Castles
Lądek-Zdrój
On the summit of Karpiak, more than 780 metres above sea level, lie the stone foundations of a castle that for a century and a half was the capital of a small lordship in the Biała Lądecka valley. Its last lord robbed the countryside and e…
Castles
Lesko
In 1767 the cellars of Lesko Castle held 122 bottles of Hungarian wine, 64 barrels and several casks of mead – the household inventory of a residence that over four centuries changed hands many times, burned and was rebuilt. Kmita Castle i…
Castles
Piotrków Trybunalski
The Royal Castle in Piotrków Trybunalski (pronounced "PYOT-kuv trih-boo-NAL-skee") is a Gothic-Renaissance residential tower of brick and sandstone built in 1512-1519 for King Sigismund I the Old. It served as the king's residence during p…
Castles
Poznań
The Royal Castle in Poznań (roughly "POZ-nahn") crowns Przemysł Hill, a few minutes' walk from the Old Market Square in this western Polish city. It was the seat of Przemysł II, crowned King of Poland in 1295, and today houses the Museum o…
Castles
Sanok
Sanok Royal Castle (Sanok is pronounced roughly "SAH-nock") is a Renaissance residence on a bluff above the San River in southeastern Poland, and today it houses the Historical Museum in Sanok. Its biggest draw is the world's largest colle…
Castles
Radzyń Chełmiński
The castle in Radzyń Chełmiński is regarded as a model seat of a Teutonic Order commandery – a four-winged convent house almost 49 × 49 m in plan, with turrets at the corners and a massive octagonal main tower that may have stood around 48…
Castles
Świecie
Where the Wda flows into the Vistula stands a Teutonic castle with a tower that has been slowly leaning for centuries. About 35 metres tall and 106 cm off vertical, it is considered the tallest leaning tower in Poland open to visitors. Aft…
Castles
Ujazd
Krzyżtopór Castle (say "KSHISH-toh-poor") in the village of Ujazd is the vast ruin of a 17th-century noble residence in Poland's Świętokrzyskie region, about 12 km from the town of Opatów. Built for the magnate Krzysztof Ossoliński as a pa…
Castles
Głogów
A round brick tower crowned with a metal crown is the oldest part of a castle that hosted King Casimir IV Jagiellon, the future King Sigismund the Old and, three times, Napoleon. The Castle of the Dukes of Głogów was almost completely dest…
Castles
Ciechanów
Ciechanów Castle (Zamek Książąt Mazowieckich), the Castle of the Dukes of Masovia, is a Gothic red-brick fortress built in the early 15th century on the Łydynia river. Two massive round towers, walls about 10 m high and a spacious courtyar…
Castles
Rawa Mazowiecka
The octagonal tower of the castle in Rawa once held prisoners straight out of the history books: a son of the King of Sweden, a Swedish army commander and a self-proclaimed ruler of Moldavia. This Gothic castle, set in the marshy fork of t…
Castles
Darłowo
Darłowo Castle, officially the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes (say "dar-WOH-voh"), is the only Gothic seaside castle in Poland and one of the best-preserved medieval complexes on the Baltic coast. The brick fortress with a tower stands on…
Castles
Słupsk
The pale building with a slender tower above the Słupia river is the last residence of the Griffin dynasty that you can visit today as a museum. The castle was built in 1507 under Duke Bogislaw X, and a few steps away, in the White Granary…
Castles
Liw
A brick gate tower above the Liwiec river is what remains of a Gothic watch-castle that for a century and a half guarded a river crossing on Mazovia's eastern border with Lithuania. Today Liw Castle houses the Armoury Museum – with weapons…
Castles
Lublin
Lublin Castle is the single best place to start exploring Lublin (say "LOO-bleen"), the largest city in eastern Poland. On one hilltop you'll find a 13th-century Romanesque tower, a Gothic royal chapel covered in Byzantine-style frescoes f…
Castles
Rzeszów
Rzeszów Castle, also called the Lubomirski Castle, is a monumental building ringed by massive Baroque bastions and a moat, a few minutes' walk from the main square of Rzeszów (say "ZHEH-shoof"), capital of the Podkarpackie region in southe…
Castles
Trzebieszowice
In August 1813 King Frederick William III of Prussia came to this palace on the Biała Lądecka river to celebrate his birthday – and Tsar Alexander I was among the guests. Today the residence in Trzebieszowice goes by the name Zamek na Skal…
Castles
Płonina
The tower of Niesytno Castle is neither round nor square: it is an octagon with a sharp "beak" pointing east, and inside it are traces of two storeys of so-called warm rooms, lined with timber beams for insulation. Researchers consider thi…
Castles
Podzamcze
Netflix chose these ruins for the Battle of Sodden in "The Witcher", Andrzej Wajda filmed "Revenge" (Zemsta) here, and in 1984 Iron Maiden recorded a film insert for "Hallowed Be Thy Name". Ogrodzieniec Castle in Podzamcze stands on the hi…
Castles
Oleśnica
Stone lions holding coats of arms sit on the balustrade of the castle tower in Oleśnica, and on the east wing a duel painted in sgraffito has been going on for more than four hundred years. The Castle of the Dukes of Oleśnica, only about 3…