Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Castles
Kórnik
Kórnik Castle (say "KOOR-neek") is a fairy-tale neo-Gothic residence surrounded by water, about 20 km southeast of Poznań in western Poland. Its walls have stood for almost 600 years without ever being destroyed, and today they hold a muse…
Castles
Koźmin Wielkopolski
Koźmin Wielkopolski Castle is a Gothic stronghold from the second half of the 14th century that the Górka family turned into a Renaissance residence and that has housed a succession of schools since the 19th century. Above the plastered wi…
Castles
Krapkowice
Where the Osobłoga flows into the Oder stands a four-winged residence whose history reads like a catalogue of Silesian plot twists. Krapkowice Castle was bought in 1582 for 1,600 thalers, rebuilt as a grand seat of the von Redern family, b…
Castles
Lubliniec
In 1655 Lubliniec Castle sheltered Poland's most precious painting. Fearing the Swedes would seize it, the Pauline monks moved the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa here from Jasna Góra, and for a short time it was hidden by the castle's ow…
Castles
Malbork
Malbork Castle (pronounced roughly "MAHL-bork") in northern Poland is the largest castle in the world by land area and the former capital of the Teutonic Knights, a crusading order that ruled much of the Baltic coast in the Middle Ages. It…
Castles
Zakliczyn
Melsztyn Castle (say "MEL-shtin") is a medieval hilltop ruin above a gorge of the Dunajec River in southern Poland, about 30 km southwest of Tarnów and some 80 km by road east of Kraków. Once the seat of the powerful Leliwa family, it lay…
Castles
Międzyrzecz
Międzyrzecz Castle (say "myen-DZEH-zhech") is the preserved ruin of a royal brick fortress founded by King Casimir the Great in the 14th century, in a small town in western Poland's Lubuskie region. Ringed by a water-filled moat, with two…
Castles
Milicz
The ruins of Milicz Castle stand by the Barycz River, in a 50-hectare park next to the classicist palace of the Maltzan family. The brick walls of this former seat of the bishops of Wrocław, built at the end of the 13th century, cannot be…
Castles
Muszyna
Muszyna Castle (MOO-shih-nah) is a partly rebuilt medieval stronghold on Baszta hill (527 m) above the Poprad River valley and the small spa town of Muszyna in southern Poland. After a reconstruction completed in 2023, the former ruin has…
Castles
Niepołomice
The Royal Castle in Niepołomice (pronounced roughly "nyeh-po-woh-MEE-tseh") is a Gothic-and-Renaissance royal residence on the edge of the Niepołomice Forest, about 25 km (15 miles) east of Kraków. Thanks to its arcaded courtyard it is oft…
Castles
Olsztynek
On a hill above Olsztynek stands a Teutonic castle that has housed schools since the 19th century. It was built in 1350–1366 on the orders of the Ostróda commander Günther von Hohenstein, and the town that grew up around it was called Hohe…
Castles
Oporów
Oporów Castle (roughly "OH-po-roof") near Kutno in central Poland is one of the best-preserved Gothic fortified residences in the country: a compact red-brick castle from the 1400s standing on an artificial island ringed by a moat, inside…
Castles
Osieczna
On the shore of Lake Łoniewskie in southern Greater Poland stands a castle whose Gothic walls hide beneath an eclectic costume from around 1900. It is first mentioned in 1472, and the whole complex is dominated by a 26-metre tower built in…
Castles
Oświęcim
Oświęcim Castle (osh-VYEN-cheem) stands on a hill above the Soła River in southern Poland. Its Gothic defensive tower dates from the 13th century, and the castle, once the seat of the Dukes of Oświęcim, now houses the Castle Museum. The ex…
Castles
Piekoszów
Jan Aleksander Tarło, Voivode of Lublin, spent so much on this residence that, according to accounts, he had to sell 30 villages. His wife, Princess Anna Czartoryska, is said to have demanded to be driven to her new home by sleigh – althou…
Castles
Pszczyna
Pszczyna Castle (say "PSHCHI-na") is a former princely residence in southern Poland that now houses one of the country's best-preserved aristocratic interiors. Around 80% of its furnishings are originals from the days of the Hochberg princ…
Castles
Radom
An unassuming single-storey building on ul. Wałowa, now the presbytery of St John's parish church, is all that remains of the Royal Castle in Radom. Yet it was here in 1505 that the Sejm passed the Nihil novi constitution, which barred the…
Castles
Rogów Opolski
Rogów Opolski Castle, near Krapkowice, is a Renaissance and Neoclassical residence set in a 19th-century landscape park. Since 1965 it has belonged to the Provincial Public Library in Opole, which keeps its most valuable collections here:…
Castles
Sławków
On ul. Staropocztowa in Sławków, low stone walls rise out of the grass – the remains of a castle built by the bishops of Kraków at the end of the 13th century. When it was built, its circuit of walls, roughly 124 × 90 m, made it one of the…
Castles
Stopnica
In the western part of Stopnica, in the Ponidzie region, stands a royal castle founded around 1350 by Casimir the Great. Over more than 600 years it served as a royal stopover, a Calvinist stronghold, a Baroque palace, the seat of the dist…
Castles
Szczytno
The ruins of the Teutonic castle in Szczytno lie between Lake Długie and Lake Domowe Małe, just behind the town hall. The fortress from the second half of the 14th century was the seat of an Order official, later a hunting residence of the…
Castles
Szydłów
Szydłów Royal Castle stands on an escarpment sloping down to the valley of the little Ciekąca river, built into the walls of the town known as the Polish Carcassonne. Its Knights' Hall from around 1400 is the best-preserved medieval reside…
Castles
Iława
On the shore of Lake Szymbark, a few kilometres from Iława, stands one of the largest castle ruins in northern Poland. From a distance the brick quadrangle of 75 × 92 m, with ten towers and a clock tower, looks almost intact – only up clos…
Castles
Tworków
In January 1931, the glow above Tworków could reportedly be seen up to 60 kilometres away – the palace of the von Saurma-Jeltsch family was on fire. Arson for the insurance money was suspected from the start, and the insurer refused to pay…