Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Gardens
Siemianowice Śląskie
Bażantarnia is a forest in Bańgów, a district of Siemianowice Śląskie, protected since 1997 as an ecological site of around 39 ha. Oaks, limes, ash trees and sycamores grow here, and right next to the woods are ponds and a small brine grad…
Churches & monasteries
Kraków
The Dominican Basilica in Kraków – the Basilica of the Holy Trinity on Stolarska Street – is a soaring Gothic brick church just a few minutes from the Main Market Square. Dominican friars have been based here since 1222, and the church is…
Churches & monasteries
Kraków
The Franciscan Basilica in Kraków – formally the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, on All Saints' Square (plac Wszystkich Świętych) – is one of the oldest churches in the Old Town and a must for anyone who loves Art Nouveau. Its interior…
Churches & monasteries
Trzebnica
The Basilica and Sanctuary of St. Hedwig in Trzebnica (say "tsheb-NEE-tsah") is Silesia's oldest shrine and the resting place of St. Hedwig of Silesia, patron saint of the region. A Romanesque brick church from the early 13th century, the…
Churches & monasteries
Kołobrzeg
The Co-Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Kołobrzeg (say "koh-WOH-bzheg") is the Baltic resort town's greatest monument: a five-aisled Gothic brick church whose massive tower block rises over the old town. Inside are rare medieval tre…
Churches & monasteries
Kodeń
The Basilica of St Anne in Kodeń (say KO-den-yuh) is a late Renaissance church with a Baroque facade, home for more than 300 years to the icon of Our Lady of Kodeń, called the Queen of Podlasie and the Mother of Unity. It stands on the mar…
Churches & monasteries
Zawiercie
Five red-brick towers above central Zawiercie are a reminder of the days when the town grew up around a huge cotton mill. The neo-Gothic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul was built for the workers of the Zawiercie Joint-Stock Company (TAZ)…
Churches & monasteries
Leżajsk
The Basilica of the Annunciation in Leżajsk (say "LEH-zhysk") is the church of a fortified Bernardine (Franciscan) monastery in southeastern Poland and one of the region's most important Marian shrines. Built in the early 17th century on t…
Nature
Olsztyn
From a distance, this treeless rocky ridge topped by a cross looks like a miniature of Giewont, the famous peak in the Tatra Mountains, and that's exactly what hikers call it: Little Giewont. Biakło, near Olsztyn just outside Częstochowa,…
Nature
Goniądz
Goniądz stands on a high escarpment, and below it lies the Biebrza valley – one of the largest wetlands in Central Europe. Walk down from the market square to the river and onto the bridge, and you see meanders, reed beds and meadows stret…
Landscape parks
Kraków
Bielany-Tyniec Landscape Park (Bielańsko-Tyniecki Park Krajobrazowy, roughly "byeh-LAHN-skoh ti-NYETS-kee PAHRK krah-yo-brah-ZOH-vee") is a green belt along the Vistula in western Kraków, combining the Benedictine abbey in Tyniec, the Cama…
Old towns & squares
Kraków
The Kraków Christmas Market 2026 opens on the Main Market Square on 27 November 2026 and runs until 6 January 2027. Wooden stalls go up between the Cloth Hall, St Mary's Basilica and the Mickiewicz Monument, and Galician mulled wine is pou…
Nature
Zabierzów
The Bolechowice Gate is a pair of limestone rocks 25–30 m high that form a natural entrance to the Bolechowicka Valley, about 15 km from Kraków. On the east side rises the Abazy Pillar (Filar Abazego), on the west the Penitents' Pillar (Fi…
Landmarks
Kraków
St. Florian's Gate in Kraków (Polish: Brama Floriańska, "BRAH-mah flo-RYAN-skah") is the medieval city gate and tower that marks the northern entrance to the Old Town at the top of Floriańska Street. Together with a surviving stretch of th…
Landmarks
Szydłów
The Kraków Gate in Szydłów ("SHID-woof") is the only one of the town's three medieval gates still standing, and the emblem of a small town often called the "Polish Carcassonne." This 14th-century stone gate tower, crowned by a Renaissance…
Fortifications
Wieluń
The tower that now serves as Wieluń's town-hall tower began life as a medieval town gate guarding the road to Kraków. The Kraków Gate (Brama Krakowska) is the only surviving gate of Wieluń's old walls, and since 1842 it has been part of a…
Landmarks
Malbork
Of the entire ring of Malbork's medieval town walls, only two gates survive: St Mary's Gate and the Potters' Gate. Both are Gothic towers from the second half of the 14th century that came through sieges, fires, the French and the fighting…
Fortifications
Byczyna
The German Gate, Byczyna's western gate tower, is the first thing you see when you enter the old town from national road 11. The lower part of the tower is built of rubble stone, the upper part of brick, and its name comes from the fact th…
Fortifications
Niemodlin
In the forest near Niemodlin two brick piers with arched openings stand on their own, as if someone forgot the rest of the building. This is the Niemodlin Gate, also called the Black Gate – one of five gates of the former deer park of the…
Fortifications
Byczyna
According to local historians, it was beneath this gate in 1588 that Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg – a claimant to the Polish throne defeated by Hetman Jan Zamoyski – surrendered. Byczyna's eastern gate tower, known as the Polish Gate, s…
Landmarks
Szczecin
The Harbour Gate (Brama Portowa) is a Baroque fortress gate that now stands alone in the middle of one of Szczecin's busiest squares. The city's official tourism portal calls it the most impressive Baroque fortress gate in West Pomerania.…
Other
Imiołki
A steel fish 36 m long and 9 m wide stands on a grassy hill above Lake Lednica. This is the Gate of the Third Millennium, built in 1997 on the initiative of the Dominican Father Jan Góra – and walking beneath it is the climax of every Ledn…
Other
Stary Sącz
Next to the wall of the Poor Clares' convent in Stary Sącz stands a carved wooden gateway you would hardly expect in a small town in southern Poland. It is a Székely gate – the traditional gate of the Székelys (Szeklers), a Hungarian-speak…
Landmarks
Elbląg
The Market Gate in Elbląg (Brama Targowa, sometimes listed as the Market Tower) is the only surviving gate of the city's medieval walls and its best-loved symbol. The 26-meter Gothic brick tower with its clock closes the northern end of th…