Things to do in Warmia-Masuria
101 attractions in Warmia-Masuria, including Wolf's Lair, Lake Mamry and Elbląg Canal. Map, details and practical tips before you go.
All attractions (101)
Fortifications
Wolf's Lair
gmina Kętrzyn
The Wolf's Lair (Polish: Wilczy Szaniec, German: Wolfsschanze) near the village of Gierłoż (say "GYER-wosh") in north-eastern Poland is what remains of Adolf Hitler's main military headquarters during World War II. Spread over some 250 hec…
90–180 min
Lakes
Lake Mamry
gmina Węgorzewo
Mamry is the second-largest lake in Poland: the whole complex of six connected lakes covers about 100 km² and holds 33 islands. They were once separate lakes linked by streams – only in the 16th and 17th centuries did the water rise by sev…
180–480 min Free entry
Technical monuments
Elbląg Canal
gmina Pasłęk
The Elbląg Canal (Kanał Elbląski, roughly "EL-blong") in northern Poland is one of the strangest waterways you can travel anywhere: on its northern stretch, boats leave the water, ride on rail-mounted cradles and are hauled across grassy h…
Hidden gemLakes
Lake Selmęt Wielki
gmina Ełk
Selmęt Wielki is one of the largest lakes in the Ełk Lake District in Masuria, north-eastern Poland: it covers about 1,269 ha and is 11.6 km long and up to 3.5 km wide. The Lega river flows through it, so kayakers cross the lake from north…
120–360 min Free entry
Hidden gemFortifications
Boyen Fortress in Giżycko
Giżycko
Boyen Fortress in Giżycko (say "gee-ZHITS-ko") is a vast 19th-century Prussian fort in the heart of Poland's Masurian Lake District, about 250–280 km north-east of Warsaw. Built to guard a narrow strip of land between two lakes, it still h…
90–150 min
Hidden gemChurches & monasteries
Co-Cathedral Basilica of St James in Olsztyn
Olsztyn
In the winter of 1807 the French locked about 1,500 prisoners of war inside St James's Church in Olsztyn, and to survive the frost they burned almost everything made of wood. That is why the interior of today's co-cathedral is plainer than…
30–45 min Free entry
Hidden gemCastles
Castle of Warmian Bishops in Lidzbark Warmiński
Lidzbark Warmiński
The Castle of the Warmian Bishops in Lidzbark Warmiński (say "LEEDZ-bark var-MEEN-skee") is one of the best-preserved Gothic fortified residences in Poland and for more than four centuries the main seat of the prince-bishops of Warmia. The…
Hidden gemLandscape parks
Masurian Landscape Park
Krutyń
The Masurian Landscape Park (Mazurski Park Krajobrazowy) protects more than 560 km² (215 square miles) of forest, glacial lakes and old villages in the heart of Poland's Masurian Lake District, between the resort towns of Mikołajki, Mrągow…
Free entry
Hidden gemPalaces
Drogosze Palace
gmina Barciany
365 windows for the days of the year, 52 rooms for the weeks, 12 chimneys for the months, 7 balconies for the days of the week and 4 portico columns for the seasons — this is how tradition explains the architecture of Drogosze Palace, and…
Hidden gemLandscape parks
Iława Lake District Landscape Park
Iława
Lake Jeziorak stretches for 27.5 kilometres, making it the longest lake in Poland — and in 1993 the Iława Lake District Landscape Park was created around it. The lake has 17 islands, and cormorants, herons and white-tailed eagles nest in t…
Free entry
Hidden gemCastles
Castle of Warmian Bishops in Olsztyn
Olsztyn
Warmian Chapter Castle in Olsztyn (pronounced roughly "OL-shtin") is a 14th-century Gothic brick fortress and the top sight in the capital of Poland's Warmia and Masuria lake region. Nicolaus Copernicus ran the surrounding estates from her…
Free entry
Hidden gemCastles
Ryn Castle
Ryn
Ryn Castle (say "rin") is a medieval Teutonic Knights' fortress on a hill between two lakes in the small town of Ryn, right in the middle of Poland's Great Masurian Lakes. After centuries as a seat of local officials and later a Prussian p…
Hidden gemCastles
Nidzica Castle
Nidzica
Nidzica Castle was completed in the spring of 1409, and just a year later, on 12 July 1410, the Polish army took it without a fight on its way to the Battle of Grunwald. This mighty brick fortress of the Teutonic Knights, on a hill above t…
Hidden gemCastles
Ostróda Castle
Ostróda
For six weeks in 1807 this Teutonic Knights' castle was Napoleon's headquarters. From here he ran his empire and signed the decree creating the first battalions of a horse-drawn military train in history. Before that, the fortress on Lake…
Hidden gemTechnical monuments
Viaducts in Stańczyki
gmina Dubeninki
The Stańczyki Viaducts (roughly "stahn-CHIH-kee") are two twin railway bridges deep in the Romincka Forest in the far northeast of Poland's Masuria region, near the town of Gołdap and the Russian border. Their towering concrete arches, abo…
Hidden gemCastles
Kętrzyn Castle
Kętrzyn
Kętrzyn Castle is a Gothic Teutonic Order stronghold built around 1360–1374, the oldest monument of the former Rastenburg and today home to the Wojciech Kętrzyński Museum and the town library. The three-winged brick building tells the stor…
Museums
Ethnographic Park in Olsztynek
Olsztynek
The Olsztynek Open-Air Museum (say "ol-SHTIN-ek"), officially the Museum of Folk Architecture – Ethnographic Park, is one of the oldest and largest skansens (open-air museums) in Poland. Spread over about 77 hectares in the Warmia-Masuria…
Nature
Bażantarnia Forest Park, Elbląg
Elbląg
Bażantarnia in Elbląg (roughly "ba-zhan-TAR-nya," meaning "pheasantry") is a historic forest park of 369 hectares (about 910 acres) inside the city limits, on the edge of the Elbląg Upland. Deep ravines, streams and beech-covered hills ear…
Free entry
Churches & monasteries
Collegiate Basilica of the Holy Saviour and All Saints in Dobre Miasto
Dobre Miasto
The Collegiate Basilica in Dobre Miasto (DOH-breh MYAH-sto, "Good Town") is a 14th-century Gothic complex and the second largest church in Warmia, northern Poland. A red-brick church with a tall tower stands inside a compact quadrangle of…
Churches & monasteries
Basilica of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Braniewo
Braniewo
St. Catherine's Basilica in Braniewo (bra-NYEH-vo) is a monumental Gothic hall church with a 63 m tower, blown up in 1945 and rebuilt from ruins between 1979 and 1986. Today it is a minor basilica and a Fatima shrine, and its brick tower i…
Landmarks
Market Gate in Elbląg
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…
Free entry
Other
Zygmunt August Boulevard in Elbląg
Elbląg
From the riverside quay below Elbląg's Old Town you can sail in two directions: south onto the Elbląg Canal, where boats overcome almost 100 m of height difference by riding on rail carriages over dry land, or north across the Vistula Lago…
Free entry
Museums
Galeria EL Art Center, Elbląg
Elbląg
Galeria EL Art Center in Elbląg (Centrum Sztuki Galeria EL; say "EL-blonk") is a contemporary art gallery set inside a Gothic former Dominican church, one of the oldest buildings in this northern Polish city. Bare brick walls, historic epi…
Nature
Bażyński Oak in Kadyny
Kadyny
The Bażyński Oak in Kadyny is one of the oldest and thickest trees in Poland – a pedunculate oak whose age dendrochronological research puts at around 716 years. It grows right by the road from Elbląg to Frombork, in a former imperial vill…
Free entry