Poland Guide
Things not to miss
It's not possible to see everything that Poland has to offer in one trip – and we don't suggest you try. What follows is a selective taste of the country's highlights: outstanding buildings, historic sites and natural wonders. They're arranged in five colour-coded categories, which you can browse through to find the very best things to see and experience. All highlights have a page reference to take you straight into the Guide, where you can find out more.
1 Zamość
• A model Renaissance town located deep in the countryside of eastern Poland, and stuffed with the palaces and churches built by the Zamoyskis, one of the country's leading aristocratic families.
2 Rynek Glówny, Kraków
• A spectacular medieval market square, packed with fine architecture, in a country that's famous for them. Settle down in one of the numerous pavement cafés and soak up the atmosphere.
3 The Tatras
• Poland's prime highland playground is a paradise for hikers of all abilities, with relaxing rambles in sub-alpine meadows for the easy-going and hair-raising mountain ridge walks for the more experienced.
4 Vodka
• The essential accompaniment to any social occasion. It has to be drunk neat and downed in one go if you want to do things properly.
5 Młoda Polska
• Get to grips with the Belle Époque art movement that transformed Polish culture by visiting the Wyspiański Museum in Kraków.
6 Baltic beaches
• Experience the bracing sea breezes and mile upon mile of unspoilt sands in laid-back, old-fashioned seaside resorts like Międzyzdroje, Hel and Mielno.
7 Zalipie
• For an insight into the riches of Polish folk culture, visit the village whose householders are famous for their distinctive taste in interior design.
8 The Mazurian Lakes
• The central Mazurian Lakes are a hugely popular destination for Polish tourists in summer, but the further east you head into the lakeland, the closer you get to the lakes' essence as discovered by the first visitors here – beauty and solitude.
9 Hiking in the Bieszczady
• The grassy summits and bald ridges of the Bieszczady mountains provide Poland with some of its most alluring and accessible walking terrain.
10 Lublin
• A jewel of an old town and a large student population make Lublin the liveliest and most rewarding of Poland's eastern cities – and one that's relatively undiscovered by tourists.
11 Kazimierz Dolny
• One of the best-preserved small towns of Poland's rural heartland, and an age-old centre of Jewish culture, now popular with the Warsaw arts-and-media set, who descend on Kazimierz en masse on summer weekends.
12 Słowiński national park
• Trek across Sahara-like dunes just outside the seaside town of Łeba, pausing to sunbathe, birdwatch or explore World War II rocket installations along the way.
13 Gdańsk's ulica Długa
• A stroll down one of Poland's most beautiful set-piece streets will take you past a string of wonderfully restored town houses, recalling the mercantile dynasties that made Gdańsk one of the great trading centres of northern Europe.
14 Wieliczka Salt Mine
• One of Poland's most unexpected man-made marvels, featuring fabulously decorated subterranean galleries carved from rock salt.
15 Poznań
• Recharge your urban batteries in the down-to-earth, work-hard-and-play-hard city that epitomizes the invigorating mercantile bustle of the new Poland.
16 Rafting on the Dunajec
• Drift down the river Dunajec as it winds its way between the craggy peaks of the Pieniny mountains.
17 Toruń
• Birthplace of the astronomer Copernicus, and famous for the local gingerbread, Toruń is a medieval university town with a satisfying jumble of historical monuments, and a laid-back, easy-going charm.
18 The Great Escape
• Investigate the real story behind the Hollywood movie by paying a visit to Żagań, site of the notorious Stalag Luft III POW camp.
19 Wrocław
• Wrocław's historic core is an exhilarating mixture of architectural influences, from Flemish-style Renaissance mansions to the late Gothic monstrosity of its town hall. At its heart stands a typically vibrant, café-splashed Rynek.
20 Palace of Culture, Warsaw
• Love it or hate it, this soaring Art Deco monument to Stalinist ideology is still the outstanding feature of the downtown skyline.
21 Białowieża national park
• One of the most extensive areas of primeval forest in Europe, which you can explore on foot or by horse-drawn cart. Also famous for being home to a beast indigenous to Poland: the European bison.
22 Malbork Castle
• The Teutonic Knights lorded it over northern Poland for more than 200 years, and this – a rambling complex of fortifications on the banks of the Wisła – is their most imposing monument.
23 Auschwitz-Birkenau
• The most notorious extermination camp of them all, Auschwitz-Birkenau offers the profoundest of insights into the nature of human evil, and demands to be visited – few who come here will be unchanged by the experience.
24 Industrial Architecture in Łódź
• Iconic nineteenth-century manufacturing city filled with mills, chimneys and other monuments to the industrial revolution.
25 Warsaw's Old Town
• Lively pavement cafés, fine restaurants and exuberant street life in a historic town centre that was faithfully reconstructed after its almost total destruction by the Nazis. As strong a symbol as any of Poland's struggle to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II.
26 Wawel
• One of the most striking royal residences in Europe and a potent source of national and spiritual pride.