Attractions
Attractions in Poland
The sights worth building a day around.
Poland's attractions run from the medieval market squares of Krakow and Wroclaw to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Teutonic castle at Malbork. Each page below covers what the place is, how long to spend and how to get there, grouped by city.
All Attractions in Poland
Łódź
Dętka Canal Museum
A short museum inside a 1926 brick sewer tank beneath Freedom Square in Łódź, where a 142-metre corridor tells the story of the city's early waterworks.
Lublin
Old Theatre (Teatr Stary)
A working theatre on Jezuicka Street in Lublin's Old Town, built in 1822 and the second-oldest surviving purpose-built theatre building in Poland.
Olsztyn
House of the Gazeta Olsztyńska
A branch of the Museum of Warmia and Mazury on the edge of the Old Town Fish Market, telling the story of Warmia's only Polish-language newspaper and the history of printing in Olsztyn.
Poznań
New Zoo (Nowe Zoo)
Poznań's New Zoo is a 120-hectare forest zoo east of the city centre, home to over 2,000 animals and reachable in summer by the Maltanka narrow-gauge railway.
Sopot
Sopot Aquapark
Sopot Aquapark is a year-round water park on ulica Zamkowa Góra with indoor and outdoor pools, multi-lane slides and a saunas complex. Its signature ride is the 71-metre Wild River.
Toruń
Medieval City Gates and Walls
Three surviving medieval gates and stretches of Toruń's original brick town wall line the Vistula, forming part of the UNESCO-listed old town's riverside defences.
Warsaw
Nowy Swiat Street (Ulica Nowy Swiat)
Nowy Swiat is one of Warsaw's most elegant historic streets, a largely pedestrian promenade of pastel Neoclassical townhouses lined with cafes, shops and restaurants along the Royal Route.
Wrocław
White Stork Synagogue
A restored Neoclassical synagogue in Wrocław, now an active house of worship and cultural centre that anchors the city's revived Jewish quarter.
Zakopane
Sarnia Skała
Sarnia Skała is a 1,377-metre rocky summit in the Regle foothills directly above Zakopane, valued for its wide view toward Giewont and across the town to the Tatra ridges.
Zamość
Arsenal - Museum of Fortifications and Weapons
A branch of the Museum of Zamość set in a 17th-century arsenal building, dedicated to the military history of Zamość and its fortress, with historic weaponry and twentieth-century military vehicles among its displays.
Białowieża
Obelisk of 1752
The oldest monument in Białowieża, a sandstone obelisk marking a royal hunt held by King Augustus III in 1752, with inscriptions listing the game taken.
Częstochowa
Church of St. James the Apostle
A domed garrison church on plac Biegańskiego in Częstochowa, built in 1869-1872 as an Orthodox church and given to the Roman Catholic Church in 1918.
Poland fits a lot into one country: medieval market squares, a salt mine carved into underground chapels, the memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau, mountain trails and a long Baltic coast. Seventeen places hold UNESCO World Heritage status, and most of the headline attractions cluster around the cities you are likely to base yourself in, so a first trip rarely means long transfers.
Where the big attractions are
Krakow has the densest cluster: the Main Market Square, laid out in 1257 and among the largest medieval squares in Europe, the underground Wieliczka Salt Mine, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial within a day trip. Warsaw rebuilt its Old Town from wartime rubble, Gdansk lines the Motlawa with tall merchant houses, and Wroclaw and Torun keep intact Gothic centres. The mountains around Zakopane and the lakes of Masuria add the outdoor side.
How to choose
Group attractions by the city you are staying in rather than chasing them across the map. Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk each reward two or three days and put more sights within an easy day trip. For the classic sights that define the country, see the best viewpoints and our city guides.
Before you go
The busiest sites use timed entry, so book Wieliczka and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial ahead, especially in summer. Many state museums have one free day a week. Tickets are good value by European standards; our note on costs in Poland has the typical prices.
Attractions by city
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