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
Zamość
Zamość Town Hall
The pink-and-white town hall on the north side of Zamość's Great Market Square, with a 52-metre clock tower and a fan-shaped double staircase that sweeps down into the square. It is the most photographed building in the city.
Białowieża
Strict Nature Reserve, Białowieża (Guided Primeval Forest Walk)
The strictly protected core of the Białowieża primeval forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site entered only on foot with a licensed park guide. Visitors walk through old-growth woodland that has never been cleared.
Częstochowa
Częstochowa Cathedral (Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family)
A monumental red-brick neo-Gothic basilica in central Częstochowa, and one of the largest churches in Poland, known for its twin 80-metre towers and vast three-nave interior.
Gdańsk
Mariacka Street (ulica Mariacka)
A short cobbled lane in Gdansk running between St. Mary's Basilica and the Motlawa waterfront, lined with reconstructed patrician houses and amber shops. It is widely called the most photogenic street in the city.
Katowice
Cathedral of Christ the King
The largest cathedral in Poland by volume, built in monumental Neoclassical style and crowned by a tall central dome rising high above the interior. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Katowice.
Kazimierz Dolny
Celej House (Nadwislanskie Museum)
A Renaissance-era merchant townhouse on Senatorska Street, famous for its elaborate carved gable and now home to a gallery of paintings and portraits from old Kazimierz Dolny.
Kraków
Wawel Cathedral
The coronation and burial church of Polish kings on Wawel Hill, holding royal tombs, national heroes and the famous Sigismund Bell.
Łódź
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
A Polish Orthodox cathedral in central Łódź, built in the 1880s in a Neo-Byzantine style and known for its colourful onion domes and a richly decorated iconostasis made in St. Petersburg.
Lublin
Lublin Open-Air Village Museum (Skansen)
An open-air ethnographic museum on the northwest edge of Lublin, where dozens of relocated historic buildings recreate the rural life of the Lublin region in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Olsztyn
Copernicus Bench
A bronze bench monument in Olsztyn showing Nicolaus Copernicus seated with an astrolabe and a scroll, unveiled in 2003 near the castle where he once lived.
Poznań
Poznań Fara (Parish Church of St. Stanislaus)
Poznań's grand Baroque parish church, known for its pink facade, towering Corinthian columns and a famous 19th-century Ladegast organ that plays at free recitals.
Poznań
Poznań Croissant Museum
A small interactive museum on Poznań's Old Market Square devoted to the St. Martin's Croissant, where an hour-long bilingual show teaches the recipe and lets you help shape one.
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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