• Postcard-pretty Old Town
• A Socialist Realist city
• Exciting nightlife

Rebuilt to its original 13th-century design after being destroyed in World War
II, Warsaw’s Old Town is truly
delightful. The city’s controversial postwar Socialist Realist architecture,
embodied by the Palace of Culture and
Science, reflects the capital’s more recent history. Be sure to visit
a few of the city’s vibrant bars and clubs for a taste of Warsaw’s
nightlife.

• Renaissance Zamość
• Chopin and Żelazowa Wola
• Picturesque Vistula Valley

The finely preserved town of Zamość was built in the 16th century according to the Renaissance
concept of the ideal city.

The birthplace of Chopin, Żelazowa
Wola houses a fascinating museum dedicated to the great Polish
composer. In the idyllic Vistula Valley, affluent Kazimierz Dolny is the
unofficial capital of the area popular with Poland’s New Rich.

• Wonderful Old Town
• Historic Wawel Hill
• Cracow Jewish Festival

Cracow’s Old Town  centres around the beautiful 13th-century
market square, which features many fine examples of Gothic and Renaissance
architecture. The Old Town is overlooked by the glorious buildings on Wawel Hill, a symbol of national
strength and patriotism. At the annual Festival of Jewish
Culture , you can enjoy music, art, theatre performances and much
more.

• Poland’s painful past
• Wieliczka’s salt mine
• Winter sports at Zakopane

The tragedy of the Polish Jews can be witnessed at Oświęcim (Auschwitz) where an
estimated 1.1 million people died at the hands of the Nazis. This is now a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old underground salt mine at Wieliczka features a chapel,
museum and a restaurant. A favourite retreat for many artists and intellectuals
at the turn of the 20th century, Poland’s winter capital Zakopane attracts thousands of
skiers every winter.

• Historic Wrocław
• Gold-digging in Złotoryja
• Getting away from it all in the Kłodzko Valley

As well as a bustling Old Town, Wrocław is home to many of the country’s more eclectic contemporary
artists. Złotoryja sits on the
banks of the gold-rich Kaczawa River. Try your luck, then visit the Gold Museum
or watch the experts at the International Gold Panning Championships. The
majestic Kłodzko Valley is
criss-crossed with hiking trails full of ancient churches and castles, and is
famed for its mineral springs.

• Industrial Łódź
• Poznań’s beautiful churches
• Kórnik’s castle island

Built in the 1800s by a trio of mill owners, the industrial city of Łódź has many fascinating museums
and a welcoming atmosphere, yet it remains almost untouched by tourism. The
churches in Poznań are among
the most delightful in Poland. The Gothic cathedral is the country’s oldest, and
the place where, allegedly, Poland’s first king was christened. A visit to the
island castle at Kórnik,
inspired by Neo-Gothic English architecture and the Orient, is a splendid day
out.

• The cradle of Solidarity
• Westerplatte’s WWII legacy

In 1980 unemployed worker Lech Wałęsa climbed over a fence at a shipyard in Gdańsk and gave a speech that
arguably led to the end of Communism. The story of Wałęsa and the Solidarity
movement can be seen in Gdańsk’s “Roads to Freedom” exhibition. On 1 September
1939, the opening shots of World War II were fired on the tiny Westerplatte peninsula, which is
now a pilgrimage site with burned-out bunkers, a memorial and a museum.

• Gothic Toruń
• Summer fun in Sopot
• Ethnic enclave in Kashubia

Founded by the Teutonic Knights, Toruń features the second-largest ensemble of Gothic architecture in
Poland. The birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, Toruń is also known as the
traditional home of gingerbread. The seaside town of Sopot is the country’s unofficial
summer capital and a non-stop party venue for the three hottest months of the
year. Kashubia, known as the
Polish Switzerland, is a gloriously peaceful area of lakes and rolling hills.
The Kashubians are a distinctive ethnic group with their own language and
culture.

• Fun on the Mazurian Lakes
• Copernicus’s Frombork
• The bison of Białowieża

Sail or canoe on Lake Śniardwy  and explore the beautiful
scenery of eastern Poland, full of peaceful harbours and tiny villages. On the
Baltic coast is sleepy Frombork, where the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus spent most of his
life in the town’s beautifully preserved 14th-century Gothic cathedral. For a
spectacular nature holiday, head to Białowieża National Park. A landscape of rivers and canals, where
the last bison in Europe live, it is also a bird-watching paradise.