27 — Make a pilgrimage to Częstochowa
28 — Challenge your sense of aesthetics in Katowice
29 — Buy alternative souvenirs in Katowice
30 — Go mining for culture in Nikiszowiec
31 — Get industrious in Upper Silesia
32 — Drink on both sides of the border in Cieszyn
33 — Go hiking in the Tatras
34 — Get three centres for the price of one in Kraków
35 — Take a raft through the Dunajec River Gorge
36 — Get a taste for salt in Wieliczka
37 — Pay your respects at Auschwitz
27 — Make a pilgrimage to Częstochowa
The monastery at Częstochowa
Pronunciation
Links
Jasna Gora monastery: www.jasnagora.pl | goo.gl/maps/xB9uGofvTNz
Częstochowa’s statue of Pope John Paul II: zlotagora.com | goo.gl/maps/c6S5z3xW13r
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- A church seen from Częstochowa train station
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- The Black Madonna of Częstochowa (aka Our Lady of Częstochowa)
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- Jasna Góra Monastery
28 — Challenge your sense of aesthetics in Katowice
Spodek (left) and Cultural Zone in Katowice
Pronunciation
Links
Brutalist train station (2013): goo.gl/maps/CgS8KP5t2QB2
Spodek events arena – website: www.spodekkatowice.pl/en/ | map: goo.gl/maps/Jqw8VGrZCTx
Superjednostka (‘Superunit’) housing block: goo.gl/maps/JNQ5yEi3cB82
Gwiazda (‘Star’) buildings: goo.gl/maps/3jjdCpDsjBF2
Kukurydza (‘Corn’) buildings goo.gl/maps/7WudCtx8Dm12
The Strefa Kultury (Cultural Zone): goo.gl/maps/pBmZd2QY9sp
The cutting-edge electronic music festival Tauron Nowa Muzyka: festiwalnowamuzyka.pl/en/
The new philharmonic concert hall (NOSPR): www.nospr.org.pl/en/
The Silesian Museum (Muzeum Śląskie): muzeumslaskie.pl/en/
Tourist information centre (for leaflets describing a self-guided architectural walk) – website: www.katowice.eu/en | map: goo.gl/maps/jv3NYFq4Sau
Local chapter of SARP (Association of Polish Architects) – website: www.sarp.katowice.pl | map: goo.gl/maps/LRFvFYih7yA2
Socialist realism local government building: goo.gl/maps/Wp9P3qTt52F2
Silesian Provincial Office (Location of paternosters): goo.gl/maps/LoqPY7aoX9J2
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- Katowice train station
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- The spodek seen from the main square
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- The spodek seen from the viewing deck of the neighbouring exhibition centre
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- Katowice’s modernised main square
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- Katowice housing block
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- The Tysiąclecia district of Poland
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- The Gwiazda buildings
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- A quote about the principles of good design
29 — Buy alternative souvenirs in Katowice
Katowice snow globe (photo: silesiapolis.org)
Pronunciation
Links
Cardboard cut-out sets of brutalist architecture: www.zupagrafika.com/zupamarket_en.html
The two souvenir shops – Gryfnie (gryfnie.com | goo.gl/maps/fq8hXeN4DmF2) and Geszeft (geszeft.co | goo.gl/maps/y1FAr2xsb7R2).
Strefa Centralna (which sells reproductions of PRL-era teapots): goo.gl/maps/Y56hhax2e192
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- Coal-themed products
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- Blokowice cardboard model of the spodek
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- Spodek lemon squeezer
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- T-shirts etc
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- Socks
30 — Go mining for culture in Nikiszowiec
Nikiszowiec (photo: ChemiQ / Adobe Stock)
Pronunciation
Links
Tourist Information Point in the History of Katowice Museum (for audio guides) – website: mhk.katowice.pl | map: goo.gl/maps/E4ENTn5KQTn
Written walking route: goo.gl/5i3yHZ
Cafe Byfyj (good for pastries and people-watching) – website: piekarniamichalski.pl/byfyj | map: goo.gl/maps/ALg4uwMQn2C2
[Zillmann Tea&Coffee – permanently closed]
The Wilson Shaft Gallery – website: www.szybwilson.org/en | map: goo.gl/maps/NxopiCcf3J42
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- Nikiszowiec
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- Nikiszowiec
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- Nikiszowiec
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- The church in Nikiszowiec
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- Nikiszowiec
31 — Get industrious in Upper Silesia
Gliwice’s wooden radio tower
Here’s a video I made of one of the trail’s easier to visit and most visually impressive sights: Gliwice’s wooden radio tower, which at 111m tall is the tallest wooden structure in Europe:
Pronunciation
Links
Industrial Monuments Route: zabytkitechniki.pl/en-US
Tourist information office – website: katowice.eu/en/en/tourism/tourist-information-centre | goo.gl/maps/T894kXz2T4w
Guido Mine in Zabrze (for which you may need to book ahead): kopalniaguido.pl/index.php/en/
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- Entrance to the historic Gliwice Radio Station
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- Gliwice radio tower is the tallest wooden structure in Europe at 111m
32 — Drink on both sides of the border in Cieszyn
A Cieszyn street
Pronunciation
(Czech)
(Czech)
(German)
Links
Minibuses to Cieszyn from Katowice: busbrothers.pl
Poland
Kamienica Konczakowskich (for Polish food and beer) – website: kamienica-konczakowskich.pl | map: goo.gl/maps/Qr8yVG1XKxT2
Browar Zamkowy brewery – website: www.browarcieszyn.pl | map: goo.gl/maps/dbhiuuELxyn
Herbaciarnia Laja (tearoom) in Cieszyn: www.facebook.com/HerbaciarniaLaja | map: goo.gl/maps/yAb3Jj6ndZF2
Czechia
Restaurace U Huberta (aka Radegastovna Partyka – for Czech food and beer) – website: www.radegastovna.cz | map: goo.gl/maps/FtUTYjXtWF22
Čajovna (tearoom): czajka.cz | map: goo.gl/maps/NDDtHzzPwXz
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- Cieszyn
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- The Olza river separating Poland from Czechia
33 — Go hiking in the Tatras
A forested area in the Tatra mountains
Pronunciation
(Tatras in Polish)
Links
My own attempts at hiking in the Tatras – failed: wanderingdesk.com/zakopane/ and successful: wanderingdesk.com/tatras/
Mountain refuge at Dolina Pięciu Stawów: www.piecstawow.pl
Online guide to the region’s paths: mapa-turystyczna.pl/tatry
Skiing info: www.skiresort.info/best-ski-resorts/poland/
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- Stopping to smell the r… whatever those flowers are.
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- Freedom!!!
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- One of the five lakes, along with a refuge that was specially designed to look digitally superimposed whenever photographed.
34 — Get three centres for the price of one in Kraków
View from the Cloth Hall, Kraków (photo: pab_map / Adobe Stock)
Pronunciation
Links
The Old City
The official Kraków tourist portal www.krakow.pl/english/
Numerous self-guided trails round the city: goo.gl/wRKWTe
Barbican in the city wall (Basztowa opp. plac Jana Matejki): goo.gl/maps/m91HarE9Wh62
Wawel castle, with its fire-breathing statue of a dragon: wawel.krakow.pl | goo.gl/maps/aY15sZgaXS42).
Kazimierz (The Jewish Quarter)
Galicia Jewish Museum (www.galiciajewishmuseum.org | goo.gl/maps/9mYweg2gSXQ2).
Self-guided tour on the city’s Jewish aspects: goo.gl/k5MZ2P
Schindler’s Factory: muzeumkrakowa.pl/en/branches/oskar-schindlers-enamel-factory | goo.gl/maps/mDC2sAsZMt22
Fragment of the Ghetto wall: goo.gl/maps/ywV8JvF7YiS2
The Eagle Pharmacy (‘Apteka pod Orłem’): muzeumkrakowa.pl/en/branches/eagle-pharmacy | goo.gl/maps/6fF1wB6RPd42
The Ghetto Memory Trail: goo.gl/KUnW7b
Nowa Huta
Muzeum PRL-u (on the communist era): www.mprl.pl | goo.gl/maps/pRuJBat1RrD2
History of Nowa Huta Quarter museum: muzeumkrakowa.pl/en/branches/nowa-huta-museum | goo.gl/maps/GJzBUgYY6PJ2
Arka Pana (aka Our Lady Queen of Poland parish church, built 1977): arkapana.pl | goo.gl/maps/UzKBWMFxRss
Self-guided walking tour: goo.gl/Ryr887
35 — Take a raft through the Dunajec River Gorge
The Dunajec river near Szczawnica
Pronunciation
Links
Eglander Caffe – the cosy cafe in Szczawnica: www.facebook.com/EglanderCaffe | goo.gl/maps/tF2xzuiFxB82
Traditional wood-carved restaurant with live folk music (Karczma U Polowacy): karczmaupolowacy.pl | goo.gl/maps/AYeQwWYAxr82
Wąwóz Homole (Homole Ravine): www.pieniny.net.pl/atrakcje/wawoz-homole/
Rezerwat Biała Woda (White Water Reserve): www.szczawnica.nrs.pl/atrakcje/rezerwat-biala-woda/
UNESCO-listed Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland: whc.unesco.org/en/list/1053
Czorsztyn Castle (Zamek w Czorsztynie: www.pieninypn.pl/en/1110/0/visiting-czorsztyn-castle.html
Dunajec Castle in Niedzica: www.shs.pl/?page_id=456
Basic hiking maps online: mapa-turystyczna.pl/pieniny
National park website (For more information on the hiking trails and rafting): www.pieninypn.pl/en
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- Szczawnica
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- A meadow by the Dunajec
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- Trzy Korony (The Three Crowns)
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- Monastery
36 — Get a taste for salt in Wieliczka
A taste of the subterranean in Wieliczka (photo: Shchipkova Elena / Adobe Stock)
Pronunciation
Links
Wieliczka salt mine: www.wieliczka-saltmine.com | goo.gl/maps/dkGUjdd4Y752
How to get there: www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/visiting/tourist-route/visitor-s-guide/how-to-get-to-the-mine
Bochnia salt mine: bochnia-mine.eu | goo.gl/maps/nZt1MYrU7RG2
Working salt mine in the village of Kłodawa, near Łódź: www.sol-klodawa.com.pl/en | goo.gl/maps/DvawhDE6WGD2
37 — Pay your respects at Auschwitz
Guard tower at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
Pronunciation
(in German)
Links
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum: auschwitz.org/en/ | goo.gl/maps/EfQ3kGu5QCk
Booking a visit: visit.auschwitz.org/?lang=en
Other memorials and museums on the sites of Nazi German extermination camps – Bełżec (belzec.eu), Sobibór (www.sobibor-memorial.eu/en), Treblinka (treblinka-muzeum.eu) and Chełmno nad Nerem (chelmno-muzeum.eu/en/).
(All pronunciation courtesy of Forvo)