The best museums Poland

This ethnographic park, or skansen, is a superb reconstruction of a rural village divided into four sections, each dedicated to the architecture and ethnic groups that inhabit the region. There's an ^18th-century wooden Orthodox church, farmhouses, a manor house and examples of gypsy encampments. Folklore events are held regularly during the summer months. Also worth seeing is the reconstruction of an Eastern Galician village (same opening hours, 16 zl).

This open-air museum is a collection of preserved old houses, most of which date from the 17th century. Over the years, authentic reconstructed buildings have been added, transforming the hamlet into a very successful and atmospheric traditional village. In spring and summer, Skansen hosts folk festivals and re-enactments of old-fashioned rural life that are well worth a visit. We recommend it.

This very interesting museum is located in an old paper mill, built in 1605. It was powered by a paddle wheel driven by the river's current. The building, with wooden scrolls, is beautiful. The factory has recently been restored and has resumed its activity. It produces paper following artisanal techniques presented in the museum. Paper production activities are organized for visitors.

The Old Synagogue, one of the oldest in the country, was built in its Gothic style at the end of the 15th century when the Jews settled in Kazimierz and was restored in 1959 when it was decided to turn it into a museum. Since then it has housed the Museum of Jewish History and Culture. A separate room is dedicated to the history of the extermination of the Jews, including a series of photographs of life in the Jewish quarter before and during World War II.

This museum engages visitors in an immersive experience, with recordings, videos, installations and thematic rooms. It presents a rich and detailed account of Chopin's life. In the basement, a listening room with digital books allows visitors to discover wonderful recordings of the master's work. The museum, located a stone's throw from Nowy Swiat, is housed in the superb Ostrogski Palace, which in the ^19th-20th centuries was the seat of the Conservatory.

Apart from the mine, you can also visit the Wieliczka Castle, which between the 13th century and 1945 was the historical seat of the mine's management board. Today it houses three permanent exhibitions devoted to the archaeology and history of the town, and a huge collection of... salt shakers. In short, not the most exciting visit but it at least gives a little life and understanding of the history and experience of the miners, a part that is not at all emphasized when you venture into the bowels yourself.

The only authorized pharmacy in the ghetto was run until the last deportations by Dr. Tadeusz Pankiewic who, refusing to leave the neighborhood, was the only non-Jew living and working in the ghetto. Thus, from 1941 to 1943, he helped the Jews of the ghetto. He delivered medicine and food, brought news from outside, provided false papers and hiding places. He died in 1993 and was honored by Israel with the title of Righteous.

The museum is located in the birthplace of this giant of the national spirit and honorary citizen of the city. It provides an opportunity to see the apartments/workshops where the great master of national romanticism lived and worked until 1893, when he died. The permanent exhibition includes unique works by Matejko, family memorabilia and antiques, especially oriental and western weapons collected by the painter during his lifetime and which he used for his art. It is a nice visit just a stone's throw from the Rynek.

The museum is located in the Górka family palace, built in 1545-1549, and remodeled several times following destruction. The original Renaissance portal of the palace is well preserved. The museum presents objects from Polish prehistory, reconstructing scenes of everyday life (hunting, fishing, war, housing...), an exhibition on ancient Egypt and temporary exhibitions. More than 42 000 exhibits, one of the best ancient museums in the country.

Tucked away in a courtyard, the Fotoplastikon is a good introduction to your discovery of Warsaw. Sitting on wooden stools in front of small binoculars, you watch images of the city since 1901 scroll by, to a background of classical music with the crackle of a phonograph. All this adds to the magic of the place. Entirely period and miraculously spared by the wars, it is one of the last stereoscopes of Europe in activity. An original and playful museum that offers a beautiful 20-minute journey in the Warsaw of the beginning of the century.

Founded by King Casimir the Great in 1364 with the name Academia Croviensis (Academy of Krakow), the Jagiellonian University was the second largest university in Central Europe, after Prague. Falling into decline with the death of the king, it was renovated around 1390 and gained the status of a university it did not have before (it did not have a chair of theology, at the time the noblest knowledge and privilege granted by the pope, but then kept its name of Kraków Academy until 1818) by King Władisław Jagełło, who bought and formed the Collegium Maius, "the great college." The university has buildings all over the city center, so you'll often see students milling from one street to another, between classes.

All around the Collegium Maius stand the buildings of the Jagiellonian University. Opposite the Collegium Maius is the Collegium Kołłataja and, further south, the Collegium Minus. In front of the University Church of St. Anne is the Collegium Nowodworski (ul. św. Anny 12). Here studied King Jan III Sobieski, painters Jan Matejko and Stanisław Wyspiański and writer Joseph Conrad. Continuing down Gołębia Street, at n. 24, the Collegium Novum houses the neo-Gothic seat of the university (you can't get in, or you have to dodge the guards and play student). Opposite it stands the Collegium Witkowskiego and a statue of Copernicus.

The Gothic building of the Collegium Maius now houses the Jagiellonian University Museum with two collections, one historical and the other scientific. The historical section leads to a large hall of honor decorated with portraits of its most prestigious students such as Nicolaus Copernicus, King Jan III Sobieski, anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, and Karol Wojtyła. One then visits the Treasury Rooms and the Great Hall, the seat of great university ceremonies. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the oldest globe in the world, dated 1510, on which America is marked "newly discovered country." The scientific collection includes a series of instruments that would have been used by Nicolaus Copernicus.

The courtyard of the Collegium Maius is worth a visit. Every day at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00, one can watch the brief musical ride of the figures animated by the clock mechanism above the Golden Gate and representing the personalities who played an important role in the history of the university.

Recently completely renovated, this house is dedicated to the life and work of the famous astronomer. The museum occupies both buildings, in Gothic style, although it was number 15 that saw the birth of the famous astronomer on February 19th 1473. In one room there is also a model of the city in the 15th century. The modern animations allow to live and relive through many films the life at that time. Between beliefs and myths, we learn a lot about the revolutionary astronomer and his acceptance by society and researchers of the time.

The first church in Kazimierz was erected by King Casimir in 1340, but its construction was not completed until the middle of the 15th century. Its beautiful baroque interior contrasts with the austerity of its architecture. Inside you can admire the stained glass windows in the choir and the impressive baroque pulpit in the shape of a boat supported by mermaids and dolphins. In the Chapel of St. Anne lies Bartolomeo Berecci, the architect of Wawel, who was murdered in 1537.

The main building of the National Museum houses a gallery of decorative art, an excellent Polish art gallery of the th century, a true reason for travel, as well as a relatively medium collection of weapons and uniforms. The Cracow National Museum is composed of a number of annexes. The most remarkable pieces of the collection are two paintings of Rembrandt and Vinci in the Czartoryski museum. Its other annexes are the museum of Jan Matejko, that of Stanisław Wyspiański, the very beautiful house of the artist of the Young Poland movement (Belle Epoque) Józef Malinowski (Ul. Krupnicza 26 Tel +48 12 421 11 43), the Polish painting gallery of the Cloth Hall and the Manggha Museum.

A proud native of Krynica, Nikifor (1893-1968) is considered the greatest Polish naive painter. In this museum, located in the artist's former studio, there is a large collection of his paintings, as well as numerous temporary exhibitions dedicated to other contemporary Polish painters. As you will quickly see during the exhibition, the painter Nikifor was famous for his striking self-portraits and landscapes.

Built in 1582, this former arms depot was used to store weapons and war trophies conquered by Jan Zamoyski's armies. Its collections were largely looted during the Swedish and Tatar invasions. In the early ^19th century, the Arsenal was remodeled in the neoclassical style. Today, it is a military museum and part of the regional museum. On display are antique weapons and armor, as well as drawings and paintings by soldiers depicting their lives in the trenches during the conflicts of 1915 and 1930.

The fortress is the symbol of the city. Dating from the 16th century, built by the Austrians and remodeled by the Prussians, it is an austere military construction of impressive dimensions. Its visit is fascinating. It contains a whole set of underground rooms used for exhibitions, notably dedicated to the memory of the prisoners locked up here by the Nazis. Beautiful view of the old town. In summer, there is a café-restaurant inside, on the terrace.

Located in the Armenian houses on the Rynek, this small and very heterogeneous museum has no real theme. It offers different collections of paintings (including portraits of the city's founder), engravings, religious wooden sculptures and military equipment. There are also clothes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, archaeological finds from the region, pottery with green and brown patterns, typical of the Carpathians, some history of the city of Zamość, including a beautiful model representing the city in the seventeenth century.

The great physicist Marie Curie (Maria Skłodowska-Curie) was born in this ^18th-century house (a replica of the original) in the new town in 1867. Before she emigrated to France and took an active part in the life of Polish émigrés in Paris, particularly in the political struggle for the country's independence, Maria Skłodowska attended Warsaw University. Her birthplace has now been transformed into a museum that traces the life and discoveries of the physicist. An ideal opportunity to retrace the footsteps of this great female figure.

The building takes its atypical form from its origin as a simple (though rather massive) Jesuit church built in an effort to convert the Orthodox East at the time of the Catholic Counter-Reformation movement that the Jesuits led. While the exterior facade is austere, the interior decorations are superb, especially the paintings that adorn the walls and vaults, done in the second half of the 18th century by Josef Mayer, following a fire. The richness of the decorations testifies to the opulence of the bishopric and the city at that time.

During the Second World War, this building housed the Krakow Gestapo offices. The first and second floors were used as interrogation rooms, and the basements as cells. The permanent exhibition traces the lives of Polish resistance fighters and Jews in Krakow during the Occupation. The basement cells feature some 600 inscriptions left by prisoners between 1943 and 1945. A museum that pays tribute to the suffering and endurance of the Polish people.

Opened since September 2010, this museum created under the Rynek is the rebuilding of the square and the town in the Middle Ages. The work began in 2005 and excavations provided an opportunity to enlarge the exceptional collection of pieces and objects from this exposed era… walls and pavés of the time were also conserved. The market atmosphere and merchants from all countries are complemented by an original soundtrack. Educational spaces and conference rooms feature films on the living conditions of the 13 th century. 

This former 17th century warehouse was once used to store wheat. Now it houses another type of resource: European paintings and sculptures from the collection of the National Museum in Krakow, including paintings by Paolo Veneziano and Lorenzo Lotto or sculptures by Bertel Thorvaldsen, Antonio Canova and Gustav Vigeland. The majority of the collection comes from the Middle Ages and sometimes great names join the temporary exhibition.

Situated to the east of the Rynek, this imposing ^15th-century Gothic stone church, whose interior was later decorated in Baroque style, is certainly the most beautiful monument in the whole city. Sometimes referred to as "the pearl of Silesia", its tower rises to a height of 103 m. The cathedral miraculously survived the war. Next to the church is a new monument (2014) dedicated to Pope John Paul II, who visited the region during his pontificate.

In operation since 1905, this museum is Częstochowa's main cultural institution. It features a rich collection of Polish art, including paintings, sacred and folk art, natural history, weapons and an archaeological section. Exhibitions are housed in several buildings:

The Ratusz (Al. Najświętszej Maryi Panny 45a, ✆ +48 34 366 80 50) offers perhaps the most interesting part for a foreign visitor. Built in neoclassical style in 1826, it has housed an exhibition tracing the city's history since 1967.

The pavilions in the Stanisław Staszic Park (Park im. S. Staszica) were built in 1909 for the National Exhibition of Industry and Agriculture and house an ethnographic exhibition, a peasant house built for the same exhibition and a museum on iron mining.

The Archaeological Reserve (ul. Łukasińskiego 20, ✆ +48 34 323 19 51) presents a collection unique in Poland on the funerary culture present in the Lusatian region.

The Pilgrimage Museum (Al. Najświętszej Maryi Panny 47, ✆ +48 34 368 21 64) presents an exhibition on the tradition of pilgrimage to Jasna Góra.

The House of Poetry, also known as the Halina Poświatowska Museum (ul. Jasnogórska 23, ✆ + 48 34 368 16 17), is dedicated to the life and work of this Polish poet. Literary meetings are organized here.

Finally, the exhibition at the Art Gallery (ul. Katedralna 8, ✆ +48 34 324 99 93) includes paintings and sculptures from the Młoda Polska artistic movement.

In the heart of the city, the Bochnia Museum tells the story of the city through the lives of its miners. It is a historical and ethnographic museum, but it also works to popularize the learning of history and archaeology. The museum houses one of the best collections of paintings from the Young Poland period. The collections contain paintings by, among others, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Pankiewicz, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Leon Wyczółkowski, Julian Fałat, Olga Boznańska and Tadeusz Makowski.

This magnificent museum extends beneath a large part of the square. It is the result of archaeological research carried out under the Rynek from 2005 to 2007. Using state-of-the-art technology and know-how, it traces the history of the town from its very beginnings. The remains of the city, including an ^11th-century cemetery, are presented in the form of models and reconstructions of medieval buildings, 3D representations, documentary films, etc., enabling visitors to discover Krakow in the Middle Ages. A visit that's even better with a guide.

Temporary exhibitions on the history of the city and the region are located near the high door. Photo exhibitions.

Stretching into the dark depths of the earth over 300 meters long, this cave gets its name from the huge, huge, noisy (and a bit stinky) colony of bats that live there. To see them, you have to follow the signs and get a guide. Unlike the other two caves, which belong to the Ojców National Park, this one belongs to an individual, Mr. Zygmunt Ferdek (in Jerzmanowice), whom you should call for visits.

Also called the Neanderthal House, it is certainly the pearl of the tourist attractions of the nature park. The reason is simple, this cave is among the most important archaeological sites in Poland and certainly the most important in the field of prehistoric studies. Traces of human occupation dating back several hundred thousand years have been found here. The rock formation is also of interest, not far from the entrance you can see massive stalagmites, with the most picturesque shapes, one of which looks like a lion.

It is one of the most famous caves in Poland. Sobre, without stalactites or stalagmites, attracts visitors by its location in the heart of Ojców Park, and by its legendary aura. According to the legend, Władyslaw Łokietek, king of Poland, pursued by the Czech king Wacław II, would have remained there hiding six weeks and owes his protection to a spider whose canvas had the entrance to the cave. That's why the entrance of the cave is closed by a grid whose motive reminds a spider web. The cave is 270 meters long.

A pretty little wooden chapel from 1901 stands above the Pradnik River. In the time of Tsar Nicholas II, the inhabitants of Ojców, not being allowed to build religious buildings on land, circumvented this ban by installing the chapel on the water. This great gesture that mixes rebellion and faith is a story that Poles like to tell themselves, but in reality, the construction was of little consequence in this remote region. The result is still delightful and makes for great photo memories!

This picturesque stone castle was built by Casimir the Great in the 14th^century , probably on the site of a former^13th-century fortress, which is said to have served as a refuge for his father, Władysław Łokietek during the struggles for the Krakow throne. To honor his father's memory, Casimir named the castle "Ojców", a name derived from the word father: ojciec. Destroyed and looted during the Swedish invasion, it subsequently had several owners.

The ruins stand on a rocky spur that dominates the surrounding countryside.

This rocky escarpment at the edge of the road stands out in the rather irregular landscape of the national park. It was placed there by chance, as if by design, at the foot of the Pieskowa Skała castle, and it seems to serve an obscure purpose. According to the legend, the club was placed there by a supernatural force: it owes its name to a sorcerer who challenged the devil to knock over a rock. Obviously, the devil had no difficulty in accomplishing this feat with this specimen, which is nearly 25 m high.

The origin of this castle is also due to Casimir the Great, in the 14th century. Initially Gothic, it took on a Renaissance appearance in the 16th century thanks to its owners, the Szafraniec family, who wanted to turn it into a small Wawel. It has undergone many destructions, but each time it was restored, and today it is close to its original state.

It is home to a museum, which presents numerous objects, paintings and furniture from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

This church was built in the ^17th century on the site of an earlier church destroyed during the Swedish invasion of 1655. The crypt contains the mummified remains of monks and donors. From 166 onwards, the monks' bodies were kept here without coffins. A rather eerie curiosity that can only be visited once a year, on November 2. The church itself is quite pretty, but doesn't measure up to the competition.

Located near the Collegium Maius, this charming 18th-century Gothic church has served since 1698 as the university chapel, where all official ceremonies were celebrated. In the right transept one can admire the sarcophagus containing the relics of the saint Jan Kanty carried by four allegorical figures symbolizing the four main faculties of the university: medicine, law, philosophy and theology. On the opposite side of the transept there is a monument dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus, a former student of the university.

Located in a former ^16th-century monastery, it houses permanent and temporary exhibitions on architecture. Visitors can discover the emblematic projects and artistic trends that have shaped Wroclaw's urban landscape over the centuries, via models and photographs. Several themes are traced, such as "Wrocław yesterday, today and tomorrow" or "the remains of medieval architecture". A large part of the collection is devoted to modern art and stained glass.

Located in the eastern part of the city center, this vast Flemish neo-Renaissance building boasts a good collection of medieval art, which is admittedly a little dated in its presentation, as well as a good collection of ^{twentieth-century} Polish art. The second floor features a magnificent medieval collection of typical polychrome wooden sculptures, a Stations of the Cross with eleven almost life-size figures and a number of paintings. The museum also offers a wide range of temporary exhibitions.

Located on the east side of the Rynek, in a beautiful 16th-century house, this museum is the main one of the complex making up the regional museum of the city of Nowy Sącz and presents a significant collection of objects and works of art from the 14th century to the present day. In particular, it includes representative objects of craft and folk art (painting and sculpture related to the so-called Łemkowie people), Orthodox art, watercolors by Nikifor Krzynicki and temporary exhibitions.

In the oldest of the houses on the square, known as "Dom na Dołkach" (the house on the wells), this small museum presents the history of the town from old objects (paintings, sculptures, embroidery, pottery, military objects, numismatics, clocks). It also has an exhibition of religious art, an exhibition about the visit of John Paul II in 1999 (which says a lot about the exciting life of the city). It's... typical and empty, almost fun.

This museum occupies the Villa Atma, where composer Karol Szymanowski lived in the 1920s. The museum is located on the first floor of the villa and presents basic information on the composer's life and work, shows his contacts with Zakopane and Podhale folklore, collects his personal effects and also includes a reconstruction of Karol Szymanowski's study. Free concerts are held here from time to time. Find out more!

It is a historical and ethnographic museum, which tells the story of the life of the Pieniny Highlanders in the early 20th century, which has always been at the border of cultures, religions and nationalities. The cultural heritage is closely linked to the natural heritage of the Pieniny region. We get to know the inhabitants of the Pieniny villages through different themes: their common pastoral economy, a common architecture and folk art and costumes.

The synagogue was built in 1746 on the site of an earlier wooden synagogue, and rebuilt in the 19th century after a fire. This beautiful former place of worship is the only surviving synagogue from the Nazi exactions in the city. During the Second World War, it was located inside the ghetto that the Nazis had created in Nowy Sącz. Rebuilt in the 1970s, it has long housed a gallery whose collection commemorates the city's Jewish population.

Here you will find a presentation of the park's natural treasures as well as an explanatory film in English. Also a tourist information center, this is where you can find all the information you need to visit the Roztocze Park, whose forests, often of a primitive character, have greatly contributed to the creation of the natural park in 1974. We recommend it before venturing into the depths of the park.

This monastery dates from the 17th century. It is accessed by a covered staircase dating from 1699. One can enter the courtyard and ask to see the well, which is located in a second courtyard further in the compound. During World War II, the building was requisitioned as the headquarters of the Gestapo, and the Nazis used the headstones of the Jewish cemetery as partitions between the prison cells they created in the basement of the monastery. Since then, the monks have been trying to consecrate the place again in peace.

Located in the village of Kletno, 35 km south of Kłodzko, it's one of the most beautiful caves in Poland and the longest in the Sudetenland (approx. 3 km). Prehistoric bear bones have been found here, including a skeleton from the Ice Age. The cave is classified as a nature reserve. In the cave, the temperature doesn't exceed 6°C and it's very damp, making for a slippery walk. Children are not recommended.

Housed in a former gasworks that has been closed since 1977, this museum with its modern museography tells the story of gas production in Paczków in a very captivating way. Gas production in the town began in 1903, and by the 1930s was supplying gas to around 700 households: almost 85% of all inhabitants. The small plant, spared by the war, did not survive the consolidations of the socialist regime, which was fond of large-scale industrial projects.

In the cellars of the houses surrounding the Rynek, 600 m of galleries have been dug, which were used as warehouses in the Middle Ages. This means that you can walk through the town completely underground. The quality of the site is comparable to that of Sandomierz in Lesser Poland, and just as impressive. During the crossing, one can see instruments of torture. The site was discovered in the 1970s, following a series of collapses. The exit is at the foot of the fortress.