Poland – Krakow, Gdansk, Malbork, Wieliczka Salt Mine

In the early Middle Ages, tribes of the western Polans settled in parts of what is now national territory as part of the migration of peoples. The first documentary mention was made in 966 under the first historically attested Polish Duke Mieszko I, who opened the country to Christianity.
Having been deprived of its sovereignty by the neighboring states at the end of the 18th century, Poland regained its independence in 1918 with the Treaty of Versailles. The invasion of the German Reich and the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Second World War and their occupation rule cost the lives of millions of Polish citizens, especially Polish Jews.

The most popular travel destination in Poland is the former capital Krakow, which has numerous architectural monuments and works of art from the Polish Golden Age of late Gothic and Renaissance. Important tourist destinations are also the cities of Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdańsk, Poznan, Stettin, Lublin, Thorn and Zakopane. Tourism also plays an important role for the municipalities of Krynica-Zdrój, Karpacz, Szklarska Poręba, Biecz, Zamość, Sandomierz, Kazimierz Dolny, Częstochowa, Gniezno, Frombork, Malbork, Gdynia, Sopot, Kołobrzeg, Świnoujście and Międzyzdroje. Many cities offer tourist services for families with children, for example Wroclaw with the Wroclaw Dwarves, Warsaw, Kielce, Gdansk and Szczecin. Some smaller towns in Poland are members of the Cittàslow Association, which focus on balanced tourism.

Visitor magnets are: the Wieliczka salt mine, the museum in the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola near Sochaczew, the memorial site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the coast of the Baltic Sea, the large lakes in Greater Poland, Masuria, Kashubia and Suwalki as well as the Sudeten mountain ranges and Carpathians, especially the Tatras with the High Tatras and Western Tatras, in which the highest peak in Poland, Meeraugspitze, and the well-known Orla Perć mountain trail are located. Popular recreational areas are also the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, Beskids, Pieniny, Kraków-Częstochowa Jura and the Roztocze as well as Szczecin and Vistula Lagoon.

There are many waterways for kayaks, canoes, sailboats and houseboats on rivers and waterways, for example on the Pilica, the Krutynia or the Czarna Hańcza.

There are numerous ski resorts in the Carpathians and Sudetes, most of them in and around Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains and Szczyrk in the Silesian Beskydy Mountains and Karpacz in the Giant Mountains.

Spa holidays in the numerous spa towns such as Połczyn-Zdrój or Ciechocinek are also popular. Thermal baths, which have been opened in recent years, especially in the mountain region of Podhale near Zakopane, are often used for this purpose.