One Day Castle Tour of Poland

My first mini trip once I got to Poland was a road trip kind of deal - which I love. I adore just driving around and finding cool things to look at. I definitely don't enjoy paying for parking, though (who does?). There were supposed to be three stops in one day, but there ended up being four - we accidentally found another castle. All these castles are nestled in the foothills of Lesser Poland, and are really worth seeing, even if its just a drive-by sightseeing tour. I do encourage people to get out of their cars and explore - it's worth it.

First stop, Ojców National Park. This park contains two of the castles I saw, plus some really interesting caverns. This national park is in Lesser Poland, established in 1956. The national park earned its name after the village that resides in the area called "Ojców." The first castle, Pieskowa Skała Castle, is fully restored, housing many historical artifacts inside. But the castle wasn't the only impressive thing. What was more impressive was the funny looking rock outside of the castle. A short walk from the front gate, I reached the rock within a couple minutes. Its massive size and aesthetic was insane to me. In the other direction, I could see the lovely castle resting on the cliff, peering out from behind the trees.

The next castle we visited was about 20 minutes away from the first one by car. It is called Castle in Ojcowie. Its a nice hike up onto a cliff where the ruined castle sits. There is not much up here except a small inventory of artifacts in one of the still-standing towers. The view is gorgeous, though.

We then hiked through the town that is nestled below the castle and up the hill to see the infamous caverns, called Łokietka Cave. These caverns are a 45 minute walk from where the castle sits. It isn’t a difficult hike, but it is definitely not for those who can’t handle going at an incline for a long time. When we got to the top, we bought tickets for a tour of the caverns. The legend about the cave is extraordinary.

Below the ground, the air felt refreshing compared to the sweaty outside world, which makes sense, because the temperature stays a constant 7 degrees celsius with 100% humidity. Everyone joked about getting a drop of water on their head for good luck as we traveled a short distance to the first "room." Photos are not allowed inside because of the nature of the cavern’s reaction to light, so I do not have any shots of the inside, but I can say it is definitely worth seeing for yourself.

We then moved about two hours away from the park, to the city of Częstochowa. Here lies the huge Catholic pioneer destination - Jasna Góra. People from all over Poland will walk for days to complete a 100+ kilometer journey to this sacred place. For those who like to admire architecture of this sort, its a great sight to see. The structure was very much under construction while I visited, but it was still just as busy as anyone would imagine. People rushed in and out of the chapels to pray and see the marvelous painted ceilings.

After this, we headed towards home. About 20 minutes out of Częstochowa, something caught my eye - another castle. We didn’t expect it at all, so we turned around and headed back to check it out. We parked in the field below the hill and wandered along the fence until we got to a booth. We paid 3 zt to get in, so we started the hike. It was unlike anything I have ever seen, the structure was huge, but in ruins. I could only imagine what it looked like in its former glory. I shot a lot of photos and some film. You can watch my vlog below to see the sights. In all honesty, it was my favorite part of the day because the castle just seemed to appear. The sad part is, it almost disappeared during WW2. I'm glad part of it is still there. I felt that a piece of the trip was missing until saw Olsztyn Castle.

The whole trip was great - it included a lot of food and a lot of pretty sights. The best part is, it is possible to see a lot in one day, especially because the days are long in Poland during the summer. If you decide to take this tour, don't forget to include ice cream.