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Poznan Day Trips
Poland City Guides: Around Poznan
Trips From Poznan
If you want to escape Poznan for the day there are many interesting places from castles to a national park that you can visit.
Around 18km away from Poznan is the lakeside village of Kornik, home to a grand neo-Gothic castle with wonderful interiors and furniture. On the ground floor the drawing room bears the coat of arms of owner Tytus Dzialynski and none other than Chopin once played the grand piano that sits in the room. Behind the castle is an arboretum with a landscaped collection of more than a thousand types of tree. The castle is open Tuesday - Sunday from 10am to 6pm and admission is around 11zl.
If you don't have a car there is an hourly bus service from Poznan, but don't go by train because the station is 4km away from Kornik.
With your own transport it is easy to combine a visit to Kornik with a look round the palace at Rogalin. If you are dependent on the bus however, check times carefully because there are only a few services running every day from Poznan to Rogalin.
Rogalin Palace is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10am-4pm and 10am-6pm on Sunday and is one of Poland's finest mansions. Inside you will find fine furniture and an art gallery containing a well laid out collection of nineteenth century Polish and German works.
In the grounds there is an English-style park complete with oak trees. Three are so old (at least a thousand years old) they have now been fenced off for protection and are known as the Rogalin Oaks. Passing outside the gates of the palace, a five minute walk brings you to an unusual chapel which is still the parish church.
Wielkopolska National Park is the only area of protected landscape in the province and unspoiled by development it is a popular day-trip destination from Poznan. Half the park is taken up by forest, mostly pine and birch trees.
Access to the park from Poznan is fairly easy with a dozen daily trains passing through Puszczykowo and Mosina on the fringes of the park from where you can pick up hiking trails. If you would prefer to cycle through the park you can rent bikes at Puszczykowo train station. On Saturday and Sunday you can just turn up, but if you want to hire bikes during the week you need to book them in advance.
The Rogalin Palace makes for an interesting side trip from Poznan
It's best to stick to the three official hiking paths when exploring the park, and each takes several hours if you cover the entire length. Walking from Mosina gets you into the best of the terrain most quickly but it's easy enough to switch from one path to another when you are in the park.
Steam train fans should head to a little lakeside town called Wolsztyn, around 75km away from Poznan. It is the only remaining railway depot in Europe that still uses steam locomotives to pull daily passenger services. The pride of the fleet is the green Piekna Helena (Beautiful Helena) which in addition to the daily services between Wolsztyn and Poznan makes special trips across Europe to represent Poland at various events. Wolsztyn's main attraction is the engine shed open daily from 8am-3pm where there is small museum and several working engines on display. On the north western side of the town centre lies Lake Wolsztyn where there is a small sandy beach and secluded lakeside paths.
If you are more interested in heading to another city, Gniezno would be a good choice. All the main tourist sites can be found in or near the main square. There are three Gothic churches worth taking a look at, the Church of the Holy Trinity, partly rebuilt in the Baroque style following a fire, the Franciscan Church and St John's Church.
A short walk northwest from the square is the Cathedral, known for its twelfth-century pair of bronze doors decorated with scenes of martyrdom of St Wojciech and a silver relic coffin of that saint. Hung around 1175 these are among the finest surviving examples of Romanesque decorative art and are unique in Poland. Just west of the cathedral is Lake Jelonek, a peaceful spot with a wonderful view of the town.
The best and easiest way to get to Gniezno from Poznan is by train or bus. There are regular daily services and the journey takes around 45 minutes.
If you take the bus, Lake Lednica is another worthwhile stop-off on your way back to Poznan. It's only 18km away from Gniezno and is home to the Wielkopolska Ethnographic Park, an open air museum consisting of about 50 traditional rural buildings including windmills, a Baroque cemetery chapel and several farmsteads. The park is open Tuesday-Saturday 9am-6pm and from 10am on Sunday.
Accommodation in Poznan
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Recommended Hotels in Poznan
Sheraton Poznan, ul. Bukowska 3-9 Tel: 061 655 2000. Located near the trade Fair site and offering fantastic facilities and service
Eating
There are a number of good eateries in Poznan including traditional Polish, Italian, and other international choices including a Spanish style tapas bar at Stary Rynek, 60. List your restaurant in Poznan here for FREE. Contact Us
Drinking
There are lots of places to enjoy an excellent Polish beer or vodka on the Stary Rynek as well as a quirky selection of bars and cafes catering to both high and low-brow clientele such as the Communist-chic Proletaryat at ul. Wroclawska 9. List your bar, cafe or club here. Contact Us
Internet Cafes
List your internet cafe here for FREE! Contact Us
Weather in Poznan
Poznan is on Poland's slightly warmer western side so the weather in winter is usually less cold than Warsaw to the east. Summers are warm with the possibility of some heavy rain in the form of thunderstorms.
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