What to Do or See in Poland: Olsztyn on the Trail of Eagle’s Nest in Pictures

All the bags are packed for POLAND-ONLY family camping road trip… number 5 ! We’re looking at 21 days, 8 campsites, 22 driving hours, 22 minutes and 1,743 kilometers on the road, plus side trips.

All the bags are packed for our all-in-Polska family camping and road trip. We were successful in minimizing what we carry to free up a seat because we had an extra passenger this year–the boys’ cousin! Yay, Hurray!

While that’s only half of our other round trip road trips from Spain to Poland and back again, it sure is exciting to finally see the beauty of southern Poland.

First stop? Olsztyn at the Trail of the Eagle’s nest. Here it is in pictures.

*What a wonderful backdrop for a playground. This is outside the Olsztyn castlegrounds so you won’t have to pay.*

Leg 1 to Base Camp 1: Olsztyn, Częstochowa, Eagle’s Nest, DAYS 1 TO 4

Leg 1: about 4 hours (368 km) from home to base camp Olsztyn to see the ruins of Olsztyn castle on the trail of the Eagle’s nest— a chain of 25 medieval castles between Krakow and Częstochowa (you know, teh Christian pilgrimage site of the Black Madonna?!?!) that used to hold the fledgling Kingdom of Poland together before technologies made castle fortifications, well, obsolete.

*One of Jerzy Kędziora’s balancing sculpture. He was born here and, apparently, has his art sculpture “balancing” in the USA, UAE, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Monaco. . . yup, expensive places!*

There’s also a bicycle trail for all you sports-cyclists out there.

Recommended visits: castles of Olsztyn, Mirow, Bobolice and farther, Bedzin.

First week of July and there’s hardly anyone around. Mimicking attacking the castle, the boys eventually charged up the hill screaming like no one’s watching! Ain’t it great to be young and carefree!??!!?

Sure enough. . . rain on the first day and night!

So, what’s is there to see or do in Olsztyn?

*Still standing, though in ruins, after 700+ years, the Olsztyn castle marks the first on the trail of the eagle’s nest. The Austrians couln’t conquer it, but the boys sure did!*

First, the castle of the same name. Briefly, this fortified position was apparently the site where 80 brave Poles were able to fend off 4,000 Austrian invaders during that wild era of kings and queens and lots of deaths in between.

Overlooking the town… those 80 Polish defenders sure did have a commanding view of invading armies all around from this Jurrasic-period, rocky limestone outcrop of a hill upon which the castles on this trail were typically built. “They looked like dinosaur poops!,” one of the boys cried out.

The town was sacked and burned though. The Swedes apparently attacked later and failed.

At some point between the late 15th and 18th century, the technology of warfare had evolved and the castles’ old defenses had become obsolete.

Visiting the ruins of Olstyn castle grounds is a family fun, kids-approved, off-the-beaten-track, thing-to-do on the trail of Poland’s Eagle’s Nest.

It also requires some physical activity, like climbing up and down the hill and rocky outcrops where you could end of putting a hole in your pants, like one of us did!

*After some fun in the sun, our younger son finds some Zen at the entrance to a cave. (Don’t go in there though; it’s stinky from. . . I don’t wanna know what!).*

The castle itself is in ruins but roaming the castlegrounds on a hill is still worth the visit. Besides your visit can help with local economic development.

Entrance to Olstyn castle grounds would cost 10 zlotys per adult and 6 for each child. FREE for children under 6 years old.

Another one of the great Jerzy’s balancing creations. There were at least 3 in the town square of Olsztyn. By the way, this is a different Olsztyn than the one in northeastern Poland. This one distinguishes itself with a slogan “Słońce Jury” or roughly translating rocky plate enderground from Jurassic period, or something like that.

Lots of hiking on hills and rocky outcrop overlooking the developed village. And the best part is. . . there’s NOT a LOT of tourists, even in early July!

The surprising thing was that once we got to the (I would say prettier and developed building) watchtower to the right of the castle ruins, we actually had to pay something extra to get to the top.

*“Sheep on a bike!” or “Owca na rowerze” tby Michała Batkiewicza. The other one is a small tiger, REALLY!*

Ahhhh…. the upsell; the offer that tired tourists wouldn’t be able to refuse!

So, by the time we climbed the hill to the watchtower, we actually had no choice. More contribution to local economic development.

*A FREE outdoor swimming pool 20-minute drive south of Olsztyn. .. Did I say, FREE?!!?!?*

However, the 360-degree views of the surrounding village and countryside was well worth the additional 12 zlotys that we paid for the four of us .

There’s even a telescope on top to spy on the villagers.

It would take 25 steps on stone and 44 narrow steps on metal to the top of the tower.

*A FAMILY-friendly, KID-approved FUN stop with a bar and restaurant with equally family-friendly prices.*

It’s more beautiful if you’re approaching the Olstzyn castle from the more developed north side.

It’s easy to forget that there’s a developed village on the other side of the rock. Olsztyn castle is actually built on a strategic rocky outcrop surrounded by villages.

You can easily spend two hours here; longer if you really want to soak in the view of the countryside and and imagine how 80 brave polish soldiers were able to defend this fortified position.

Side note: Belated happy 4th of July from Olsztyn Jurajski in southern Poland!!! Celebrating it the best we can with żabka store hot dogs

*You can practically spend a whole day here with huge swimming areas, playground, forest and this, beach volleyball court!*

What else to do and see near Olsztyn?

Site 2: From Olsztyn, a must-visit destination is the Black Madonna of Częstochowa at the Jasna Góra Monastery. It’s about a 30-minute/17-kilometer drive to the northwest of Olsztyn.

Site 3: Basen ŻARKI— a FREE outdoor swimming pool with diverted natural lake water. It’s about 20 kilometers/20-minute drive south of Olsztyn.

This is a great place to go when the weather got too hot during our visit to Olsztyn.

Free entrance. Free parking. Limited shade. Three different swimming sections. Beach volleyball and playground.

Wooded area as backdrop and for shade. There’s also a pub/restaurant/cafe with outdoor seating next door. It’s not overpriced!

Ok, OKAY! That water is green! Hhhmmmm, the boys came out of that with tails. . . ☺ Apparently, that’s natural lake water according to the locals. Pee Wee Hermann might disgaree! That’s all right. It’ll make you stronger, boys!

### RT5-D1-7.2-5/Olsztyn ###

Next Stop: Black Madonna at Częstochowa

*21 days of family camping road trip number 5. This time it’s all in Polska–the beautiful land of Poles*.

Here’s the rest of what we plan to see and do in Poland’s south/southeast region on this year’s family camping road trip:

Olsztyn and the trail of the Eagle’s nest,
Black Madonna of Częstochowa,
Krakow and the nearby attractions (Energylandia, Wadowice, Wieliczka Salt Mine),
Pieniny mountain,
drive through Slovakia’s southern Carpathian mountain,
stop by the Saint Magdalene church in Dukla,
do some trekking in the Bieszczady mountains and cross over into cross over to Ukraine (… maybe ; ),
go see about a famous beetle in Szczebrzeszyn,
and a charming art town of Kazimierz Dolny.