Warsaw – a charming capital

Today Warsaw is a city with many faces where tradition intermingles with modernity. From the terrace on Zamkowy Square, where the Royal Castle and St. Anne's Church are located, is a view of the new Świętokrzyski Bridge. The dominating silhouette of the city centre belongs to the Palace of Culture and Science, which today shares the city skyline with numerous office towers. You can feel the breath of history in the Old Town, on Nowy Świat Street and everywhere where the city's roots have been preserved.

Cracow – a tourist horn of plenty

Cracow, Poland's former royal capital, is one of the most attractive spots on the tourist map of Europe. This is a place where legends, history and modernity intertwine. The city, which lies on the banks of the Vistula River, is famous for its priceless historical monuments of culture and art.

Wrocław – a magical city

Wrocław was once described as “the holy blossom of Europe, a beautiful gem among cities”, and has always been a bone of contention, changing hands many times throughout its long history. In the past, Wrocław has belonged to Poles, Czechs, Austrians, Hungarians and Germans. Settlers here have included Walloons, Jews, Italians and Ruthenians. The mixture of many different religions and cultures, while troublesome at times, has also contributed a lot to the city.

Wrocław lies in the middle of the Silesian Lowland, where the Oder River branches out to form 12 islands. The city is spanned by more than 100 bridges. Seen from the deck of a tour boat, Wrocław looks like a city on the water.

Poznań – the legendary cradle of Poland

Poznań is known around the world as an important international trade-fair centre. Every year about 30 international and national events are held here. Specialist trade fairs, such as the Polagra Fair, featuring food products, and the Budma Fair, featuring building materials, are among the largest sectoral events in Europe. The historical landmarks in this city are also well worth seeing.

Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot – the Tricity

The Tricity, an urban complex extending along the Bay of Gdańsk, is one of Poland's largest tourist attractions. Each of the cities making up the Tricity offers a different atmosphere. Gdańsk is a Hanseatic town more than 1,000 years old, while the lively Sopot and Gdynia are proof of the economic spirit of the Poles who, having regained their independence in 1918 after a century and a half of occupation, took less than 10 years to build one of the greatest ports on the Baltic.

The history of the Tricity is an important element of the contemporary consciousness of every Pole: it was here that the strikes of 1970, 1980 and 1988 set in motion the destruction of the communist system.

In 1980, Lech Wałęsa led the strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, which became the cradle of the Solidarity social movement. The trade-union leader went on to become the president of Poland and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.