Morskie Oko

The royal castle and cathedral on a limestone hill above the Vistula, the coronation and burial site of Polish monarchs.

One of the largest medieval squares in Europe, with the Renaissance Cloth Hall at its centre and a trumpet call sounded hourly from St Mary's tower.

The historic Jewish quarter south of the old town, with surviving synagogues, a memorial square and a dense run of cafés and bars.

The long market street of Gdańsk, rebuilt after 1945, lined with tall merchant houses and closed at each end by a historic gate.

A museum on the shipyard site covering the 1980 strikes, the Solidarity movement and the end of communism in central Europe.

The Tatras are the only alpine-style range in Poland, with granite ridges, glacial lakes and marked trails running up from Zakopane. Morskie Oko is the best-known lake, reached by a long paved approach; the higher routes, including Rysy and the Orla Perć ridge, are serious mountain terrain. Winter brings skiing and avalanche risk in equal measure.