7 Sights to See in Jelenia Gora, Poland

Many travellers know very little about Poland, so there are many corners of the country that people don’t know. In Poland’s southwest, people are most likely to be familiar with the charming city of Wroclaw nowadays. But the things to see in Jelenia Gora, a smaller, pretty city? Not so much.

Based on my travels there, I think Lower Silesia is definitely one of the more deeply interesting parts of Poland, rife with destinations worth visiting. And Jelenia Gora is a standout, thanks to its grand city center and the nearby Karkonosze mountain range along the Czech border. With a nice selection of things to do in Jelenia Gora, travelers could do worse than stop through while crossing the shared borders of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Here are seven sights to see in Jelenia Gora to give you a glimpse of its charms from my visit.

Getting to Jelenia Gora

Since Jelenia Gora is a little off the beaten track, even for Poland, advice on visiting would be helpful.

How to get to Jelenia Gora is your first problem. The city is in Poland’s deep southwest, right by the Czech border.

You’re most likely to come from Wroclaw, the largest city in this region, with direct trains taking roughly 2 hours to reach Jelenia Gora (passing through the smaller city of Wałbrzych). Buses between Wroclaw and Jelenia Gora are not frequent.

Alternatively, you can visit Jelenia Gora from Liberec, across the border in Jelenia Gora, as I did. It’s a 2.5-hour train ride, with a transfer at the first station across the border. Some of these trains only go as far as Cieplice, so you’ll need to take another train or bus to reach the city center.

Renting a car while you explore Poland is the other way to go, giving you the freedom to go where you want.

As for how to get around the city and visit Cieplice and Chojnik Castle, I’d recommend using the city’s bus network. With ticket machines onboard, a trip only costs 3zl, and the system wasn’t too hard to understand.

Where to stay in Jelenia Gora

Accommodation is the other main consideration when planning a trip to Jelenia Gora.

For a small city, you’ll actually find a lot of places to stay in Jelenia Gora, although many are around the outer spa district of Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój. While you can stay there, I think it’s a little more convenient to base yourself in the city center.

My stay was at the basic and affordable Hotel Europa. It’s central and quiet, but rather simple and dated. Some potentially nicer, better-rated options include:

• Baron Boutique Hotel
• Fajny Kąt Apartamenty
• Great Polonia Jelenia Góra
• Zeppelin Apartments

Places to visit in Jelenia Gora

How you approach visiting Jelenia Gora depends greatly on the season.

Skiing in the nearby mountains is the obvious thing to do in winter. But for other seasons, you have the city’s historical center to explore, not to mention the excellent local food. I recommend trying the pierogi at Pierogarnia z Gitarą i Piórem on the main pedestrian street, dinner at Cytrynowy Pieprz, and coffee from Palarnia kawy Aroma Cafe.

As for what to do in Jelenia Gora, start with these places.

1. Old Town

When visiting Jelenia Gora, the only real place to start is with the city’s historic centre.

The Old Town encompasses many of the sights to see in Jelenia Gora, thanks to its historic buildings and architecture, not to mention its general liveliness. Built in the 10th century, it was not long before Jelenia Gora was an important city on important trade routes through the region. Passed around between warring nations over the centuries, the city is one of the odd places that survived mostly unscathed through WWII.

As you wander the city, a few things will become clear to you.

Firstly, you’ll see figures and images of stags all over the place. That’s simply because the stag is the city’s symbol and is on its coat of arms. Given that Jelenia Gora translates to “deer mountain,” it kind of makes sense.

The other point I’ll make is that Jelenia Gora Old Town is quite a colourful and artistic place, with pastel coloured houses and plenty of curious statues all over the place, that occasionally will have you scratching your head.

2. Wojanowska Tower and Gate

To know that you’re really reaching the centre of Jelenia Gora and the heart of its Old Town, look for the Wojanowska Tower and Gate. Once the eastern side of Jelenia Gora’s town walls, this photogenic stone tower dates from the 14th century.

Together with the adjoined gate, you can still see how this would have once been an entryway to the city, except with a drawbridge instead. Sort of merged with the tower and gate is St Anne’s Chapel, which, together, creates quite a confusing sight. It’d be understandable for you to mistake the tower as a church’s bell tower.

While there are many colorful views around Jelenia Gora, shots with this tower are some of my favorites.

3. Market Square

At the very heart of Jelenia Gora lies the city’s Market Square. This is where you’ll find Jelenia Gora’s signature colourful merchant houses and the city centre at its most lively.

With restaurants and cafes along the square’s sides and within the covered arcades, it tends to get busier as the day goes on. You’ll also find plenty of small features around the square that will have you slowly doing a lap to find them all.

From the old tram that has become a communal message-board, to the city’s 18th-century Neptune’s Fountain and all sorts of statues and figures, there’s heaps to be uncovered here in the Jelenia Gora Market Square.

Buildings here are a little like the famous row houses of Telc in the Czech Republic, just on a smaller scale.

4. Jelenia Gora Town Hall

Right in the middle of the Market Square, you’ll find the elegant Jelenia Gora Town Hall.

Unusually, it seems to actually be two joined buildings that share this title. An 18th-century addition to the city’s Old Town, the Town Hall has a series of cellars that you can visit and see remnants from the Middle Ages.

Be sure to head under the covered walkway that joins the building’s two halves. On one of its inner corners, here you’ll find quite a strange but effective statue, showing the limbs and head of a man emerging from the wall.

I didn’t know what to make of it, really, but it sure left an impression. Quirky art has a way of doing that, I suppose.

5. Baszta Zamkowa

As seen by Wojanowska Tower, Jelenia Gora was once a walled town with few parts of the town walls still standing. On the east side of the Old Town, you’ll find only two towers that remain of the original 36 towers, Baszta Zamkowa and Baszta Grodzka.

Both are big stone towers that have sort of merged into the neighbouring houses, but at least with Baszta Zamkowa, you have the opportunity to go inside.

Work your way up the tower, and you’ll find a little balcony up top that gives you a decent view out over the city and its lush green surrounds. While it’s nice to see the city skyline like this, I think the panorama makes you appreciate how pretty Jelenia Gora is at street level.

6. Chojnik Castle

For those looking to get out of Jelenia Gora for a bit and see some of the surroundings, then Chojnik Castle is the obvious choice.

Lying on the edge of the Karkonosze mountains, the castle ruins sit atop a hill covered in beautiful forest. To reach this castle, you must first get to the village of Sobieszow and then pay 6zl to enter Karkonosze National Park. Then it’s a moderately gentle hike up through the forest to the castle, whose entry also costs 6zl.

Built in the late 13th century, Chojnik Castle must have been quite something. With its location and design, it’s little wonder the castle was never taken.

In fact, it was only destroyed in the 17th century because it was struck by lightning. Never rebuilt, the castle has remained in ruins for centuries—and it shows. While its outer walls make quite the first impression, inside you realise that there isn’t a whole lot left of the castle.

The one section that has managed to survive quite well is the stairs and ramparts that take you up its central tower.

Making your way to the top, you’re rewarded with a full 360-degree panorama of the castle’s surrounds. That means views not only of the mountainous Karkonosze National Park but also the many lakes that sit between there and Jelenia Gora.

7. The neighbourhood of Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój

Roughly halfway between the Old Town of Jelenia Gora and Chojnik Castle lies the neighbourhood of Cieplice.

With the way Cieplice is separated from the city centre, it almost felt like a separate town, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Cieplice is another spa retreat, like the towns I visited in Klodzko County, but it’s quite different from the rest of Jelenia Gora.

Rather than a medieval old town, Cieplice features a lot of Baroque architecture and comes across as quite a grand destination. Through the centre of the neighbourhood runs Ulica Plac Piastowski with plenty of nice buildings, but Cieplice’s main attraction is certainly Palais Schaffgotsch and the vast palace park.

You can’t actually wander inside the palace itself, but walking around the park and centre of Cieplice is sure to be charming enough.

Have you ever heard of Jelenia Gora in Poland before? Would you recommend other things to do in Jelenia Gora, or know of other sights to see outside the city? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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