Diesen Text gibt es hier auch in DeutschA Trip from Wroclaw to the Jelenia Góra Valley of Castles and Palaces in Lower Silesia
Did you know that not too far away from Wroclaw, you will find the highest density of palaces and castles in Europe? Of course we are talking about the Jelenia Góra Castle Valley! The landscapes are absolutely breathtaking and stunning, plus the most beautiful castles in Lower Silesia are located in it!
That is of course one of the reasons why wealthy people from aristocratic families build their impressive homes all over this part in Lower Silesia. Today you really will be able to go castle-hopping in this area, one castle or palace is often not much further away from each other than 10 minutes by car.
From Wroclaw it only takes around two hours to get to Jelenia Góra. We have picked our favourite castles and palaces from the Jelenia Góra Castle Valley for you in this post, of course we made some pictures during our trip that we also will be sharing here 🙂
1. Wojanów Palace
We start the castle-hopping with one of the largest and most impressive palaces – the Wojanów Palace! The roots go back to the 13th century and today it is in a very good condition as you can see, but it was not always like that.
After the war it was used by the government first, then it became a ruin and a private investor bought it in 1995. But the restoration wasn’t easy… In 2002 it caught fire and was partially destroyed. Finally since 2007 it is in use as hotel and event venue.
We actually stayed here and used it as a “basecamp” to explore the this beautiful castle valley of Lower Silesia. A lifetime opportunity to sleep in a tower room and get a bit of luxury for a really fair price!
Peaceful surroundings, a stunning park, and a great place to watch stars. We definitely will come back!
2. Łomnica Palace
Just 500m further from Wojanów Palace you find the next one: Łomnica Palace. The history is similar, but this piece started as Manor. After WW2 it was used as school, then became a ruin.
Very interesting fun fact here: A descendant of the family who owned it before WW2 actually bought it in 1991 and started a restoration.
Today it is a hotel and hosts a museum as well, also a society who takes care of history monuments in Lower Silesia is based here.
One of our personal highlights was the timber-framed house of prayer (picture #3) which was rebuilt from the city Rząśnik and just opened in March 2020. Actually a lot of private individuals donated to make this possible. More information on this project is available here (in DE and PL only).
No need to mention that like every palace it has a really nice garden, you will see it on our pictures. There is also a farmers store and if you visit Wojanów, you definitely should not miss this one, you can even walk…
If you want to stay here, it is much smaller and more intimate!
3. Bobrów Palace
This is a dreamy one, located just next to the river and embedded in a wonderful landscape. Just a 5 minutes drive away from both previous ones, but unfortunately not open to public at this time.
Similar history again like the previous ones, but as you can see on the picture, there is construction going on. We can’t wait for it to be completed, as the location is beautiful!!!
P.S. Don’t even try – there is security on site 😉
4. Karpniki Castle
The Karpniki Castle is quite different from the previous palaces as it is surrounded by water. Not only plenty of ducks like that – we really loved it!
The history of it dates back to the 14th century and again, what you see on the pictures is quite new… In 2009 you would just see decay, but then private investors got involved and put a lot of money and effort into it. Since 2014 it welcomes visitors in the historic rooms.
5. Bukowiec Palace
Probably not the most impressive building on our list, but still worth a visit.
Why? It belongs to a musical institution and when we arrived, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of an opera rehearsal.
There seem to be some nice hiking opportunities around, but we focussed on castle-hopping this time…
6. Spiż Hotel at Miłków Manor
This palace has a special connection with Wroclaw. You might know the Spiż Brewery which is located just at the market square? It is not a coincidence that the name is the same.
Bogdan Spiż founded the brewery in 1992 in Wroclaw and then expanded in 1996 to Miłków with a restaurant and hotel operation.
You are welcome to stay here and enjoy some nice beer…
7. Hotel SPA Staniszów Palace
The Staniszów Palace is another stop that we really loved. It operates as hotel and spa facility, so if you need some rest, for sure you will find it here.
The palace is covered with leaves, the pictures here were made in August, and we only can imagine how beautiful it might be in September when the colours slowly turns into orange-red.
It looks like the building has roots back to the 16th century and you might have guessed it: Decay after WW2, then recent Restoration and now… Hotel!
We had a coffee in the garden and already felt very rested after that. The view on the little lake and spa area is just relaxing.
P.S. The famous liquor “Stonsdorfer” has its origins here…
8. Pakoszów Palace
Well, this happens when you don’t do enough research before… We wanted to visit this nice Pakoszów Palace too, but unfortunately it is not open to visitors.
All we got was this view on it, which indicates that it must be very nice, but it looks that we just have to get back as guests one day.
If you want to see it, you can book your stay here directly on Booking.com!
9. Chojnik Castle (Ruins)
We did not want to leave the impression to be lazy people as this time we did not climb up the hill on which the Chojnik Castle is located (well, what is left). Its history goes back to the 13th century.
That is why Ewa luckily found an old picture from some years ago, we are sure it has not changed much… It takes around 40 min to get up.
We enjoyed the restaurant AQUAKultura this time, which is very close and has super tasty seafood and a nice lake- and mountainview as visible in the picture 🙂
10. Paulinum Palace
One of the last castles during our trip was the Paulinum Palace. This palace dates back to the 17th century and actually was modernised by an architect from Wroclaw (Karl Grosser) in the early 20th century.
While it served as training camp for the NSDAP during bad times in history, since 2002 it is open to the public as …. Yes, Hotel! Most of the interiors here are still original – that makes it quite special compared to the other castles and palaces here.
This is probably the best opportunity to stay in one of the magnificent castles and palaces when you do not have the option to rent a car. Technically you could even walk from the city of Jelenia Góra, so here public transport from Wroclaw definitely is an option.
11. Bonus: Czocha Castle
Not located directly in the Jelenia Góra Valley of Castles, but we still decided to include it. Why? If you happen to drive towards Germany and maybe combine the castle trip with a visit in beautiful Görlitz, then this is just a very small detour.
Czocha Castle could be the location where bond movies were made, it has a very special vibe. There are many secret doors and vaults all over the complex, apparently some are still not discovered. Just look at the nice bookshelf-door…
Just very recently a special team arrived to search with lasers and drones for more secrets of the castle. Check this news article on it!
Of course many Polish movies were made here and it is a popular wedding location. Not only because of the bedroom with a lot of special gimmicks…
Where to stay in The Valley of Castles?
Check out the best places to stay in The Valley of Castles – but be sure to change the dates in the map below to your planned travel dates. Otherwise you only will see the castles, which are still available tonight, and in that area we highly recommend to book early in advance to make sure you get the hotel you like. The most popular ones are likely to sell out.
How to get around in the Castle Valley?
Okay, let us be honest. It will be very difficult by public transport to get to the castles and palaces. There is a quite decent connection by train and bus from Wroclaw to Jelenia Góra, however if you want to go around in that area a little bit, you can forget about bus connections…
The best option: Take a car
What we did for our trip and what we can only recommend is to go by car. With that option you will be flexible and castle hopping can be good fun. If you don’t have a car (welcome to the club), then we suggest to check the rental car comparison from DriveBoo here.
We used them a couple of times ourselves and got really good rates from Wroclaw (sometimes in range of 25-40 PLN per day!!!).
Alternatively: Take a tour from Wroclaw
There is also a full day guided tour which starts directly in Wroclaw. This is a great option to get a first impression of the whole area, and you will be able to see a couple of palaces too. Here you can check the dates available and online fares.
How about a little overview map?
We have created a little fun website that collects all the castles we have been too in Lower Silesia, and actually over the past years, we managed to capture quite a few!
Unfortunately at this point only available in German, but works well with Google Translate.
You still want to know more about castles?
Let’s be honest, all of these wonderful places have a long history and there would be so much more to tell about them. Our post should just provide some inspiration and make you curious about more. The good news is, you do not need to stop reading here! There are amazing books which we can recommend.
There is just one little catch. The best books are available in German and Polish language only… We still will recommend them here also on our English post, but actually for English literature, you should have a look into the Lonely Planet for Poland which you find here on Amazon.de or on Amazon.co.uk.
“Das schlesische Elysium” by Arne Franke
If you happen to speak German, very quickly you will find one name when it comes to castles in Lower Silesia: Arne Franke. He wrote multiple books about castles in Lower Silesia and did very extensive research on them.
”Das schlesische Elysium” is actually focussing on the area where we travelled around – the Jelenia Góra Castle Valley.
“Kleine Kulturgeschichte der schlesischen Schlösser” by Arne Franke
This book zooms out a little bit from the Jelenia Góra Valley and takes a more holistic look at Lower Silesia (in this first volume).
150 beautiful homes from the aristocracy are presented with plenty of details on 410 pages. Again, unfortunately only available in German.
More cozy and individual places in Lower Silesia
We have another blog post that is related to this castle hopping, but with a focus on cozy and remote places to stay in Lower Silesia.
Most of them have a great culinary offer with regional food, wellness and spa, and great as romantic getaways, nature retreats and for families too.
We hope that you enjoyed our little castle trip from Wroclaw to the Jelenia Góra valley of castles as much as we did! If you need more inspiration for other daytrips, here is more of that!
Even in Wroclaw are some beautiful castles, you can find some of them in our post about the 25 most impressive buildings of Wroclaw here!
If you plan a trip to Wroclaw, then you should check out our planning section with the best advise on how to get to Wroclaw, where to stay in Wroclaw and much more!
Do you have some comments on this article? Maybe you have some other great book recommendations? Help us and also help other visitors by leaving your feedback in the comment section below!
You may also like
Free Walking Tours in Wroclaw
The best Activities for Families and Kids in Wroclaw
