Tarnow

Before you go

Tarnow's tourism information point sits right on the Rynek, the main square, so you can sort out maps and local questions once you arrive. It is reachable by phone if you need to check anything in advance.

Getting there

Trains from Kraków run roughly every hour and take a little over an hour; services from Nowy Sącz take about an hour and forty-five minutes. Buses from Kraków are similarly frequent, with fares and journey times close to those of the trains. By car, Tarnów is reached via Route 4/E40 or the A4 motorway.

Tarnów Railway Station sits southwest of the city centre. The elegant 1906 building is worth a brief look even if you aren't travelling by train; in 1939 a German agent set off a bomb here, killing 20 people two days before the Nazi invasion of Poland.

Getting around

Most of what you'll want to see in Tarnów sits in the historic centre, and distances there are short, so plan to walk. Comfortable shoes will serve you better than any transport pass for a day of sightseeing, and you won't need to figure out timetables or buy tickets for the core of your visit.

For anything beyond the centre, the city has a bus-based public transport network — there's no tram or metro to hop on. Treat buses as your fallback for longer hops rather than your default way of seeing the city; many visitors never need them at all. If you arrive by train, the railway station sits southwest of the centre, a short walk or quick ride from the old town, and the 1906 station building itself rewards a brief look.

Where to stay

You have a straightforward choice in Tarnów: hotels spread across the city, plus a couple of aparthotels right by the market square. On the Rynek itself, Aparthotel U Jana puts you in the middle of the old town, while Aparthotel Zakątna sits on a side street just off it — both suit you if you want to step out of your door into the historic centre. Several hotels also cluster close to the centre, including Hotel Bristol on Krakowska and Hotel Tarnovia on Kościuszki.

• Hotel Bristol — Krakowska 9
• Hotel Tarnovia — Kościuszki 10
• Hotel Cristal Park — Traugutta 5
• Hotel Gal — Dworcowa 5
• Hotel Kantoria — Piłsudskiego 28A
• Hotel Krzyski — Krzyska 52b
• Hotel Pod Dębem — Marusarz 9B
• Aparthotel U Jana — Rynek 14
• Aparthotel Zakątna — Zakątna 19
• Camping 202 Pod Jabłoniami — Piłsudskiego 28A

If you prefer to camp, Camping 202 Pod Jabłoniami shares the Piłsudskiego 28A address with Hotel Kantoria. For a fuller, regularly updated picture of accommodation in the city and the surrounding region, check the website of the Tarnów Information Center before you book.

Food & drink

For eating out, head to ul. Krakowska and the Old Town, where most of the city's restaurants are concentrated. The Old Town is also where you'll find plenty of cafes and pubs, so you can settle in for coffee or a drink in the same central streets.

What to see and do

Start in the Old Town, where the medieval street layout survives among the tenement houses and the Main Square holds the Gothic and Renaissance City Hall at its centre. The Town Hall is among the city's best-known sights, and on the way up to the tower you can see local mammoth tusks and the working mechanical clockwork of the town hall clock. Around the square, the Regional Museum occupies five buildings across the city, and its Old Art Gallery is housed in the Town Hall itself; the Museum of the History of Tarnów and the Region sits at Rynek 20-21. Nearby you'll find the Diocesan Museum, a collection of religious art from the 15th century onward set inside a group of 16th-century houses, whose most precious piece is the original altar from St. Leonard's Church in Lipnica Murowana.

Remains of the defensive walls and two fortified towers survive at the Half-Bastion on Basztowa, and the Bimah is what's left of the old synagogue. Tarnów Cathedral dates from the 14th century; its tower isn't open to the public, though it's said you can ask the rector about accompanying the janitor up. The late Gothic wooden Holy Trinity Church, now tucked between railway tracks, dates to the 16th century, and the Bernadine Abbey Complex stands on Bernardyńska. The Jewish Cemetery on Szpitalna, founded in the 16th century, is among the oldest and most interesting in southern Poland; keys to the gate can be borrowed for a returnable deposit from the Tarnów Information Center on Rynek or from the museum. For art, the BWA Gallery shows exhibitions in the former Strzelecki Palace at the edge of Strzelecki Park, where the Mausoleum of General Józef Bem stands mid-park, a sarcophagus on Corinthian columns inscribed in Polish, Hungarian and Arabic. The Szekelys Gate, a gift from a Hungarian foundation and the city of Sepsiszentgyőrgy, is free to visit. Beyond the centre, the picturesque ruin of Tarnowski Castle sits on St Martin's Hill, and the village of Zalipie is known for its painted cottages, with floral paintings on walls, wells and fences. World War I cemeteries, often marked by commemorative statues, lie in the towns around Tarnów. There are several parks and two cinemas, including Kino Marzenie on Staszica.

Three days in Tarnow

Day one: Start in Tarnow's Rynek, the market square at the heart of the old town, and use it as your base for getting oriented. From the Rynek you can walk to the Tarnów Railway Station, which puts the rest of the region within easy reach. For a comfortable stay, choose from the Aparthotel Zakątna on Jana, the Hotel Bristol on Krakowska, the Hotel Tarnovia on Kościuszki, the Hotel Cristal Park on Traugutta, the Hotel Gal on Dworcowa, the Hotel Kantoria on Piłsudskiego, the Hotel Krzyski on Krzyska, or the Hotel Pod Dębem on Marusarz.

Day two: Take the trains from Tarnów Railway Station to Kraków or Nowy Sącz for a day out, or use the buses if that suits your route better. By returning to Tarnów in the evening, you can treat yourself to a meal in the Rynek and a quiet stroll through the surrounding streets.

Day three: Spend your last day on the German Nazi occupation history of Poland as it touched Tarnow, then take a final walk through the Rynek before leaving. If you are travelling on, the trains and buses from Tarnów Railway Station connect you onward with ease.