Katowice

Introduction

Katowice is the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. It sits within a wider metropolitan region that reaches across the border into the Czech Republic, forming the Katowice–Ostrava metropolitan area.

Before you go

Getting there

Katowice Airport (KTW) sits about 34 km north of the city at Pyrzowice and serves the wider GZM metropolis. It's a single-terminal budget airport, so food and souvenirs cost noticeably more than in the city centre, and the currency exchange booth there should be avoided because its margins run far higher than money changers in town. The airport mainly serves the Polish diaspora, which means you can often find bargain seasonal flights running against the usual direction of travel. LOT flies daily from Warsaw, where you can change for Gdańsk; Ryanair covers most of western Europe and the Mediterranean, with a few routes by Wizz. To reach the city, the AP airport bus runs directly to the main railway and bus stations in 52 minutes, every 30 minutes during the day and hourly overnight — don't confuse it with bus M11, which shares the terminus but takes 77 minutes with countless stops. Matuszek Bus runs direct to Kraków, and other buses go direct to Bytom, Mierzęcice and Sosnowiec. Alternatively, Kraków's John-Paul II Airport has excellent connections across Europe; Flixbuses from Warsaw and Gdańsk call there on their way to Katowice, but it's usually more convenient to take the frequent bus or train into Kraków city centre and change.

By train, services from Warsaw run hourly and take just under three hours via Sosnowiec, sometimes starting from Gdynia or Gdańsk. From Kraków they run hourly and take an hour via Mysłowice. From Berlin Lichtenburg, two trains a day take around six and a half hours via Rzepin, Zielona Góra, Głogów, Lublin, Legnica, Wrocław, Opole, Gliwice and Zabrze, continuing to Kraków; from Wrocław the service is roughly hourly, taking two hours and continuing onward to Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów, Łańcut and Przemyśl on the Ukraine border. From the Czech Republic, trains run from Ostrava every hour or two, taking two hours via Bohumin, Wodzisław Śląski, Rybnik and Tychy, and these may start from Prague, Vienna or Budapest. On cross-border routes, look for split-ticket deals, and note that reservations are compulsory on all trains from Germany in July and August. Katowice Railway Station is central, with left luggage lockers and a downstairs shopping mall with cafes and local buses; outlying stations are Zaleze to the west, Brynów and Ligota to the southwest and south, and Zawodzie to the east. By bus, Flixbus runs from Warsaw five times a day via the airport, from Gdańsk eight times via Toruń, Włocławek and Łódź, from Berlin every hour or two via Berlin Airport, Wrocław and Opole, and from Prague eight times via Brno, Olomouc and Ostrava, with Vienna on the same route. From Kraków, Flixbus, Unibus and Bus-Inter all run hourly using large coaches with luggage trunks — consider booking, as they sell out at busy times. Sądowa Bus Station, the inter-city station completed in 2020, is clean, has good facilities including free toilets, feels safe even at night, and lies 500 m west of the railway station. By road, the main approaches are from Kraków to the west, Wrocław to the southeast and Warsaw to the southwest, while from Vienna, Prague, Bratislava and Brno you head for Ostrava and then cross the border to the northeast.

Getting around

Many of Katowice's sights sit within a kilometre or two of the Rynek or the main railway station, and the pavements are broad and level, so the centre is comfortable to cover on foot. For anything further out, you'll be using the trams and buses of ZTM Metropolia, which runs almost all services across the Upper Silesian Metropolis and uses a single unified ticket system. The exception is PKM Jaworzno, whose blue and yellow buses on routes including A, E and J from Aleja Korfantego have a completely different fare system — don't assume a ZTM ticket covers them.

Tickets are sold by duration, with unlimited transfers within the allotted time, and you can also buy a group ticket for up to five people, a one-day pass valid until midnight, concessionary fares at half the normal price, and electronic bundles or longer-term passes. Buy before boarding from kiosks, newsagents, shops, machines at the main stops, or POP passenger service points inside Katowice railway station, at Pocztowa 10 near the Rynek, and at the ZTM offices on Barbary 21a. The only ticket available on board is the 90-minute one from bus drivers, who give no change and don't take contactless payment; trams have no on-board purchase at all. Validate your ticket immediately on boarding — inspectors patrol, and an unvalidated ticket counts as no ticket. If you're heading to an outlying sight, buy your return ticket with your outbound one. Taxi ranks are at the airport, the north entrance of the railway station on 3 Maja, the bus station, and main hotels and transport nodes; agree the price beforehand or use an app such as Uber for a set fare. Rental bikes are also available, most commonly the yellow Metrorower bicycles booked through the Metrorower app, with stations across Katowice and many nearby cities.

Where to stay

Most of Katowice's accommodation clusters around the main railway station and the central streets, which makes the city easy to explore on foot. For budget stays, Hostel Katowice Centrum sits just south of the station and is clean and very convenient, while Jopi Hostel offers 2-, 4- and 6-bed rooms, six bathrooms and a shared kitchen in a neighbourhood that is a bit rough. Hostel Polonia is really a basic hotel rather than a hostel and gets noise from the nearby station. The Ibis Budget Katowice Centrum, next to the Novotel, offers service and comfort beyond its price range, and Hotel Diament is a comfy, friendly place on a tram route, though you may hear noise from the events hall.

Mid-range options include the Mercure facing the station, the clean and central Hotel Mariacki, and Hotel M23 by the Mariacki, which gets good reviews. The Courtyard by Marriott is a smart place in the centre within the Altus shopping mall, while the Novotel is spacious and efficient, convenient for motorists, with a pool, sauna and gym. Hotel Senator is comfy and simple on a tram route, so expect some street noise. Further out, Hotel Załęże lies two km west of the main railway station and downtown, Marysin Dwór offers simple accommodation in the industrial suburbs next to Załęże railway station, and Stary Nikiszowiec is a modern, simple place in a former miners' estate. For a splurge, the grand old Hotel Monopol has been central since 1903 with modern spacious rooms, the Qubus Hotel is a modern central four-star whose Sky Bar has nice views from the 27th floor, and Vienna House Easy is a slick modern hotel in the centre with comfortable rooms and apartments.

Food & drink

Katowice eats and drinks with Silesian character. For filling, traditional cooking, head to the milk bar Talerz Szklanka on Staromiejska, or try Okiem i Brzuchem on Kościuszki if you want local Silesian cuisine. Żurownia on Ligonia serves traditional Silesian specialties alongside beer, while Wiejska Chatka on Plac Grunwaldzki offers family-friendly Silesian cooking without alcohol, and U Babuni on Jana Kilińskiego serves good-value traditional meals in a rustic wooden interior. For something more polished, the long-established Patio on Stawowa and its branch Patio-Park by Kosciuszki Park both serve top-quality Silesian and Polish specialties, and Karcma pod Strzechom, done up like a mountain chalet, serves traditional country dishes.

Beyond Polish cooking, the city has plenty of other options. Mekong on Słowackiego serves fresh authentic Vietnamese cuisine, Hurry Curry near the Cathedral of the Resurrection covers Indian and southeast Asian food with vegetarian and vegan options, and Buddha on Drzymały is an Indian restaurant. Pierogi Świata on Jagiellońska offers an eclectic mix of traditional Polish and fusion dumplings, while Fantasmagoria on Gliwicka serves Polish and Georgian cuisine. For burgers and casual fare, try Carlos Burger&Lunch on Jagiellońska or the retro American-style diner CityRock on Chorzowska. Vegetarians can head to the lively Złoty Osioł on Mariacka, a vegetarian bar hosting events like poetry meetings and concerts, or Dobra Karma on Sw Jacka for breakfasts, pizzas, soups and pastas. When it comes to drinking, Katofonia on Mielęckiego hosts live rock, blues and other music, Hipnoza Jazz Club behind Teatr Korfez pairs jazz with drinks and interesting dishes, and Lorneta z Meduzą on Mariacka is a bistro bar with filling food.

What to see and do

Start at the Rynek, the pedestrianised market square that trams criss-cross. It's frankly drab, though communist-era buildings are giving way to modern structures, and at noon you'll hear the Hejnał, a five-note bugle call borrowed from the Kraków tradition. Look for Zachód Słońca ("Sunset"), a neon installation of a red globe low over the Rawa canal.

• The History of Katowice Museum has a small permanent display of local history plus temporary exhibitions.
• The Silesian Organ Museum, part of the University music department, holds pipe organs collected or cannibalised from around the region; hours are erratic and you need to catch an organist playing them.
• The Cathedral of Christ the King, begun in 1927 and finished only in 1955, is brick faced with sandstone and fairly plain inside; the Archdiocesan Museum on its west side shows religious artwork.
• The sturdy neogothic Church of the Immaculate Conception is framed by the view down Mariacka, and the large neo-Romanesque Cathedral of the Resurrection serves the Lutheran congregation.
• The Goldstein Palace is a cod-Renaissance mansion built in the 1870s by the Goldstein brothers, now a municipal marriage hall you can usually look into.
• The BWA Contemporary Art Gallery and the two galleries, concert hall and cafeteria of Rondo Sztuki cover contemporary art.
• The Silesian Museum is a remarkable building in a former coalmine, with galleries underground and an excellent display of life and history in Silesia down the ages, plus religious artworks.
• The Museum of Computers and IT exhibits the history of Polish IT and a large collection of ancient computers.
• The Jewish cemetery, laid out in 1870 within a larger communal cemetery, is in poor condition.
• The Silesian Insurgents' Monument in the little park south of the Jerzego Ziętka Roundabout has three wings symbolising the uprisings of 1919, 1920 and 1921, with battle sites etched on its sides.

Further out, the wooden St Michael the Archangel church in Kościuszko Park was built in 1510 near the Czech border and moved here in 1938; the park itself was laid out in its present form in 1925 and named for the military commander Kościuszko. The Silesian Freedom and Solidarity Centre at the Wujek mine depicts the labour uprisings of the 1980s that formed the nucleus of the Solidarity movement. Katowice Forest Park is the largest green area in the city, with hiking and cycling trails, and its detached northern section, the Valley of Three Ponds, lets you bathe or boat on the lake. The Walcownia Museum of Zinc Production displays the process in a large industrial hall along with a collection of motorcycles, and Gallery Szyb Wilson, a vast hall that once held a mine shaft's headworks, is now an art gallery hosting events. The neighbourhoods of Nikiszowiec, built in a distinct red-brick style with the neo-Baroque Church of St Mary, and Giszowiec, laid out as a garden city of chalets, housed miners of the Giesche mine. The Franciscan Monastery in Panewniki is an early 20th-century monastery and basilica surrounded by a park with small Catholic shrines.

For entertainment, the Spodek — "flying saucer" — is the city's main multi-use venue, and the International Congress Centre stands next to it. GKS Katowice play football at their Arena Katowice west of the centre, and ice hockey at a rink within the Spodek. The Silesian Library is a large modern regional library. For board games, try Ludiversum near the railway station or Flamberg near the Marriott, or get in touch with the Silesian Fantasy Club. Cinemas include Światowid for art-house film, the artist-run Rialto for more experimental work, and multiplexes at Silesia City Center and Punkt 44; check whether films are dubbed or subtitled.

When to go

Three days in Katowice

Day one: Start in Katowice itself, in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, and get your bearings around the Rynek, the market square at the heart of the city. Katowice sits close to the Czech Republic border, with Ostrava within reach, and its story runs from Silesian and Prussian days through Germany, the First World War, the German and Polish chapters, the Second World War and the Nazi period, the arrival of the Red Army, the post-war People's Republic, the early Gierek era and traditional industry, and on to the modern city since. Let that layered past set the tone before you move on.

• Begin at the Rynek and read the city's layers in the streets around it.
• Note how Katowice's identity was shaped by Silesian, Prussian, German and Polish rule in turn.

Day two: Turn to the city's present. Katowice has hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference and holds the title of European City of Science, and it is a centre for IT and Silesia's wider life. Spend the day on that contemporary face, then look ahead to how you will travel onward.

• Look for the marks of the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the European City of Science title.
• See the IT side of a place that was once defined by traditional industry.

Day three: Use Katowice Airport, also known as KTW, at Pyrzowice for your departure, or plan a wider trip. The airport is part of the GZM area and is served by carriers including LOT, with links to Warsaw and Gdańsk and operators such as Ryanair, so the rest of Europe is within easy reach.

• Fly out from Katowice Airport (KTW) at Pyrzowice.
• Consider onward connections to Warsaw, Gdańsk or elsewhere in Europe.