The list of Polish national parks includes the following parks: Babiogórski, Białowieski, Biebrzański, Bieszczadzki, Drawieński, Gorczański, Kampinoski, Karkonoski, Magurski, Narwiański, Ojcowski, Pieniński, Poleski, Roztoczański, Słowiński, Świętokrzyski, Tatrzański, Wielkopolski, Wigierski and Wigierski National Parks – “Warta Mouth”, “Bory Tucholskie” and the Table Mountains.
Each of them is worth seeing, because each has its own unique atmosphere and qualities not available elsewhere. We have chosen our top 5!
1. Tatra National Park
The Tatra National Park is not only the king of Polish national parks. This is our national treasure. Even a one-day stay in the Tatras threatens with a strong and lifelong addiction: from fabulous views, from live culture and from adrenaline, which is triggered during hiking on some trails.
2. Białowieża National Park
It is a cross-border park (one part is in Poland and the other in Belarus). This park is inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. This park combines two rare aspects: the world’s largest population of wild bison and the last primeval forest in Europe. In other words, it is a real treat for those who want to see how the herds of North American bison looked like, whose bison are close relatives. The second group of tourists who should visit the park are archeology lovers. Only here you can feel the atmosphere of the times when the Neolithic population lived in close symbiosis with nature and the forest was their second home.
3. Wigry National Park
The landscape of the Wigry National Park is not the result of a violent cataclysm, but the tedious, almost imperceptible work of glaciers, which once covered the areas of the northern borders of today’s Augustów Forest. These glaciers have visited this part of Poland eight times, each time destroying everything in their path and leaving their deep mark on the landscape. The park’s current appearance is breathtaking. The most valuable part of this secluded oasis of greenery is Lake Wigry, whose depth exceeds 70 meters. It is a paradise for those who love water sports like sailing, fishing or kayaking.
4. Pieniny National Park
The most visited park in Poland. One of the reasons is the famous Dunajec gorge and the opportunity to admire the whitewashed Pieniny peaks from the deck of a raft. While the richness of the plant and animal world cannot be surprising (after all, it is a national park), what distinguishes the Pieniny particularly is their landscape values, and more precisely their uniqueness on a national scale.
5. Ojców National Park
Ojców National Park is a perfect combination of unusual geological forms (e.g. Hercules Mace), caves in which our ancestors hid from predators thousands of years ago and monuments such as castles in Pieskowa Skała and Ojców. The location of so many attractions on such a small area makes it a great way to relax for many residents of Lesser Poland and Silesia. A trip to the southern areas of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland can be safely described as a journey to a completely different world.
