The heart of the region
The city is well connected with other, larger urban areas. The shortest route to Kraków is about 115 km long, while the drive to Warsaw takes a little over two hours. If you enjoy cycling, you will be glad to know that a section of Poland’s longest cycle route — the Green Velo Eastern Cycling Trail — runs through Kielce.
Kielce is a city that grows every day. Thanks to a steady stream of developments matched to residents’ needs, in recent years it has become a noticeably better ordered place.
Walks through history
As the tourist centre of the region, the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains makes an excellent base for discovering its charms. The centre itself draws visitors to the city’s main promenade — Sienkiewicza Street. A walk there leads past a variety of shops and restaurants, and past a wealth of historic buildings entered in the register of monuments. The Kielce market square was probably laid out in the second half of the 12th century. Local markets were once held there; today it serves mainly as a meeting place. The town hall is worth a look, as are the surrounding townhouses, one of which was built in 1767.
Relaxation in the city centre
Geopark and Kadzielnia
The province is home to a geological landscape park that watches over the region’s most beautiful attractions. Within the city limits of Kielce alone there are five nature reserves. The best known is Kadzielnia, right in the centre of the city, with an amphitheatre, caves and one of the longest zip lines in Poland, its cable strung 40 metres above the ground.
Distance: 4.8 kmBy car: 10 minOn foot: 60 min
Green space for the whole family
The Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden, opened in 2018, offers close encounters with nature and a range of visitor facilities. You will find quiet and calm there among many unusual plant species, and can spend valuable time with children thanks to carefully prepared materials and educational trails.
Distance: 5.3 kmBy car: 10 minOn foot: 1 h 10 min
Święty Krzyż
Walkers are met by a wealth of hiking trails, leading among others to Łysica (614 m above sea level), the highest peak of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and to Łysa Góra, also known as Święty Krzyż.
Distance: 22.1 kmBy car: 30 minOn foot: 4 h 50 min
Attractions within reach
The list of monuments and places worth visiting in Kielce is a long one, all the more so because for many years this was a bishops’ city — something still visible today.
Castle Hill
Castle Hill is home to the Tomasz Zieliński Palace, the Laszczyk Manor, the Baroque cathedral basilica from the 17th century and the former Palace of the Kraków Bishops, which now houses the National Museum. Behind it lies a beautiful Renaissance Italian Garden.
Distance: 3.4 kmBy car: 10 minOn foot: 42 min
The city park
Near the Stanisław Staszic city park stands the former Kielce Prison, which served that function until the 1970s. After the area was revitalised, the Centre of Patriotic and Civic Thought has occupied the site since 2011, housing a multimedia historical exhibition and a design centre.
Distance: 3.7 kmBy car: 10 minOn foot: 45 min
The “UFO” bus station
The “UFO” bus station, a landmark of Kielce renovated in 2020, also catches the eye with its modern night-time lighting.
Distance: 3.3 kmBy car: 6 minOn foot: 40 min
Capital of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains
Karczówka
Karczówka is a picturesque hill close to the city centre. It is now the site of the 17th-century Church of St Charles Borromeo, built where a Bernardine monastery once stood.
Distance: 5.9 kmBy car: 12 minOn foot: 1 h 16 min
The Raj Cave
The Raj Cave, together with the adjoining Neanderthal Centre, is a remarkable attraction on the map of the Świętokrzyskie province. Eleven kilometres from the centre of Kielce, the cave astonishes with varied underground karst formations: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, cave pearls and flowstone. A visit takes about 45 minutes, and the route — preceded by a themed exhibition — is 180 m long. Inside, humidity stays around 95% at a constant temperature of 9°C.
Distance: 14.6 kmBy car: 17 minOn foot: 3 h
Education and development
The Geoeducation Centre
The Geoeducation Centre is a modern facility within one of the Kielce nature reserves. Its interactive exhibition presents the geological heritage of the region. Besides a display that includes a 5D cinema and a Geolaboratory zone, the centre runs workshops of various kinds and offers an educational playground — the Geological Garden of Experiments.
Distance: 6.2 kmBy car: 13 minOn foot: 1 h 20 min
The Leonardo da Vinci Science Centre
The Leonardo da Vinci Science Centre is a place where exhibitions and educational activities are devoted to the human body and its surroundings. Engaging lectures and demonstrations for children and young people are held there.
Distance: 20.4 kmBy car: 23 minOn foot: 4 h 10 min
Childhood delight
The Museum of Play and Toys
The Museum of Play and Toys is the oldest institution of its kind in Poland. The collection holds several thousand exhibits, among them historic and folk toys, models of vehicles, aircraft and ships, model railways, theatre puppets and much more. Twelve themed displays are shown alongside changing exhibitions.
Distance: 3.6 kmBy car: 9 minOn foot: 45 min
JuraPark Bałtów
JuraPark in Bałtów was created near the place where dinosaur tracks were discovered. It holds, among other attractions, a Jurassic museum, a prehistoric oceanarium, a park of miniatures, an open-air apiary and a ranch — and in winter, ski lifts are open to visitors.
Distance: 77.8 kmBy car: 1 h 16 min