Top 100 best museums in Poland

The Royal Łazienki Park, known in Polish as Park Łazienki Królewskie, is the largest public park in Warsaw, Poland. It covers an expansive area of about 80 hectares, providing ample space for visitors to explore and enjoy. The park is a significant part of Warsaw's landscape, offering a blend of nature and architecture that is unique to the city.

The Wawel Royal Castle National Art Collection is a significant part of the historic Wawel Castle in Kraków. This residence museum houses a vast collection of art, providing visitors with a glimpse into the rich history and culture of the region. The collection was officially inaugurated in 1930 and has been known by its current name since 1994.

Oskar Schindler's Factory (Fabryka Schindlera) is a museum dedicated to Krakow during the Nazi occupation between 1939 and 1945. It is one of the locations of the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow. The museum is named after Oskar Schindler, who owned the factory during the Second World War. Sc

Kościuszko Mound, located in Kraków, Poland, is an artificial mound built in honor of the Polish national leader, Tadeusz Kościuszko. This monument is a testament to the national pride and respect for the leader who played a significant role in Poland's history. Visitors can learn about the historical significance of this site and the person it commemorates.

The Rynek Underground (The underground square central museum) is a museum in Krakow that is a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow. The museum is located below the market square and covers an area of over 6,000. m². The main exhibition in the Rynek Underground are holograms construc

The Warsaw Uprising Museum (Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego) is a historical museum in Warsaw that illustrates the events of the Warsaw Uprising, which lasted from 1 August to 2 October 1944. On the one hand, the permanent exhibition shows the insurgents' commitment to a free Poland and, on the other

The Polish Aviation Museum (Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego) is a large museum in Krakow that holds and exhibits its collection with historical and more recent aircraft and aircraft engines. The museum is located on the site of the former Krakow-Rakowice-Czyżyny airport. The collection of the Polish Avia

The European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk in Poland is a museum that is dedicated to the history of solidarity and opposition movements of Communist Eastern Europe, including the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement. The museum commemorates the revolution of Solidarity and the fall of com

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is a museum in Warsaw that is dedicated to the history of Judaism in Poland. The museum is located on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto, opposite the memorial commemorating the 1943 uprising in the ghetto. The exhibition covers consists of eight gall

The Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanow (Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie) is a museum in the residence of King Jan III. Sobieski in Warsaw. The foundation of the collections is the collection of Stanisław Kostka Potocki, which he left to the Polish people in 1805. The palace features

The Copernicus Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Kopernik) is a science museum near the Vistula River in Warsaw. The museum features over 450 interactive exhibits to do experiments and discover the laws of science. The exhibition is divided into six sections concerning various fields of knowledge, namel

The Wrocław Zoo is the largest and oldest zoo in Poland, situated in Wrocław. The zoo in Wrocław covers 33 hectares and is home to around 10,500 animals that represent around 1,150 species, including large animals like elephants to small insects. The zoo also houses the Wrocław Africarium (Afrykariu

The Stained Glass Museum is a musuem in Krakow that is dedicated to stained glass. The museum also includes a stained-glass workshop and is located in a historic tenement house. The Stained Glass Museum in Krakow's exhibition room is intertwined with the still functioning stained-glass workshop, mak

The Collegium Maius in Krakow is the Jagiellonian University's oldest building, that dates back to the 14th century. The Collegium Maius houses the Jagiellonian University Museum. The Collegium Maius was rebuilt in the late 15th century as a late-Gothic structure, where professors lived and worked a

The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art at Sukiennice (Galeria Sztuki Polskiej XIX wieku w Sukiennicach), is a gallery that is housed on the upper floor of the Renaissance Sukiennice Cloth Hall in Kraków. In four large rooms, the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art in the Sukiennice holds and displays

The Galicia Jewish Museum (Żydowskie Muzeum Galicja) is a museum with a photo exhibition in Krakow that documents the remnants of Jewish culture and life in Polish Galicia. The main exhibition of the Galicia Jewish Museum commemorates the 800-year Jewish history through photographs of synagogues, ce

The Oliwa Zoo Gdańsk s a zoological garden in Gdańsk situated in the forests of Oliwa. The zoo covers 123,76 hectares, which makes it the largest zoo in Poland in terms of space. The Zoo in Gdańsk is known for its collection of Andean condors (birds) and its breeding program of this species.

The Fryderyk Chopin Museum (Muzeum Fryderyka Chopina w Warszawie) is a museum in the Polish capital Warsaw, dedicated to the Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849). The museum is housed in the 17th-century city palace designed by Tielman van Gameren that

The Krakow Zoo (Zoological Garden Krakow, Krakowski Ogród Zoologiczny) is a zoo in the Wolski Forest in the city of Krakow. The zoo was opened in 1929. With an area of about 20 hectares, it is one of the largest zoos in Poland. The Krakow Zoo is home to around 1,500 animals relating to more than 26

Apteka Pod Orłem (Pharmacy Under the Eagle) was the only pharmacy in the Krakow ghetto. The pharmacy was established in 1910 by Jozef Pankiewicz. During the Second World War the owner was his son Tadeusz Pankiewicz, the only Pole who lived within the boundaries of the ghetto, from the beginning to t

The National Museum in Warsaw (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw. It is one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in Warsaw. The National Museum holds a collection of 11,000 pieces of ancient art (Egyptian, Greek and Roman), a gallery of Polish painting sinc

The Old Synagogue is an orthodox Jewish synagogue in Krakow. It is the oldest existing synagogue in Poland. Various sources mention 1407 and 1492 as the date of construction of the synagogue. The Old Synagogue was rebuilt, expanded and strengthened in 1570. The synagogue was ruined in the Second Wor

The Warsaw Zoo (Ogród Zoologiczny Warszawski) is the zoo of the Polish capital Warsaw, which was founded in 1928. The zoo is home to around 3000 animals, relating to around 500 species. The zoo is intersected from north to south by a wide walking path. On the side of the Weichsel the Warsaw Zoo has

The Museum of the Second World War is a military museum in Gdańsk and is - as its name implies - dedicated to the Second World War. The museum is housed in a symbolic architectural space and exhibits more than 2,000 items divided in segments spread over three narrative blocks, namely: The Road to Wa

The Polish Army Museum (Muzeum Wojska Polskiego) traces Poland's military history and is mostly housed in a wing of the Polish National Museum in Warsaw. The museum is the largest military museum in Poland and the second largest museum in Warsaw with over 250,000 exhibits. The objects relate to the

The Pharmacy Museum in Kraków (Muzeum Farmacji Collegium Medicum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego) is a museum in Kraków that specializes in the history of pharmacy and pharmaceutical technology that was established in 1946. The museum is located on all five floors of the building, including the basemen

The Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom (Mauzoleum Walki i Męczeństwa) in Warsaw is located in the basement of the former headquarters of the Gestapo during the occupation of Warsaw by German troops during World War II. In the former prison today the then detained, tortured and murdered are commemor

The Ethnographic Museum of Kraków (Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Krakow) is a museum in Kraków that was established in 1902. Currently, the museum has a collection of 8,000 items related to Polish and European history.

The Archdiocesan Museum in Krakow is located in the former residence of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, who later became Pope John Paul II. The museum is situated in houses number 19 to 21 at Kanonicza Street. This location is not only significant for its historical value but also for its connection to one of the most influential figures in the Catholic Church.

The National Museum in Kraków (MNK, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie) consists of 21 departments and holds about 780,000 art objects, spanning from classical archeology to modern art, with special focus on Polish painting. This main location houses three permanent galleries of the National Museum in Krako

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK, Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej w Krakowie) is located on the premises of the former Oskar Schindler factory in Krakow, adjacent to the Oskar Schindler's Factory Museum. The collections consist mainly of works of art of the last two decades. The purpose of

The Open Air Village Museum in Lublin is one of the biggest open air museums in Poland. The museum is dedicated to illustrating the cultural diversity of the province and holds a collection of items related to the former life in the village, in the manor and in the small town. Furthermore, the museu

The Fotoplastikon in Warsaw is the oldest Kaiserpanorama (a form of stereoscopic entertainment medium) in the world that is still located at its original place since its installation. The building itself was built around 1900 in the neo-Baroque style. During the German occupation from 1939 to mid-Ja

The Amber Museum in Gdańsk is the first museum in Poland solely devoted to amber. The museum holds a collection of exhibits related to amber that show amber in its natural state, methods of extraction, history of the trade routes, uses of amber in medicine, uses as a magical stone and as an artistic

The Hydropolis is a water multimedia museum in Wrocław, also called the Centre for Ecological Education. The Hydropolis exhibition is housed in a historic, underground pure water tank from the 19th century that covers 4,000 square meter. It is a place where diverse multimedia technologies, interacti

The Museum of Municipal Engineering in Kraków (Muzeum Inżynierii Miejskiej w Krakowie) is a municipal museum that documents and popularizes the history of Kraków engineering, transport and technological progress. The museum features several buildings in which early trams, buses and motorcycles are e

The Home Army Museum (Muzeum Armii Krajowej) is a museum in Krakow that commemorate the struggle for independence by the underground Polish Secret State and its military arm Armia Krajowa, which is called The Home Army. This "army" was the largest resistance movement in occupied Europe during the se

Pawiak was a prison in Warsaw that was built in 1835. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Polish people sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II, the Pawiak Prison became part of the Nazi concentration-death camp apparatus. In 194

The Museum of Technology and Transport in Szczecin is housed in an old tram depot that was built in 1912. The museum exhibits old vehicles, machines and documents related to the history of communication and transport, mainly in Poland. The Museum of Technology and Transport holds a collection of aro

The Krakow Pinball Museum is a museum in Krakow that holds and displays a alrge collection of flippers and video games dating back to the 1950s. Over 80 different games on around 300m2. The ticket price includes unlimited games on all machines.

The Museum of Soap (and History of Dirt) is a museum devoted to soap in Bydgoszcz. The museum offers visitors a journey through the history of cleanliness, dirt and soap making. Production of the Persil and Cypisek laundry soap originated in the city. A visit to the Museum of Soap begins with the wa

The Czartoryski Museum (Czartoryski Palace Museum) is a museum in Krakow that was founded by Princess Izabela Czartoryska in 1796 (firstly not in Krakow, but in Puławy) to preserve Polish heritage. The collection contains historical artifacts from the recovered treasures of the Wawel Cathedral, the

The Archaeological Museum in Kraków is a historic museum that was established in 1850. The Archaeological Museum is divided into five major permanent exhibitions, namely: Gods of the Ancient Egypt, Prehistoric Pottery, The Garden of Ceramics, The Prehistory and Early Middle Ages of Lesser Poland, an

The Pomorska street in Krakow contained the headquarters of the Nazi Gestapo police during World War II (including the Gestapo prison). The Pomorska street Gestapo prison is now a museum that exhibits documents, archive material, photographs and various items related to a recent past of Poland and t

The National Museum in Poznan is housed in a building designed by Carl Hinckeldyen and built in 1904 and is one of the oldest, biggest and most important museums in Poland. The museum holds a collection of Polish art from the 16th century until now, and a collection of works by foreign artists. The

The National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk is a maritime museum devoted to maritime history of Poland and its economy through the ages. The museum holds a collection of artifacts and documents related to boatbuilding, shipbuilding, river and sea navigation, fishery, sailing, military science and maritim

The Museum of the University of Wrocław is a history museum in Wrocław. The museum is mostly dedicated to the history of the University - from the 15th century to the present and is housed in the main Baroque building of the University. The oldest objects in its collection date back to the old times

The Central Museum of the Textile Industry (Central Museum of Textiles) is a museum on industry, art, design, fashion, history of the region, cultural anthropology, that holds a varied collection and is housed in the Ludwik Geyer's White Factory in Łódź. The collection consists of over 20,000 object

The Cricoteka (Center for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor) is a cultural institution founded in 1981 in Krakow, housed in a former power plant. It is dedicated to the Polish painter, assemblage and Happenings artist, set designer and theatre director Tadeusz Kantor. After his death, t

In 1974, when the Old Zoo in Poznań at.Zwierzyniecka Street had its hundred year anniversary, this New Zoo was opened in Poznań. The zoo is spread out across 116 hectares and is home to over 2,000 animals representing around 140 different species. Many of these animals live in recreations of their n

The Neon Museum (Muzeum Neonów) is a museum in Warsaw that documents and protects Polish light advertisements created after World War II. The Neon Museum in Warsaw is one of the few museums of neon signs in the world. The Neon Museum is located on the premises of Soho Factory. The museum holds an ex

The Herbst Palace Museum is housed in a historic house in Łódź. The museum holds collections of old, antique paintings, sculptures, graphics, and products of artistic craft and aims to increase visitor's understanding of arts, culture and social history of the 19th and 20th century. The Herbst Palac

The Polish Post Office Museum is housed in the building that was not only the home of the postal service but also the building that acted as the centre of the Polish government's intelligence. The building got badly damaged, but was reconstructed after the war between 1949 and 1951. The building is

The Town Hall Tower (Wieża ratuszowa) is a Gothic tower of 70 meters in Krakow that was built of brick and stone blocks in the 14th century and was part of the town hall that was demolished in 1820. There used to be a prison with a torture chamber under the Town Hall Tower. It is now in use by the H

The Radegast train station is a small historic train station in Łódź that was built between 1926 and 1937 and during World War 2 was situated just beyond the boundary of the Łódź Ghetto. The Radegast was the main link of the Ghetto to the world outside and primarily used for the Holocaust transports

Centrum Hewelianum (The Hewelianum Center) in Gdańsk is located on the site of the former Gradowa Mountain Fort. Centrum Hewelianum combines the idea of a modern science center, an institution that promotes science and technology with attention to cultural heritage and historical legacy.

The Museum of the City of Lodz is a history and art museum in Łódź that is housed in the former Palace of Poznansky, built by local industrial family. The museum holds collections of antique items from many fields of social life, history, culture and art of the city and a library with a collection o

The National Museum in Gdańsk is one of the major museums in Gdańsk in Poland and is housed in a old late-Gothic Franciscan monastery constructed in the 15th and early 16th century with with vaulted ceilings and a large staircase. The museum includes permanent exhibitions themed as follows: Painting

The Museum of Cinematograph (Kino Muzeum) is a museum in Łódź that shows technical secrets of film making from the cinema early years to modern times. The museum follows the development of cinema through displaying rare historical equipment, posters and costume designs. The collection of the Museum

The National Museum in Wrocław is a museum in Poland that holds the largest collection of contemporary art in the country. Furthermore, the museum features floors and rooms that focus on a particular theme, namely: Silesian stone sculpture from 12th - 16th century, Silesian art from the 14th -16th c

The Poznan Archaeological Museum is housed in Renaissance palace which was the city residence of the Gorki family that dates from the first half of the 16th century. The museum illustrates and holds collections on the prehistory of the region, from the Stone Age to the early medieval period. Further

The Museum of Polish Military Technology (Muzeum Polskiej Techniki Wojskowej) is located at the former Fort IX of the Warsaw Fortress in Sadyba in Warsaw's Mokotów district. Together with the Katyń Museum Warsaw, which is also housed here, it is a branch of the Museum of the Polish Army. The fortres

The Railway Museum in Warsaw (Muzeum Kolejnictwa w Warszawie) was housed in the former Warsaw Główna PKP railway terminus. The permanent collection consisted of historic rolling stock.

The Bydgoszcz Canal Museum is a museum in Bydgoszcz that is housed in the Bydgoszcz's Secondary School N°3. The museum celebrates the waterway that connects the city to Berlin. The museum exhibits include old photographs, paintings, sailors' uniforms and other canal-related items, as well as an exhi

The Wroclaw Military Museum is housed in the Wrocław City Arsenal (Arsenał Mikołajski) that dates back to the 15th century. The Wroclaw Military Museum holds a collection with Polish and foreign military artefacts, including melee weapons (17th - 20th century), firearms (19th - 20th century), helmet

The Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź is a modern and contemporary art museum in Łódź. The museum is one of the oldest museums of modern art in the world and is primarily focused on displaying avant-garde art, as well as progressive artistic interventions. The musuem is mostly known for its international collec

The Museum of Musical instruments is the only Polish museum of professional and folk instruments. The museum holds over 2,000 pieces related to music, history and ethnography. The museum features three floors of exhibits, with a room of music boxes and gramophones, a room of pianos and organs, horns

The Old Toy Gallery is a private museum in Gdańsk. The museum holds a collection with historical Polish toys from between 1920 and 1989. The collection includes dolls and stuffed animals, tin toys (including vehicles, dollhouse equipment and piggy banks), wooden toys (including blocks), plastic toys

The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki) is an art Gallery in Warsaw. It was the first building in Warsaw that was erected to exhibit works of art. The Zachęta was built thanks to funds and gifts from the Association for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, an organization of

The Museum of the History of Poznań is housed in the City Hall in Poznań. In the museum, the exhibits that are located in the ground floor halls and on the first and second floors, illustrate the story of Poznań and its City Hall from when it all started in 1253 until the 1950s.

Exploseum is a museum in Bydgoszcz on on military technology, located close to the Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park, Zachem Chemical Factory and the Bydgoszcz Forest. It was a place known for inhuman forced labour involving over 40,000 workers of the former DAG Fabrik Bromberg. Out of sev

The Genius Loci Archeological Park (Archaeological Reserve) features a display of the Poznań settlement’s defensive embankments, which is engineering and technological design from the 10th century. In the Genius Loci Archeological Park in Poznań, visitors can get a different view on Poznań’s medieva

The Łódź Zoo is a zoological garden in Łódź that was established in 1938. The zoo is home to over 2,200 animals that represent more than 650 species and is the only zoo in Poland that is home to the endangered Asiatic lions.

Szczecin's National Museum is housed in one of the most renown and distinctive buildings of Szczecin, designed by by Wilhelm Meyer-Schwartau. One of Poland's greatest collections of relics of non-European cultures are on display in this museum.

The Bishop Erazm Ciolek Palace is a museum in Krakow and is a branch of the Krakow National Museum. The palace was built in 1505 from two connected houses for the Bishop of Płock, Erasmus Ciołek (1474-1522). The palace exhibits Polish works of art from the 12th to the 18th century. Valuable works in

The Katyn Museum (Muzeum Katyńskie) in Warsaw houses an exhibition on the prehistory, the development and the consequences of the Katyn massacre, in which around 4,000 Polish officers were murdered in 1940 by the Soviet secret service NKVD. The museum was established in 1993 and is located in the Po

The Museum of the Factory (Muzeum Fabryki) is a museum in Łódź that is housed in the Manufaktura complex that was built on the 30-hectare site of the industrialist Izrael Poznański, a master weaver. The Museum of the Factory illustrates the history of the industrial fortune of him and shows how the

The Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz holds rich archaeological and historical collections. The musuem is named after Leon Wyczółkowski, one of the leading painters of the Young Poland movement, as well as the principal representative of Polish Realism in art of the Interbellum.

The Historical Museum is a history museum in Wrocław, housed in the Royal Palace, the former residence of Prussian kings. The Historical Museum - Wrocław Palace features four permanent exhibitions, namely: the Royal Apartments, the original Beyersdorf room and temporary exhibitions.

The Museum of Archeology in Gdańsk is housed in the Naturalists House, one of the largest and the most representative tenement houses in the city. The museum is mostly dedicated to the prehistory of Pomerania and features five major exhibitions themed: Prehistoric Times of Gdańsk Pomerania, With Amb

The Muzeum Wojsk Lądowych is a military museum in Bydgoszcz, and is the only museum in Poland dedicated to land forces (the army). The museum hold a collection of obejects and vehicles related to the army of Poland.

The Archdiocesan Museum of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in Krakow is a museum in Krakow that is housed in tenement houses 19-21 at Kanonicza Street. Tenement house number 19 is called St. Stanisława, and the house at 21 is called Dean's House. The collection of the Archdiocesan Museum contains sacred art

The Szczecin History Museum - National Museum in Szczecin is housed in a Gothic old town hall, which dates back to middle 13th century and still features some impressive interiors. The museum organises exhibitions of history and culture of Szczecin of times ranging from the oldest ages with archaeol

The Abbot's Palace was initially constructed in the 15th century. Later, in the first half of the 17th century a New Palace was added to the existing building which was the residency of Jan Grabiński, the abbot of the Cistercians. Now, the Abbot's Palace contains the Department of Modern Art of the

The Jan Matejko House in Krakow is a museum dedicated to the painter Jan Matejko (1838-1893), who was born there and spent his whole life there. The house was built in the 16th century and was rebuilt several times after that. In 1872, Jan Matejko designed a new facade with the architect Tomasz Pryl

The Jewish Historical Institute (Żydowski Instytut Historyczny, ŻIH) in Warsaw houses one of the most significant collections on Jewish history in Poland, including the Ringelblum Archive (the Warsaw Ghetto, also called Oneg Shabbat) that contains about 6000 documents, and is an important research f

The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum (Muzeum Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie) is a museum in Warsaw that is dedicated to the life and work of Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity Marie Skłodowska Curie. Marie Skłodowska Curie was the first woma