Oświęcim
Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated 33 kilometres (21 mi) southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (Wisła) and Soła rivers.
Getting to Oświęcim
Kraków (KRK IATA) 50 km east or Katowice (KTW IATA) 50 km north are the obvious airports. Trains from Kraków run hourly and take one hour. Most are regional trains; an occasional faster train is heading for Prague or Vienna. Direct trains from Katowice run every 2 or 3 hours and take 50 min, with other connections via Trzebinia.
- 01Oświęcim railway station is 2 km west
It's within 2 km of both Auschwitz camps: this is not by chance.
Worth seeing
See Auschwitz for details of the two extermination camps on the west edge of town:
- 01Auschwitz I is 2 km south
- 02Rynek Główny
This is the main market square, with most of the town amenities and sights clustered around.
- 03Castle Museum in Oswiecim
Local history museum within the town hall, which was built in the 1870s.
- 04Oświęcim Castle
13th century Gothic defence tower with 16th and 20th century extensions, near the river - too near, as many of the fortifications have been washed away.
- 05St Maximilian
Things to do
Ice hockey: TH Unia Oświęcim play in Polska Hokej Liga the top tier. Their home rink is 500 m east of town centre.
- 01Cultural Centre has a cinema
It's at Śniadeckiego 24, corner of Tysiąclecia.
- 02Energylandia
Where to eat
Rynek the market square and vicinity has several eating places. These include Restauracja na Rynku, Mała Czarna, Manufaktura Zapiekanek, Antalya at Romana Mayzla 5, Itamae Sushi at Klasztorma 2, and Da Grasso at Solskiego 2. Portobello is 200 m south of Rynek at Jagiełły 27, open daily 12:00-22:00.
- 01Chata na Zaborskiej
Zaborska 40,.
- 02Rapsodia Cafe
Good Italian pizzas and ice-cream, reasonable prices.
- 03La Rossa
Konarskiego 3,.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.