Why this ride
223 km from Oświęcim to Oświęcim, about 4 h 43 of riding. The stops in between: Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi, Historic Centre of Kraków, Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka and back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Auschwitz and Historic Centre of Kraków
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 223 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 43
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Polish Eagles Nests Route
For about 36 km this is Polish Eagles Nests Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 36 km
- Named road
- Polish Eagles Nests Route
Polish Eagles Nests Route
17 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 13 km
- Named road
- Polish Eagles Nests Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Auschwitz
This is a stop to make in silence. Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camps, built in occupied Poland on the edge of the town of Oświęcim, and between 1940 and 1945 around 1.1 million people were murdered here, the vast majority of them Jews from across Europe, along with Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and others. The memorial and museum, which includes the original camp, Auschwitz I, and the vast camp at Birkenau, Auschwitz II, about three kilometres away, was listed by UNESCO in 1979 as a reminder of the cruelty of humanity.
Read the complete Auschwitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Auschwitz is where the day begins. Next is Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi.
2. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi
In 1600, Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, a Polish nobleman, began to build a chapel on a hill south-west of Kraków, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Over the following decades, he and his descendants added dozens of chapels and churches spread over the hills, laid out to recreate the Passion of Christ and the life of the Virgin, with the landscape itself standing in for Jerusalem. The result, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Poland and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999.
Read the complete Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historic Centre of Kraków.
3. Historic Centre of Kraków
Every hour, a trumpeter plays a short melody from the taller tower of St Mary's Basilica on Kraków's market square, and every time the tune breaks off abruptly mid-phrase. Legend says it commemorates a watchman shot by a Tatar arrow in the throat as he sounded the alarm in the thirteenth century, and the hejnał has been played that way ever since, broadcast daily on Polish radio at noon. It is a fitting introduction to a city that wears its history so openly. The Rynek Główny, the main square, is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, with the Renaissance Cloth Hall in the middle, and the historic centre, including Wawel Hill and the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, was among the first sites ever placed on the UNESCO list in 1978.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Kraków write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 84 km into the recorded legs you reach Historic Centre of Kraków. Next is Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka.
4. Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka
Wieliczka is a town that sits on top of a vanished sea. Millions of years ago, this part of southern Poland lay under a shallow, salty basin, and as the water evaporated it left thick beds of rock salt, which people have mined for about seven hundred years. The Saltworks Castle, the Żupny Castle, was the administrative heart of the business, a medieval fortified complex that housed the managers, the accounts and the royal officers who ran one of the richest enterprises in Poland, since salt was money. For centuries the revenue from Wieliczka and neighbouring Bochnia paid a significant share of the Crown's expenses.
Read the complete Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka, about halfway.
5. Historic Centre of Kraków
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Kraków write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of Kraków sits at 123 km, about halfway. Next is back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka.
6. back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka comes up about 124 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Historic Centre of Kraków.
7. back through Historic Centre of Kraków
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Kraków write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Historic Centre of Kraków. Next is back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi.
8. back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi, late in the day. Next is Auschwitz.
9. Auschwitz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Auschwitz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 223 km.
Leg by leg
Auschwitz to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi
Auschwitz → Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi to Historic Centre of Kraków
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi → Historic Centre of Kraków is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Kraków to Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka
Historic Centre of Kraków → Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka to Historic Centre of Kraków
Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka → Historic Centre of Kraków is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Kraków to back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka
Historic Centre of Kraków → back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka to back through Historic Centre of Kraków
back through Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka → back through Historic Centre of Kraków is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Kraków to back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi
back through Historic Centre of Kraków → back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi to Auschwitz
back through Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi → Auschwitz is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.