Why this ride
From Kraków it runs 294 km to Kraków; allow about 4 h 38 of riding. It goes by way of Auschwitz, Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and and back through Auschwitz. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Historic Centre of Kraków and Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and · 294 km from Kraków
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 294 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 38
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Historic Centre of Kraków is where the day begins. Next is Auschwitz.
2. 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 comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and.
3. Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and
Upper Silesia is Poland's industrial heart, a densely built region of coal mines, steelworks, spoil heaps and tidy brick housing, and at its northern edge lies Tarnowskie Gory, a town of about sixty thousand people that grew up around silver, lead and zinc. The mine and its underground water system were inscribed by UNESCO in 2017, and the town's historic centre is about a kilometre from the entrance. Katowice, the regional capital, is some thirty kilometres to the south-east.
Read the complete Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 158 km into the recorded legs you reach Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and. Next is back through Auschwitz.
4. back through 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
back through Auschwitz, late in the day. Next is Historic Centre of Kraków.
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
Back at Historic Centre of Kraków. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Historic Centre of Kraków to Auschwitz
Historic Centre of Kraków → Auschwitz is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Auschwitz to Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and
Auschwitz → Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and to back through Auschwitz
Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and → back through Auschwitz is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Auschwitz to Historic Centre of Kraków
back through Auschwitz → Historic Centre of Kraków is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.