Why this ride
99 km from Wieliczka to Wieliczka, about 2 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Historic Centre of Kraków, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi and back through Historic Centre of Kraków. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 99 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 05
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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
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
- 17 km
- Named road
- Polish Eagles Nests Route
Polish Eagles Nests Route
For 38 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
- 39 km
- Named road
- Polish Eagles Nests Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Historic Centre of Kraków.
2. 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 comes up 28 km in. Next is Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi.
3. 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
55 km in you reach Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi. Next is back through Historic Centre of Kraków.
4. 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
back through Historic Centre of Kraków, late in the day. Next is Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka.
5. 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 at Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka to Historic Centre of Kraków
Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka → Historic Centre of Kraków is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Kraków to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi
Historic Centre of Kraków → Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi to back through Historic Centre of Kraków
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Archi → back through Historic Centre of Kraków is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Kraków to Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka
back through Historic Centre of Kraków → Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.