About this route
Route overview
Istebna and Jaworzynka are twin villages of the Silesian Beskids, the heart of Silesian Highlander culture — the oldest ethnographic group of the region, with its own dialect, costume, music and wooden architecture. Jaworzynka is home to the Poland-Czech Republic-Slovakia TRIPOINT — a geodetic point unique worldwide, where three countries converge, marked by national obelisks from 1992 (after the breakup of Czechoslovakia). In Istebna we visit listed wooden Highlander cottages (the oldest from the 18th century), Pawel Sikora's house (sculptor and storyteller), the wooden Good Shepherd church from the 16th century and regional cottages exhibited in an open-air museum. Soszow (886 m above sea level) is the highest point of Istebna village with a Silesian Beskids panorama and a PTTK mountain refuge at the summit. Seasonal highlights are folklore events: Beskid Culture Week (August) and Beskid Mikolajki (December). 90 km via the S1 expressway to Bielsko-Biala, then DK69 through Wisla to Istebna and a local road to Jaworzynka, 1 h 45 min - 2 h off-peak. The service runs 24/7. A standard plan: 9:00 hotel pickup in Katowice, 11:00 Istebna Highlander cottages and Pawel Sikora's house (1 h 30 min), 13:00 lunch at U Marusarza (broth with dumplings, lamb), 14:30 Jaworzynka tripoint (PL/CZ/SK obelisks, photo session, 1 h), 16:00 Soszow panorama or return, 17:30 return to Katowice. From EUR 580 in a Mercedes E-Class for 1-3 passengers, EUR 720 in a V-Class for 4-6.