About this route
Route overview
Pszczyna is known as the Pearl of Upper Silesia — a historic magnate town with a Renaissance-Baroque castle of the Hochberg von Pless family, one of the wealthiest aristocratic dynasties in 19th-century Europe (owners of Upper Silesian coal mines, horse stables and estates in Germany, Poland and Bohemia). The Pszczyna Castle is now a Castle Museum with 18 state rooms open for visits — the Hall of Mirrors (with the Chopin piano on which he played in 1830), the Princely Gallery with a collection of 17th-century Flemish tapestries, apartments of Emperor Wilhelm II (a guest of the Hochbergs) and richly decorated chambers with Renaissance and Baroque furniture. The 156-hectare Castle Park is an 18th-19th century English landscape park with ponds, romantic bridges, exotic trees and a palm house. PSZCZYNA BISON RESERVE — the only public bison showcase in Poland (2 km from the centre), with 25 animals in 5-hectare enclosures viewable from observation platforms. The breeding has been running since 1969 and is part of the European bison conservation programme. 45 km via the A1 motorway to the Pszczyna junction, then DK1 to the centre, 50 min - 1 h off-peak. The service runs 24/7. A standard plan: 9:00 hotel pickup in Katowice, 10:30 Pszczyna Bison Reserve (1 h 30 min, best feeding times 9:00 and 14:00), 12:30 lunch at Frykowka on the Market Square (Silesian-Austrian cuisine), 14:00 Pszczyna Castle (2 h 30 min guided tour), 17:00 walk in the Castle Park, 18:00 return to Katowice. From EUR 380 in a Mercedes E-Class for 1-3 passengers, EUR 480 in a V-Class for 4-6.