About this route
Route overview
Stary Sacz is one of the most authentic small towns in Lesser Poland — founded in the 13th century by St Kinga, the Hungarian princess and widow of Boleslaw the Chaste. The Poor Clares convent dating from 1280 is surrounded by the oldest surviving town walls in Poland, holds the reliquary of St Kinga and a 17th-century organ by Stanislaw Wajdziewicz. The market square with its 18th-century wooden houses (rare in Polish town architecture) has been a place of pilgrimage since John Paul II canonised Kinga here in 1999 — the pope celebrated mass for 600,000 faithful on the meadows below town. Unlike nearby Nowy Sacz, Stary Sacz remains quiet and authentic. 115 km via the A4 motorway and DK28 to Nowy Sacz, then a few kilometres to Stary Sacz — 1 h 45 min - 2 h off-peak. Best season May to October. The service runs 24/7. The driver pulls up at the KRK terminal with a name board and delivers you to the Pod Skala Hotel or directly to the convent. Classic plan: KRK 10:00, convent and museum 12:00-13:30, lunch at Karczma Marysienka, market square and the House on the Dales museum 14:00-15:30, return to Krakow.