Krynica-Zdrój

Krynica-Zdrój is the best-known spa town of the Polish Carpathians, with about 9,600 inhabitants, set in the Sądecki Beskids in the valley of the Kryniczanka stream at around 590 m. It is ringed by the wooded hills of Parkowa, Krzyżowa and Jasiennik, and the town lies within the Poprad Landscape Park. It is called the "pearl of Polish spas" thanks to its mineral waters, quiet promenade and 19th- and early 20th-century architecture.

The village, founded in 1547, was for a long time a Lemko settlement. Its healing springs were studied in the 1780s by Baltazar Hacquet, a professor at the University of Lviv, and in 1793 the Austrian official Franz Stix bought the land with the spring and built the first guest houses. The first spa doctor was appointed in 1807. The real boom began after 1856 thanks to the Kraków physician Józef Dietl, regarded as the father of Polish balneology. In 1911 the railway reached Krynica and it received town rights. Soon afterwards the geologist Rudolf Zuber drilled a well which in 1914 produced one of the strongest alkaline carbonated waters in Europe, named "Zuber".

What to see and do

• The Main Pump Room (Pijalnia Główna, 1971) — a glass building on the promenade of about 3,500 m² with a concert hall and a winter garden. Here you can taste the Kryniczanka, Zuber, Jan, Słotwinka, Mieczysław and Józef waters.
• The promenade (deptak) along Nowotarski Avenue with the Old Spa House of 1889 (neo-Renaissance, original ballroom, Mieczysław pump room) and the Dietl Boulevards lined with 19th-century wooden villas.
• The Słotwinka pump room of 1806 — the oldest building in Krynica, now in Słotwiński Park and open seasonally.
• The Nikifor Museum in the Romanówka villa (since 1995) — the work of the Lemko naïve painter Nikifor (Epifaniusz Drowniak, 1895–1968), known as Nikifor Krynicki.
• The former Patria hotel — a modernist building erected in 1932 by the tenor Jan Kiepura to a design by Bohdan Pniewski.
• Góra Parkowa (742 m) — a funicular has run to the top since 1937; at the summit there is a viewing tower, terraces and the "Glade of Music and Light". In good visibility the Tatras can be seen from the terrace. On foot, the paths of the Spa Park lead up and are wide enough for a pushchair.
• Jaworzyna Krynicka (1,114 m) — a gondola lift from the Czarny Potok valley has operated since 1997; in winter it is one of the region's main ski centres.

Practical information

Krynica suits a relaxed stay without hiking: all the main sights — pump room, promenade, museum, funicular — are in the centre on level paths. The easiest way to get there is by car via Nowy Sącz; cars can be left in paid car parks on Pułaskiego Street, Zdrojowa Street (by the tourist information office) and at Kraszewskiego 1. The Main Pump Room's address is Aleja im. Leona Nowotarskiego 9/3, tel. +48 18 473 83 34; its opening hours are not published on its website.

Funicular to Góra Parkowa (operated by PKL): in the high season (4 June – 30 September 2026) a return ticket costs 42 zł (reduced 32 zł) at the ticket office or 35/29 zł online; in the low season 35/29 zł at the office and 29/23 zł online. Children under 4 travel free. From 19 October to 6 November 2026 the funicular is closed for a technical break, but the tower and the Glade at the top remain open. The Nikifor Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday (Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:00; Thu and Sun 10:00–15:00) and closed on Mondays; tickets 24 zł, reduced 19 zł, family 73 zł, free admission on Thursdays. Information as of October 2026.

Nearby

5 km to the south is the wooden church in Powroźnik, the oldest in the area and a UNESCO site; 14 km away is the church in Brunary. On the way to Nowy Sącz, stop at the castle ruins in Rytro and then in Stary Sącz.

Official website: pijalniaglowna.pl

Photos: Mach240390, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Marek Mróz, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Henryk Bielamowicz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Igor123121, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Wlodek k1, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Rafał M. Socha (Azymut), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.