Krynica-Zdrój pump rooms: tasting the mineral waters

Krynica-Zdrój grew up around its mineral springs, and the best way to feel the spa is to walk round its pump rooms and taste the local waters. The resort traces its beginnings to the "Mały Domek" (Little House) of 1794, where the first baths operated from 1804; in 1807 Krynica was officially designated a bathing spa. Its great era began in 1856, when Józef Dietl, professor at the Jagiellonian University and father of Polish balneology, arrived; mud baths were used here from 1858. In the 19th and early 20th centuries Jan Matejko, Henryk Sienkiewicz and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski came here, and between the wars Władysław Reymont, Julian Tuwim and Jan Kiepura.

All three pump rooms described below belong to the spa company Uzdrowisko Krynica-Żegiestów. Krynica waters are carbonated, with naturally dissolved CO2; each has its own composition and indications, so consult a doctor before a drinking cure — for the taste, a sip or two is enough.

Where to taste Krynica waters

• The Main Pump Room (Pijalnia Główna) — a spacious glass building on the promenade at the foot of Góra Parkowa. It serves the medicinal waters Zuber, Jan, Słotwinka, Mieczysław, Józef and Tadeusz, and Kryniczanka mineral table water. Inside is a real "jungle" of monsteras, palms, banana plants, ferns and ficus. Since its restoration in 2014 the pump room has hosted concerts and events for up to 1,100 people, and the Kryniczanka Cafe operates here. In front of the entrance a spring intake can be seen under a glass dome.
• The Jan Pump Room (Pijalnia Jana) — a larch-wood building of 1922–1923 in the Zakopane style, probably designed by Włodzimierz Albinowski. The Jan spring was found after 1884 by spa worker Jan Bojanowski; the building was restored in 2018–2019. It serves Jan, Zuber and Józef — the last available only here.
• The Spa Pump Room (Pijalnia Uzdrowiskowa) in the Old Mineral Baths — the newest, opened in 2015, used mainly by spa patients. Besides Jan, Zuber and Słotwinka it offers the iron-rich Tadeusz and Zdrój Główny, the spring with which the spa began.

Mineral baths. The Old Mineral Baths (Stare Łazienki Mineralne) themselves were built in 1866 to a design by Feliks Księżarski, modelled on the baths of Františkovy Lázně in Bohemia. Their treatment centre offers mud and pearl baths, dry carbon-dioxide baths, underwater massage and other treatments; the carbonated mineral bath is given only on a doctor's prescription.

Practical information

Main Pump Room: Aleja im. Leona Nowotarskiego 9/3, tel. +48 18 473 83 34; opening hours are not published on its website. Jan Pump Room: daily 8:30–16:30. Spa Pump Room in the Old Baths: daily 6:30–18:00 (as of October 2026); bottled medicinal waters and souvenirs are sold here too.

Private treatments are paid for at the treatment-planning desk in the Spa Clinic; treatments cannot be booked in advance. A doctor's consultation is available on site (110 zł; surgery hours Mon–Fri 9:00–10:30 and 12:00–13:00); information: +48 18 471 62 28. All the pump rooms lie on level paths in the centre, a few minutes' walk from each other.

Nearby

For more on the town, the funicular up Góra Parkowa and the Nikifor Museum, see Krynica-Zdrój. A few kilometres south is the wooden church in Powroźnik, and further on the Lemko church in Brunary.

Official website: pijalniaglowna.pl

Photos: Henryk Bielamowicz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; MichalPL, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Mach240390, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Mach240390, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.