A complete city guide to Katowice, including travel tips and the best things to do in Katowice, from coal mines reimagined as creative spaces, to unique Silesian cultural experiences and local cuisine.
Of all the wonderful cities to visit in Poland, I chose Katowice for my first experience of the country. Almost everyone I mentioned this to agreed that it was an obscure choice – but let me tell you, Katowice is definitely my kind of place.
I was drawn to Katowice, the capital of the southern Silesian Voivodeship, because of its heritage. I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to industrial history (my obsession with Chiatura and Zestafoni here in Georgia can attest to that), so Katowice’s mining history really fascinated me. The highlight of our visit was visiting the old mining districts of Nikiszowiec, Bogucice and Giszowiec.
I love the preserved architecture, but I was equally inspired by the way remnants of the past – disused mining shafts, shuttered porcelain factories and other industrial edifices – have been transformed into contemporary museums, galleries and cultural spaces.
With Modernist architecture, several peculiar monuments, a unique regional cuisine and other Silesian cultural traditions, there are plenty of things to do on a Katowice city break.
In this guide, you will discover 12 of my favourite things to do plus recommended restaurants and helpful Katowice travel tips. I hope I can convince you of Katowice’s charms and encourage you to spend a couple of days in one of Poland’s most underrated cities.
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Katowice travel essentials
Where to stay in Katowice: Hotel Monopol (5-star); Courtyard by Marriott (mid-range); Fancy Apartment Nikiszowiec (self-contained); Yellow Hostel (budget).
Nikiszowiec Industrial District Private Tour: My favourite experience in Katowice (book here on Viator).
Auschwitz-Birkenau from Katowice: Top-rated Katowice day trip (book here on Viator).
The best eSIM for Poland: Airalo eSIM (from 13 USD for 10 GB of data).
Travel insurance for Poland: I used HeyMondo to take out a budget-friendly policy for my Katowice city break. Use my link to get 5% off.
Why is Katowice worth visiting?
Katowice isn’t an obvious choice when deciding where to visit in Poland. But this city of 300,000 people is the perfect size for a quick break.
If nothing else, its airport – a Wizz Air hub with budget flights from across Europe – its ideal location as a base for day trips and its budget-friendliness makes Katowice worth a visit.
Katowice is best known for its coal mines, which were developed in the first half of the 19th century. With the sunsetting of fossil fuels and heavy industry, many relics of the city’s industrial past have been transformed into galleries, cafes and cultural spaces.
Katowice has an interesting aesthetic, mixing Modernist architecture, with Brutalism and heritage red-brick tenement houses and workers’ cottages. It also has a few of those communist-style sculptures and apartment blocks that I have an unabashed soft spot for.
Passed between the Polish, Bohemian, Habsburg and Prussian kings then finally to the German Empire, Katowice was the main theatre for the legendary Silesian Uprisings. Like Krusevo in North Macedonia, the city has a fighting spirit and a strong sense of independence that reverberates to this day in fascinating ways.
Different in many ways to the rest of Poland, Katowice is a gateway to Silesian culture, textile traditions, and a very indulgent cuisine.
Katowice map
Click here to open my Katowice Tourist Map, which includes the best things to do in Katowice plus restaurants and cafes, and other helpful pins.
12 essential things to do in Katowice
1. Visit the Silesian Museum
The Silesian Museum was founded in 1929 to catalogue the region’s history, particularly as it relates to the coal mines and the Silesian Uprisings (more on that later). In 2015, the museum relocated to its current digs on the site of a former coal mine in the heart of the city.
The Silesian Museum architectural complex marries revamped heritage brick buildings with ultra-modern glazed cubes. It includes several museums, event spaces, a restaurant, and a gift shop.
The main exhibition space is located below ground inside the old mining shaft. Walking down the ramp into the belly of the building is quite an entrance.
A ticket includes entrance to several separate halls, the highlight of which is a chronological, immersive exhibition that walks you through Upper Silesian history, from the region’s connection with Germany to its industrialisation, and from communism to the revolts.
The hall opens with a recreation of a miners’ locker room, with workers’ garb strung from the ceiling. My favourite sections of are the imitation post-war apartments and the collection of graphic posters.
The adjoining exhibition of post-war Polish art and ecclesiastical objects is also very good.
After viewing the exhibition – which takes the better part of 90 minutes thanks to the in-depth didactics in English – take a stroll around the museum grounds.
Warszawa II, the old 40-metre-tall tower shaft, has been preserved and now functions as an observation deck, offering panoramic views of Katowice all the way out to the Carpathian Mountains. At the time of my visit (and as of the time of writing) the tower is temporarily closed to visitors.
I recommend visiting the museum in the quiet hours of the late afternoon and timing your stroll with sunset, when the modern buildings on the campus are illuminated with golden light and cast shadows on the patches of purple wildflowers.
- Details: The Silesian Museum is open from 10am-8pm Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays). Admission costs 24 PLN except on Tuesdays, when all visitors enter for free.
2. Sunset drinks by the Spodek
A 10-minute walk from the Silesian Museum, the Spodek Arena is part of the Katowice Cultural Zone, which also includes the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Inaugurated in 1971, the building is one of the largest indoor venues in the country. It resembles a spaceship – its off-kilter angle suggests that it is about to take flight – with the name Spodek meaning ‘saucer’ in Polish.
The Spodek is both futuristic and a blast from the past. Walk around the base and you will see that some of the external bands are actually covered in tiny stone mosaics.
For a view of the Spodek, climb the zigzag stairs up the turf roof of the Katowice International Conference Centre. At the top, there is a tiny undercover terrace with a bench seat and an interesting view of the Spodek framed by angular lines (pictured above).
In the summer months, there is a pop-up bar precinct at the eastern foot of the Spodek with several stalls selling cold beer, cocktails and bar snacks. Deck chairs are set up, and there is music over loudspeakers. The vibe is magical at sunset – this is definitely a must-do in Katowice, especially if you’re looking for a local experience.
- Details: The pop-up runs from Wednesday to Sunday. Stalls open at 4pm and wind up around midnight.
3. Stroll around Market Square & Mariacka Street
Plotted in the mid 19th century and rebuilt several times since, Katowice’s main square is a sprawling pedestrian plaza criss-crossed by tram tracks. Today’s Market Square (christened Friedrichsplatz by the Germans and known as Stalina Square during communism) is actually composed of three separate squares: Kwiatowy, Teatralny and Obroncow Katowic.
Informative sign boards describing the different architectural styles and landmarks that face onto the square are scattered around and can be used to navigate the area and the streets that shoot off from its core.
Most appealing to me is the Modernist architecture added during the communist era. Two of the most striking buildings on the square are from this period: the Zenit Cooperative Department Store (1962), with its gridded concrete brise soleil, and the Skarbek Cooperative Department Store (1975), with its blue-and-white facade and external elevators.
Also worth seeking out is the Romanesque Silesian Theatre (1907) on the northern side of the square and the neo-Renaissance Hotel Grand (1920s).
Amongst the eclectic apartments and few tenement houses that have survived (including a stunning 1903 Secessionist house decorated with walnut trees opposite the Skarbek building), the Monument to the September Scouts (Pomnik Harcerzy Wrzesnia) is a tribute to those who defended the city against the Germans in 1939.
The gorgeous red-brick General Education Liceum (III Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Adama Mickiewicza w Katowicach) is a short stroll from the northwestern corner of the square.
Feeding into Market Square from the east, the pedestrianised Mariacka Street is a lively dining precinct crowded with international restaurants, sidewalk cafes and bars.
At its opposite end, the neo-Gothic Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is well worth a look in.
4. Stop by the mighty Superjednostka
Of all the things to do in Katowice, the Superjednostka (‘Super Unit’) was one of the landmarks I was most excited about seeing in person. One of the largest residential buildings in all of Poland, it is so monumental it warrants its own water and electricity supplies.
The 18-storey residential block is 61 metres tall and just shy of two metres long, balanced precariously on two-storey concrete pillars designed to maximise airflow and instil a sense of lightness. This feature is what led to the building being compared to a Le Corbusier creation.
Completed in 1972 by Polish architect Mieczyslaw Krol, the Superjednostka is a symbol of Katowice and an excellent example of Polish-style Brutalism.
The building is very much lived in – we chose to admire it from the outside, but it might be possible to enter the stairwell if someone is kind enough to buzz you in. Like the Skybridge in Tbilisi, you can only access the entire building from certain points, in this case the 2nd, 8th and 14th floors.
Otherwise you can walk around the base of the pillars and to either end to see the Superjednostka’s skinny side. For a wide view of the building, head to the Silesian Insurgents’ Monument (next on this list).
5. Photograph the impressive Insurgents’ Monument
The three Silesian Uprisings that occurred between August 1919 and July 1921 are hardcoded into the identity of Katowice city and its people. The rebellions stemmed from residents’ desire to break away from the Weimar Republic and join the Polish Republic and were somewhat successful.
The Silesian Insurgents’ Monument (Pomnik Powstancow Slaskich) represents Polish nationalism and is deeply impressive in both scale and form. Designed by sculptor Gustaw Zemla and architect Wojciech Zablocki, it was revealed in 1967 on the edge of a small elevated park overlooking the Katowice Rondo and future site of the Superjednostka.
The sculpture’s three massive wings represent the trio of uprisings. It sits on a huge concrete terrace, allowing visitors to walk within its form. The base of the sculpture, accessed via a ramp, is inscribed with the names of the cities and towns in Silesia where the uprisings unfolded.
If you follow the network of underground passageways to cross the highway you will come to the Spodek and the Cultural Precinct.
6. Wander through Plac Grunwaldzki
Our walk through Plac Grunwaldzki was somewhat accidental: we happened upon it when heading to the Wiejska Chatka restaurant, which faces onto the park.
Another pretty green space in Katowice, the sculpture garden is dotted with busts of prominent Silesians along with several curious sculptural ensembles and fountains. The mosaic-clad Pomnik Rodzina or ‘Family Monument’ was sculpted in 1963 by Jerzy Egon Kwiatkowski. As something of a counterpart to the Silesian Insurgents’ Monument, it too is a triad, this time depicting a family of three.
Backing the park, the Delegation of the Silesian Customs and Tax Office is another impressive piece of Brutalist architecture.
7. Spend a morning in Nikiszowiec (my top choice of things to do in Katowice)
Situated 7 kilometres east of Market Square, Nikiszowiec is a satellite suburb of Katowice that was purpose built in 1908 to house workers from the Wieczorek Mine and their families. A living museum full of fascinating architecture, Nikiszowiec is one of the best places in Katowice to learn about the history of the entire Silesian region.
City bus 930 gets you to Nikiszowiec in under 30 minutes. It terminates in front of the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Anna (Parafia Rzymskokatolicka sw. Anny), adjacent to the most-photographed building in Katowice, Post Office 16. The two ribbons of rose mosaic on its facade are inspired by the emblems found on traditional Silesian dress.
Nikiszowiec is quite a small area that is easy to explore on foot. The suburb is roughly divided into two parts: A service area with markets and shops, which is separated from the residential blocks. The multi-level dwellings with shared courtyards known as ‘familoki’ are all rendered in brick with red detailing, reminiscent of the estates and row houses you see in other communities with a mining background, including in the UK.
Note the tools emblazoned on some of the facades. We learned that each building was designed to be slightly different so that bleary eyed miners wouldn’t stumble into the wrong foyer at the end of a long shift!
Nikiszowiec is extremely cute and utterly Instagrammable. When taking photos, bear in mind that families still live here.
Gentrification has swept through in recent years, inspiring a crop of kitsch cafes, souvenir shops and galleries to open up inside some of the disused spaces. Slaska Prohibicja, a restaurant inside the old miners’ refectory, is a must-visit.
For a complete experience of Nikiszowiec, I highly recommend signing up for a walking tour with local guide Malwina Toman, bookable on Viator. Malwina balances history with commentary on life in Katowice today and the future of the region in a green-energy world.
The tour includes a ticket to the Ethnology Department of the Museum of Katowice, where you can walk through recreated Nikiszowiec apartments and view an outstanding collection of canvases painted by retired miners, and a stop at the Pulaski Shaft Complex, the 450-metre-deep mine inside Nikiszowiec that closed in 2019.
8. See an exhibition at the Wilson Shaft Gallery
The Wilson Shaft Gallery is walking distance from Nikiszowiec and an easy addition to your day after the walking tour concludes. As the name suggests, the contemporary gallery is located inside an abandoned mine shaft.
Two gigantic, breezy galleries display modern canvases around their perimeter, sculptures on the main floor, and installations in the series of chambers and rooms that open up from all sides.
I had no idea at the time, but this is the largest private gallery in Poland with a total floorspace of more than 2,000 m2.
Operating under the mantra “What industry took away, culture must regain,” the Wilson Shaft Gallery is another example of a reclaimed space in Katowice that has successfully reimagined its identity and been delivered back to the people.
We weren’t quite sure if the gallery was open so we just wandered in – and we didn’t encounter a single other person during our walkabout. From photos, I think the space’s main function is to host openings and other events. But it seems that visitors are welcome to wander through at their leisure whenever an exhibition is hanging.
- Details: The official opening hours for the Wilson Shaft Gallery are 9am-7pm daily. Entrance is free. Find more information on the website.
9. Mosey down Markiefki
Another custom-built miners’ district, Bogucice is a much smaller version of Nikiszowiec with a similar style of brick architecture. Bogucice is more central (this district also contains the Silesian Museum and Spodek) and therefore easier to reach. But in my view it’s more run down and less charming than Nikiszowiec.
Wanting to visit all three of Katowice’s historic housing estates, we made time for Bogucice – and I’m glad we did. The apartments here were built for workers on the Ferdynand Mine, AKA the Katowice Mine, which is now the Silesian Museum.
The main street, the north-south running Markiefki, should be the focus of your visit, starting with the beautiful Parish Church of St. Stephen. On a nearby wall there is a colourful mural of Jerzego Kukuczke, the high-altitude climber who was born here.
Dozens of late 19th-century tenement houses and familoki blocks line the street, interspersed with retro-looking shops and florists (gentrification hasn’t yet touched Markiefki). Notable landmarks include the Bonifratres Convent and Municipal Hospital and a former smithy that has sadly been damaged by fire.
When you reach the southern end of Markiefki, cut back through Bogucki Park to reach the Culture Zone and museum.
10. Find the water tower & cute cottages in Giszowiec
Located south of Nikiszowiec, Katowice’s third housing estate, Giszowiec, was constructed in 1906 for the ‘above-ground’ mine employees: clerks, bookkeepers, engineers, managers, and the like. It is a complete contrast to Nikiszowiec and Markiefki – instead of densely packed tenement houses there are detached cottages and villas, each one whitewashed and with its own garden.
It reminds me of the White City in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was devised as a ‘clean place’ for the white-collar workers in the city’s oil industry to live separated from the rigs.
Giszowiec is leafy and green with wide streets and shaded walking paths. Stroll around and spot the cute German-style houses with gabled roofs and dormers. The old inn on the park, designed as a cultural centre by Georg and Emil Zilmann, is one of the loveliest buildings in Giszowiec.
Hidden in the forest on Giszowiec’s outskirts, a centenary red-brick water tower (Wieza cisnien w Katowicach) towers 33.5 metres above the treetops. Built in 1909 and renovated into a telecommunication tower in the 1990s, it was open to the public as a viewing deck for a period but today remains closed.
Opposite the tower, several splendid villa houses make up the Kolonia Amerykanska Giszowiec or ‘American Colony’, a separate gated community created for US engineers who came to work on the mines.
Buses 1, 4 and 673 go to Giszowiec from Market Square. I suggest finishing your walk at the water tower then continuing out to the highway where you can jump on bus 672 to travel back to the city centre.
11. Search for Beboks
What gnomes are to Wroclaw, Beboks are to Katowice. Derived from Silesian folklore, statuettes of these crafty characters are scattered around the city.
Every young person in Upper Silesia knows Beboks from their bedtime stories, invoked by parents or grandparents as a sort of ‘bogeyman’. Local artist Grzegorz Chudy is credited with creating the contemporary Bekbok and giving this mythical character its multifarious form. Thanks to Malwina, we had the honour of meeting him at his studio-atelier in Nikiszowiec.
Go on a Bebok treasure hunt around Katowice and see how many you can find. Each one has a unique look and personality. I spotted Beboks off Market Square and another by the Spodek. Some are marked on Google Maps, but don’t let that spoil the thrill of the chase!
12. Feast on Silesian cuisine
Silesian cuisine is another unique expression of culture in this distinct part of Poland, fusing German, Austrian and Czech influences. In a word, it is heavy – maybe even heavier than regular Polish fare.
If you only have time for one meal in Katowice, make it a plate of Rolada z Modra Kapusta (beef roulade with red cabbage) with a side of Kluski Slaskie (Silesian dumplings).
Rolled with pickled veg and ham, the Rolada tastes a bit like a mashed up hamburger with pickles. I can’t say I loved it, but I’m glad I tried it. The dumplings were more to my taste, and I also enjoyed eating Placki Ziemniaczane (Polish potato cakes served with mushroom sauce) on more than one occasion.
The best thing I ate in Katowice was the Silesian Maczanka at Zurownia. Essentially a wet hamburger, it is tender pork neck braised in wine served on a bun with onion, pickled cucumber and horseradish sauce, drenched in an umami jus.
Where to eat in Katowice: My favourite Katowice restaurants & cafes
We only had time to sample a few Katowice restaurants. We opted to focus on Polish food, specifically Silesian cuisine, so we chose venues that specialise in local fare.
My favourite restaurants are Zurownia, Wiejska Chatka and Slaska Prohibicja in Nikiszowiec.
See my Katowice Map, linked above, for locations. And for more restaurant and cafe suggestions, see my guide to the 6 best places to eat in Katowice.
Day trips from Katowice
Krakow
Poland’s most-visited city is 80 kilometres from Katowice and can be reached by fast train in a little over an hour. We had time for just one day trip and chose to visit Krakow – it was definitely a highlight of our trip.
We freestyled our day and opted for a self-guided walking tour of the city centre, with stops at Ciastkarnia Vanilla for a sweet treat (a must-visit!) and Los Gorditos for Mexican food (something we dearly miss here in Georgia).
See this guide by Travels and Treats for tips on what to do in one day in Krakow.
Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum is located 40 kilometres south of Katowice and can be reached in an hour by rail or 30 minutes by road.
I highly recommend organising a guided tour of the site with transfers to and from Katowice. This top-rated Auschwitz-Birkenau day trip includes skip-the-line tickets and a guide. Check prices and availability here on Viator.
The Guido Coal Mine & Gliwice
Just 18 kilometres west of Katowice, the Guido Mine and Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze can be reached in around 30 minutes using a combination of buses/trains and taxi.
Another 30 minutes west by bus, Gliwice is another city with a fascinating industrial heritage. Landmarks including the Municipal Palm House, Museum Villa Caro and Former Weichmann’s Textile House can be visited on foot.
Gliwice was my next choice of day trip from Katowice and is definitely the spot I will visit on my next trip!
Where to stay in Katowice
For first-time visitors to Katowice, I recommend staying close to Market Square or north-east of the railway station. This area is walking distance from most of Katowice’s main attractions, with easy access to buses plus plenty of supermarkets, cafes and options for eating out.
The city blocks south of the railway station, around Plac Andrzeja, are also very nice and well positioned for sightseeing.
Accommodation options are a bit limited, and Katowice doesn’t seem to have any great boutique hotels. Apartments are plentiful, however, so depending on your budget, Airbnb might be the best option (we rented a studio apartment next to the train station for our stay).
For hotels in central Katowice, I suggest:
- Hotel Monopol – 5-star hotel close to the Mariacka walking street
- Courtyard by Marriott – mid-range hotel in the city centre, close to the Cultural Zone
- Yellow Hostel – budget accommodation east of Mariacka off Warszawska Street
If you are particularly interested in spending time in Nikiszowiec, there are a number of accommodation options in this district. Fancy Apartment Nikiszowiec is a top-rated, self-contained apartment.
Tips for visiting Katowice
How many days in Katowice?
To see everything on this list, you will need to spend at least two full days in Katowice. We had four full days, which was ample time to see the city and take a side trip to Krakow.
How to get to Katowice
Katowice’s small international airport is located in Pyrzowice, 30 kilometres north of the city centre. Direct flights from the UK, Western Europe, the UAE and Georgia are available with Wizz Air, Ryan Air, Pegasus and LOT.
Katowice can also be reached by rail from Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Ostrava, and other cities around Poland and the rest of Europe.
Katowice Airport to the city centre
To travel from Katowice Airport to the city centre, I recommend using the public bus. The AP bus is a 24-hour service that departs every 30-60 minutes, terminating at the Central Railway Station.
Buses depart from the stop directly in front of the arrivals terminal. Paper tickets should be purchased from the machine before you board (cash or card accepted) then validated on the bus.
Travel time from the airport is around 45 minutes, so you will need a 90 minute ticket (currently priced at 6.60 PLN).
Using the buses in Katowice
Katowice has an excellent city bus network that you can use to travel to the outer districts of Nikiszowiec, Giszowiec, and beyond. The bus network is linked to Google Maps for easy navigation on the go.
The main bus depot is located in the bottom of the Central Train Station. Enter via the escalators near the small Carrefour shop inside the terminal building.
Single-journey paper tickets will be suitable for most travellers. Tickets are priced according to journey time, so you need to know the duration of your bus trip before you purchase a ticket. We used Google Maps to estimate our journey times – this method worked perfectly.
Tickets are priced as follows:
- Max 20 minutes: 4.60 PLN
- Max 40 minutes: 5.60 PLN
- Max 90 minutes: 6.60 PLN
- Daily ticket: 12 PLN
Single tickets should be purchased from the automatic machine. Not all bus stations have them, so if you are travelling out to the districts or you think you might board the bus from a street station, it’s a very good idea to pre-purchase multiple tickets and carry them with you.
Tickets must be validated when you board the bus, so you can pre-buy tickets then activate them later. Insert the ticket into the little yellow box to receive your timestamp.
Buses in Katowice are modern and comfortable, with charging ports and WiFi. For more information about public transport, see this guide.
Using taxis in Katowice
I always use a taxi app these days – in Katowice, we opted for Uber simply because I already had the app downloaded and activated on my phone. We only used it a couple of times, but the experience was seamless.
Taxify is a popular alternative for use in Poland.
Is Katowice expensive?
We found Katowice to be a budget-friendly destination. Since I am yet to visit other cities in Poland, I can’t really make a fair comparison – but we did find that prices for food and drink were lower in Katowice than in Krakow.
Tickets for the Silesian Museum were one of our biggest expenses. A great money-saving tip is to visit the museum on Tuesday, when entrance is free.
Is Katowice safe?
We felt safe and very comfortable at all times when travelling around Katowice, including during our tour of Nikiszowiec.
When we told our guide that we were staying next door to the back entrance to the train station, she mentioned that this area is a bit of a known hotspot. We didn’t see or experience anything nefarious, but it might be a good idea to avoid this area after dark.
Exercise the usual commonsense and precautions that you would in any big city, especially at the train station and bus depot where petty crime is more likely to be an issue.
This is so insightful! My parents visited Poland several years ago and came back bragging about it, but they were only able to see Warsaw. I would love to visit Katowice, and am especially interested in the architecture and photography opportunities. I’d love to know more about your selection process for finding these smaller cities.
Thanks for your comment, Hanna! It’s a good question. In the case of Katowice, part of the reason was that it was the most affordable flight from Kutaisi! But I had been investigating Katowice before that – I am really interested in cities with an industrial past as I mentioned, and always look for smaller places that are a bit obscure. If someone warns me ‘there is nothing to do there’… That’s the kind of place I’m most interested in.
so come to Łódź, in the center of Poland,there is nth to do there ( kidding), apart from the fact it’s my hometown I fell it might be your kind of place
I would love to! It’s on the list!