Gliwice travel guide
The wooden radio tower of 1939, an old town and lively Rynek bars
A Silesian university city where a staged raid on the radio station in 1939 gave Hitler his pretext for war; the wooden tower still stands. The compact old town around the Rynek fills with students at night. May to September is best, and one day is enough. Costs are moderate, and Poland applies Schengen rules.
Gliwice is the westernmost city of the Upper Silesian conurbation, half an hour by train from Katowice. It keeps a medieval street plan and a large technical university. For most of the past two centuries it was Gleiwitz, in Prussia and then Germany, and it voted to stay German after the First World War. That border history explains its best-known site.
On 31 August 1939, SS men staged a fake Polish raid on the Gleiwitz radio station to justify the invasion of Poland the next morning. The transmitter tower still stands on Tarnogórska street, a lattice of larch wood more than 100 metres high, often called the tallest wooden structure in Europe. A small museum beside it tells the story.
Back in the centre, the Rynek has a town hall and a Neptune fountain among restored houses, and its bars fill with students in the evening. Piast Castle, a wall tower of 1322 with an armoury beside it, is now a branch of the city museum. The scraps of medieval wall elsewhere are hardly worth hunting for; spend the time at the Palm House in Chopin Park or Villa Caro instead.
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A 1939 radio tower, a small old town with a castle tower, a palm house and a busy Rynek.
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Best time to visit Gliwice
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Terrace weather on the Rynek, and the walk out to the radio tower on Tarnogórska is pleasant rather than sticky.
Grey, damp and dark early; the tropical glasshouse of the Palm House in Chopin Park is the warmest hour in town.
The Rynek bars fill up again from October, when more than 20,000 students return for the academic year.
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Getting there
Bus M14 from Pyrzowice, trains via Zabrze and Chorzów
Katowice-Pyrzowice is the airport for Gliwice, and Metropolis express bus M14 runs from the terminal straight into town. Rail is easiest from anywhere in the region: the modern station sits on the north-west edge of the centre, about ten minutes on foot from the Rynek, and coaches use the new interchange just north of it.
- Bus M14
- Direct express from Katowice-Pyrzowice airport; check the ZTM planner for times
- Train from Katowice
- Every 20 minutes, about 30 minutes via Chorzów and Zabrze; some start in Kraków or even Przemyśl
- Train from Wrocław
- Hourly, about 2 hours via Opole; one a day comes direct from Berlin
- FlixBus
- Several a day from Berlin (about 7 hours via Wrocław and Opole), plus links from Vienna, Brno, Ostrava and Prague
- For Warsaw and most other long-distance destinations, change trains at Katowice.
Where to stay
Qubus on Dworcowa or Silvia Gold off the Rynek
Gliwice has few hotels, but the centre is small enough that any of them works: the Qubus on Dworcowa by the station for early trains, or the Silvia Gold off the Rynek for the bars. Skip the budget hostel on Siemińskiego, which feels like a workers' dormitory.
- Dworcowa, by the station
- Qubus Hotel, clean and modern with small rooms; a ten-minute walk to the Rynek and handy for Centrum Przesiadkowe
- Old town
- Hotel Silvia Gold on Studzienna, friendly and a few minutes from the square, though attic rooms are tiny
- Katowice
- A bigger hotel choice 30 minutes away by train, sensible if Gliwice is one stop on a Silesia trip
Getting around
Old-town lanes on foot, Metropolis buses to Tarnogórska
Walk Gliwice's old town, which you can cross in ten minutes, between the Rynek, Piast Castle, the churches and the station. The Radio Tower on Tarnogórska is about 2 km north-east, a short bus or taxi ride. ZTM Metropolia buses and trams use one ticket across the Upper Silesian metropolis.
- On foot
- Rynek to Piast Castle or All Saints Church in a few minutes; to the station in about ten
- ZTM buses
- One Metropolis-wide ticket system; time-based tickets suit a ride out to the radio tower and back
- Taxi
- Quickest way to the Radio Tower or Arena Gliwice on Akademicka
- Piast Gliwice match days at the stadium 2 km north-east of the centre slow traffic and fill buses on that side of town.
Know before you go
What makes Gliwice worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The Gliwice Radio Tower, a larch lattice over 100 metres tall where the Second World War was given its pretext.
- Dinner on the Rynek at Dobra Kasza Nasza, a restaurant built around traditional Polish kasha dishes.
- The Palm House in Chopin Park, a warm glasshouse on a grey day.
Good to know
- The medieval walls are mostly gone; the few fragments are not worth seeking out.
- Gliwice Museum's branches are free on Saturdays (holidays excepted), so time the castle, Villa Caro or the Radio Tower for then.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Gliwice, month by month
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Piast Castle, the old town and the 1939 Gliwice radio tower
Walk in from Gliwice station to Piast Castle on Pod Murami, despite its name a tower in the old town walls, now a museum; buy tickets well before closing. Lunch on the Rynek by the town hall and Neptune fountain, then head out to the wooden Radio Tower on Tarnogórska, where the SS staged an attack in 1939.
From there it is a few steps to All Saints Church, a stocky brick Gothic building begun around 1250, and to plac Rzeźniczy, where the excavated base of the Black Gate sits below today's street level.
Cross to the Rynek for lunch. The town hall and the Neptune fountain stand in the middle, ringed by houses that were rebuilt in their old style. The cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul, completed in 1900, is a short walk away on Jana Pawła II if you want to see one more church.
After lunch head out to Tarnogórska and the Radio Tower, where SS men faked a Polish attack on the evening of 31 August 1939. Stand at the foot of the larch lattice before you go into the small museum, which explains the provocation and what followed. On the way back, stop at Villa Caro, the industrialist's mansion that is now part of the city museum, or the Palm House in Chopin Park, then return to the Rynek for the evening.
Rolada, kluski and kasha around the Gliwice Rynek
Order the Silesian Sunday lunch in Gliwice: rolada, a beef roulade wrapped round bacon, onion and pickled cucumber, with kluski śląskie and braised red cabbage, and żur, the sour rye soup. Dobra Kasza Nasza at Rynek 3 builds its menu around kasha, and as a student city Gliwice spends its evenings in the Rynek's beer bars.
Dobra Kasza Nasza at Rynek 3 builds its menu around kasha, the buckwheat, barley and millet grains that Poles ate long before potatoes, and it is the best place on the square for something traditional. For a change of cuisine, Moja Gruzja on Grodowa, just off the Rynek, cooks Georgian dumplings and cheese breads, and TitoTito on Plebańska is a reliable Italian. Momo at Rynek 1 doubles as a wine bar.
The Rynek alone has Koneser, Takk, Lux, Dom Alchemika and Ministerstwo, while IBU Craft Beers pours Polish craft taps for anyone tired of lager. Kitchens on the square mostly stop serving around 22:00, an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays, so do not leave dinner too late.
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How we research our Gliwice travel guide
Gliwice's airport bus, station and Radio Tower details are checked against the city's official website and Poland Travel, with Wikipedia for the 1939 Gleiwitz incident and the city's German past.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of GliwicePoland TravelAuschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Gliwice.
Getting there
Usually. Trains leave every 20 minutes and take about 30 minutes via Chorzów and Zabrze, while Metropolis buses are slower but run on the same ticket system.
Express bus M14 runs direct from the airport. Otherwise take the airport bus to Katowice and a train onward.
Katowice-Pyrzowice is the airport for Gliwice, and Metropolis express bus M14 runs from the terminal straight into town. Rail is easiest from anywhere in the region: the modern station sits on the north-west edge of the centre, about ten minutes on foot from the Rynek, and coaches use the new interchange just north of it.
General
On 31 August 1939, SS men staged a fake Polish attack on the station so Germany could justify invading Poland the next day. The wooden tower and a small museum remain.
Yes, a lattice of larch more than 100 metres high, often called the tallest wooden structure in Europe. It stands on Tarnogórska, about 2 km north-east of the centre.
Yes. Spend the morning in the old town and the afternoon at the tower and museum; it works well as a day trip from Katowice.
Probably not. It was built in 1322 as a tower in the town walls, when Piast power was already fading, and an armoury was added beside it.
After the First World War, a referendum kept Gliwice, Zabrze and Bytom in Germany while neighbouring Katowice went to Poland. That border is why the 1939 provocation was staged here.
No. It has been demolished, despite what some maps show; coaches now stop at Centrum Przesiadkowe, the interchange just north of the railway station.
Rolada with kluski śląskie and red cabbage is the classic, and żur makes the usual starter. Dobra Kasza Nasza on the Rynek is the most traditional kitchen on the square.
At the Piotra Wieczorka Municipal Stadium, about 2 km north-east of the centre. The club won its first Polish championship in 2019.
Walk Gliwice's old town, which you can cross in ten minutes, between the Rynek, Piast Castle, the churches and the station. The Radio Tower on Tarnogórska is about 2 km north-east, a short bus or taxi ride. ZTM Metropolia buses and trams use one ticket across the Upper Silesian metropolis.
Timing & weather
The best time to visit Gliwice is May to Sep. Warm evenings on the Rynek terraces and pleasant walking out to the radio tower.
- Best overall: May - June, September (Terrace weather on the Rynek, and the walk out to the radio tower on Tarnogórska is pleasant rather than sticky)
- Winter: December - February (Grey, damp and dark early; the tropical glasshouse of the Palm House in Chopin Park is the warmest hour in town)
Visa & documents
Poland applies the Schengen area's entry rules. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Crime against visitors to Poland is low. Watch for pickpockets in busy tourist areas and overpriced bars that target tourists.
