Łańcut Castle

The Carpathian Foothills (Podkarpackie) in southeastern Poland border Slovakia to the south and Ukraine to the east. Rzeszów is the capital of the voivodeship, formed in 1999; its largest rivers are the San, Wisłoka, and Wisłok.To the south, the landscape rises to the Bieszczady, where Tarnica, at 1,346 meters, forms the highest point of the voivodeship. Noble residences like Łańcut and Krasiczyn, the fortress city of Przemyśl, and wooden Cerkwie tell of the eventful history of this borderland.

Zamość is located in southeastern Poland, approximately 240 km from Warsaw and 110 km from Lemberg (Lwiw), and has about 58,000 inhabitants. From 1578, Jan Zamoyski had the city designed by the Venetian architect Bernardo Morando as an ideal Renaissance town, which earned it the nickname "Padua of the North." Since 1992, the Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.The Old Town has a hexagonal layout: in the west were the Zamoyski family residence and the Academy, and in the east, the burgher town with three squares: the Great Market (Rynek Wielki), the Salt Market, and the Water Market. On the Great Market, with its arcaded houses, stands the Town Hall with its 52-meter-high clock tower. Remains of the fortress are preserved around the Old Town.You can see the main sights in one day. Zamość also serves as an excellent base for excursions into the Roztocze National Park.

The Lublin Voivodeship is in far eastern Poland, bordering Belarus and Ukraine. To the west, the Vistula, to the east, the Bug, form much of its border. Around two million people live here; Lublin is its only major city. The landscape ranges from the Lublin Upland, across the Roztocze hills, to Polesie in the northeast.In 1569, the Lublin Union was concluded here, uniting Poland and Lithuania. During WWII, German occupiers established extermination camps Majdanek, Belzec, and Sobibor in the region. Today, the Renaissance city Zamość, the Vistula town Kazimierz Dolny, and Roztocze and Polesie National Parks draw visitors.

The Bieszczady Mountains, in the far southeast of Poland, bordering Slovakia and Ukraine, are part of the Eastern Carpathians. Its heart is the Bieszczady National Park (Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy), founded in 1973, and at over 292 square kilometers, it's the largest national park in the Polish mountains. Since 1992, it has been part of the transnational East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, and since 2021, parts of its beech forests have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List.Characteristic features are the Połoniny, treeless mountain meadows above the tree line, such as Połonina Caryńska and Połonina Wetlińska, as well as the peaks Tarnica (1346 meters), Krzemień, and Halicz. Bears, wolves, lynx, and a free-ranging herd of European bison live in the forests. To the north lies the Solina Reservoir, Poland's largest capacity reservoir; in the region's villages stand wooden Cerkwie, including the UNESCO World Heritage churches of Smolnik and Turzańsk.

Lublin is located approximately 170 km southeast of Warsaw and, with around 327,000 inhabitants, is Poland's eighth-largest city. Five universities make it a young student city. In 1317, Lublin received Magdeburg rights and became a trading post on the Via Regia; in 1569, the Union of Lublin between Poland and Lithuania was concluded here.The Old Town lies on the edge of the Bystrzyca Valley and is surrounded by remnants of the city walls, including the Krakow Gate and Grodzka Gate. On the Market Square stands the former Town Hall, the Crown Tribunal, ringed by Renaissance burgher houses, the Cathedral, and the Dominican Basilica. The Grodzka Gate formerly marked the boundary to the Jewish Quarter; behind it rises the Castle with the Holy Trinity Chapel. West of the Old Town, the New Town and the Saxon Garden connect.On the outskirts, the Majdanek Memorial commemorates the German concentration and extermination camp. Two days should be planned for Lublin, easily combinable with Kazimierz Dolny and Zamość.