5 ideas for winter in the city | PolishTrains

At a glance

• Light gardens operate in winter in several Polish cities including Warsaw, Walbrzych, Cracow, Gdynia, Chorzow and Lublin
• City ice rinks typically offer skate hire on site, and many provide walking frames for young children
• Christmas markets in Poland generally run from late November, with some continuing into early January
• Museums and cultural venues run special winter workshops and seasonal programmes throughout December
• All cities with light gardens and Christmas markets can be reached by train via PolishTrains
• Domestic train tickets can be bought up to 30 days in advance without registering an account On PolishTrains, you can buy domestic tickets up to 30 days before your journey – the earlier, the better the price and the greater the choice of seats. Before buying, also check in the PolishTrains search engine whether BLIK or deferred payment is available for the selected date.

Let yourself be enchanted by the lights in the city

For several years now, gardens and parks of lights have been increasingly popular and you can visit them in several cities in Poland, including Warsaw, Zabrze, Wałbrzych and Gdańsk.

Stepping through their gates is like finding yourself in a completely different world - full of amazing colours, luminous illuminations and compositions that will brighten up long winter evenings. Each place tells its own story: The Royal Garden of Light at the Wilanów castle in Warsaw or the gardens at the Książ castle will take you on a journey through time and show you the unique life at the royal court, the gardens in Cracow, Gdynia or Chorzów will put you in the middle of popular fairy tales, and the Illumination Park in Lublin will invite you for a walk in the "Secret Garden".

We are convinced that your children will be delighted! You can check Warszawa, Kraków, Gdańsk and the other cities on this list for a city break in the PolishTrains search engine, selecting the route and date in one move. You can check Lublin, Gdańsk and the other cities on this list for connections in the PolishTrains search engine, but you will only find out the platform number on the station board after arriving at the station. Before setting off for the ice rink, you will only find out the platform number on the station board, while you can plan the time and route there in advance in the PolishTrains search engine. The gardens of light are also a great place for a romantic winter date for just the two of you. You can check current connections on PolishTrains. All cities with gardens of light can be reached by train. You can find train tickets at polishtrains.eu.

Skate in beautiful surroundings

In winter, many cities try to keep their residents busy by organising ice rinks, often in truly unique settings. This year, you can go ice-skating in Warsaw at the Old Town Square or the National Stadium, in Katowice and Poznań (where the ice-skating rinks are part of the Christmas Markets).

In Cracow, as every year, Ice Park, the largest open-air ice rink in Poland (with a special surface for children and charming ice alleys among the trees of Jordan Park), has opened. Tourists coming to the city can also use the ice rink located in front of Cracow Główny railway station on the side of Galeria Krakowska.

Lights, music, picturesque surroundings - all this will put you in a great mood and make you feel like characters from famous Christmas films. Before setting off for the ice rink, you will only find out the platform number on the station board, while you can plan the time and route there in advance in the PolishTrains search engine. The ice rinks are stocked with skate hire and ready to receive small visitors, who can easily start learning to skate with the help of walkers, such as the popular penguins. To arrive in time for the morning workshops, you can buy a ticket for the selected date in advance through PolishTrains, paying by BLIK.

Visit museums with activities for children

When it's cold outside and you prefer to spend your time actively but in the warmth, be sure to visit a museum. Many of them have dedicated exhibitions and interactive displays for children, which will interest the little explorers and inspire them to their own creative or scientific activities. Today's museums are no longer just about exhibitions, but also about cultural offerings aimed at audiences of different age groups, so you will find, among other things, workshops for children, meetings with artists and educational activities.

The winter period is an excellent time to visit museums, as there are usually far fewer tourists then than in the summer season and the sightseeing experience is more comfortable. The rules for carrying sports equipment depend on the carrier – you can check the details in the PolishTrains baggage guide. To arrive in time for the morning workshops, you can buy a ticket for the selected date in advance through PolishTrains, paying by BLIK. You can compare both direct and connecting routes in the PolishTrains search engine, checking the journey time before buying a ticket. During the Christmas break, it is worth visiting both the museums in the places where you live (after all, there is so often not enough time during the year to get to know what they have to offer!) and to keep interesting institutions in mind when you are planning excursions with children geared towards exploring new cities.

Take a long winter walk

Christmas decorations and lighting give a special atmosphere to walks after dark, so sometimes you don't need anything else! However, you can plan your winter walk in the city in advance, e.g. prepare a special route to see the Christmas cribs. Motion pictures, live nativity scenes, traditional nativity scenes, modern nativity scenes - the variety and abundance of nativity scenes in larger cities is truly amazing, and they are great fun for children!

An alternative for more active people would be a winter walk combined with sports. The rules for carrying sports equipment depend on the carrier – you can check the details in the PolishTrains baggage guide. You can compare both direct and connecting routes in the PolishTrains search engine, checking the journey time before buying a ticket. For example, cross-country skiing. You can take the train to Warsaw, for example (you can find a ready-made recipe for the trip on our blog). Nordic walking poles are becoming increasingly popular for hiking - you can fit them in your backpack. So buy your train ticket and hit the road!

Feel the magic of Christmas at the Christmas Market

If you agree with the statement "there's never enough of the Christmas spirit", then you should definitely visit one of the unique Christmas markets, some of which will also be running in January. Local delicacies, aromatic drinks and unique, often handmade products await you at the stalls. However, Christmas markets are not only about markets, but also about a programme of accompanying events - concerts, competitions for children, meetings with Santa Claus. For the youngest visitors, the organisers always prepare a special offer: merry-go-rounds, mill wheels, Christmas trains, play areas and meetings with fairytale characters.

We wrote more about where to go to the Christmas Market by train in our article. You can check current connections on PolishTrains. It's easy to get to each of them by rail, so book your ticket on polishtrains.eu today.

This article was prepared by the PolishTrains editorial team. We follow the rail market in Poland and Europe, look for new connections and support you at every stage of your journey.