Railway museums in Poland and Europe | PolishTrains

At a glance

• Chabówka open-air museum holds 51 steam locomotives on the grounds of a 19th-century depot
• Stacja Muzeum in Warsaw houses around 6,500 exhibits, including approximately 50 locomotives
• Sochaczew's narrow-gauge railway museum displays over 100 historic rolling stock items
• Jaworzyna Śląska is reachable by train from Katowice and showcases diesel and electric traction
• Most railway museum exhibits are outdoors, making them best suited to the warmer months
• Heritage train rides are offered at selected museums — check schedules before visiting

Railway museums are quite a popular form of technology exhibition. Many people really enjoy trains. There is a choice of smaller and really big places where you can spend several hours. Some are covered, but most of the exhibits are open to the public, so this is an attraction mainly for the warmer part of the year. We invite you to an overview of the most interesting such places in Poland and Europe that you can visit during your travels.

Open-air museum of rolling stock in Chabówka

You will visit this place when visiting Podhale, as it is located between Nowy Targ and Zakopane. The train exhibition site itself is historic, as it is located on the premises of a former locomotive depot dating back to the 19th century. At present, 51 steam locomotives can be seen here, 8 of which are operational, 25 operable passenger cars, 55 freight cars, as well as other equipment such as ploughs. The facility is large and very popular. There is a historic locomotive shed, an administration building, a hydrophore, a steam locomotive pond canal, water cranes and a coal hoist. In addition to the permanent exhibition, numerous temporary exhibitions are held on site. It is a place that is certainly very interesting and definitely worth a visit.

Chabówka railway museum opening hours: daily 08.00 - 18.00. Normal ticket: 20.00 zlotys, reduced ticket: 15 zlotys, children under 2 years: free of charge.

Stacja Muzeum in Warsaw

One of Poland's best-known railway museums is Stacja Muzeum, located in the centre of Warsaw. It replaced the Railway Museum, which closed in 2016. As many as 6,500 exhibits are on display. Significantly, they are displayed in their "natural environment", that is, in the former building of the Warszawa Główna railway station. Among other things, you will see 50 locomotives. There are plans to move the historic collections to a newly created, more extensive station in Odolany. It is open every day except holidays, from 9am to 5pm.

Railway Museum in Jaworzyna Śląska

Jaworzyna Śląska also boasts its own train-related museum. It is located on Towarowa Street. It covers an area of more than two hectares. These are former railway buildings. The oldest wagons in the collection date back to 1880, and there are also nearly 40 steam locomotives of Polish and foreign manufacture. The Railway Museum in Jaworzyna Śląska is an attraction for adults and children, no one will get bored here. It is open every day except for holidays, from 10.00 to 16.00.

The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew

This is not the end of the attractions! There are other railway museums worth visiting. One of them is certainly the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew. This is one of the few facilities of its kind in the whole of Europe, where you can see as many as 145 units of narrow-gauge railway rolling stock. On site you will find two rooms presenting the history of the narrow-gauge railway in Poland and in Sochaczew. Photos, uniforms, railwaymen's equipment, tickets, models of railways. You will feel like a traffic officer in a room belonging to him. Several times a year, train rides are also organised, which is of course quite an attraction. The mini trains are sure to appeal to the little ones. It is open every day except holidays, from 9.00 to 17.00.

Railway Museum in Bytom

Upper Silesia also has a place dedicated to narrow-gauge railways. We are talking about the museum in Bytom. The railway with a gauge of 785 millimetres is the oldest continuously operating railway of its kind. Its first sections were built as early as 1851. Its task was mainly to serve the numerous industrial plants in Silesia. Most importantly, you can easily take a ride on such a train, getting to know the most important Silesian attractions at the same time. The narrow-gauge railway stops at the railway station in Bytom, on a special platform. You can buy a ticket for the ride and simply immerse yourself in history. I don't think anyone needs to be made aware of how much fun this is for children. Before the tour, check its timetable.

Railway museums can be found all over Europe. It's worth having them on your list when travelling abroad.

Brest Railway Engineering Museum

The Museum of Railway Technology in Brest is located just across the Polish-Belarusian border. It opened in 2002, but has since undergone extensive renovation, so it is now very tourist-friendly. By the way, you can visit the Brest fortress next door. The Brest Railway Museum of Technology has 50 steam locomotives, diesel locomotives and passenger carriages. In addition, railway equipment is available to view on site, enabling the efficient operation of such a large railway junction as Brest. It is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm.

Českých dráh Railway Museum

The Českých dráh Railway Museum is the largest of its kind in the Czech Republic. It is located near the Lužná u Rakovník railway station. It is an ideal place to spend a few hours with the family. The area is vast and there are no excess tourists here, so it is possible to visit everything in peace. On holiday weekends, a short section of the narrow-gauge railway is open next to the museum, which you can take a ride on. In addition to this, there is, of course, a veritable plethora of railway-related exhibits of all kinds. The museum itself can be visited from May to October, usually at weekends and holidays.

Odense Railway Museum

Denmark also boasts its own railway collection. We are talking about the Odense Railway Museum. It is naturally located next to the railway station. It has an area of 10,000 square metres filled with exhibits documenting the history of the Danish railway, including the latest technological developments. It is open, with few exceptions, daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The miniature railway in the museum's garden is an attraction for children.

Hyvinkää Railway Museum

The Hyvinkää Railway Museum is 50 kilometres from Helsinki, so you can visit it on a trip to Finland. The collections are not large, but very interesting. These include 25 steam locomotives. The oldest of these dates back to 1868. The B1 no. 9 of British manufacture hauled passenger carriages through the difficult natural wilderness of Finland for many years. The biggest attraction of this museum is the 'Imperial Train'. This is a train from 1879 that was used by the Russian Tsar. Amateurs of photography will find themselves in the Finnish museum. As many as 150,000 photographs are available, as well as a wealth of specialist publications.

Railway Museum in Mulhouse

One of the largest railway museums in Europe is the one located in the French town of Mulhouse. It includes two very large halls filled with exhibits. If you like a retro atmosphere and dream of a photo shoot with beautiful steam locomotives, this is the place to do it. All the historic pieces are strikingly displayed, giving the atmosphere of a real 19th century French railway station. From May to September, it is open daily from 10.00 - 18.00, shorter in the off-season.

We hope that this short overview of interesting railway-related museums in Poland and Europe will also be of interest to you. This is, of course, only a small part of a much more extensive offer of facilities related to technology. Railway museums are worth visiting, even if you are not an enthusiast. It is the easiest way to enrich your knowledge.