The Municipal Palm House is the third-largest institution of its kind in Poland. More than 6,000 specimens of flora and fauna give it a broad natural history profile. Four themed aquariums provide a special focus: they include a 60,000-litre tank housing fish from the Amazon Basin.

The figures tell of different scales: from the diversity of the flora and fauna housed here to one large aquarium containing fish from a particular river basin. If you explore Gliwice through its nature attractions, you will find another way to do so, alongside the Palm House, in Fryderyk Chopin Park.

Flowers and walking paths in Fryderyk Chopin Park

The park covers about 6 hectares and offers walks among impressive floral displays. The approximate area gives an idea of its size, while the flowers define the character of the place. The park also has a playground with slides, climbing structures, a carousel and a sandbox. So walks and a clearly defined range of play facilities sit side by side here.

The history of technology and the Gliwice Radio Tower

A striking technical structure is the 111-metre-high antenna tower of the Gliwice Radio Station. The site is on the Silesian Route of Technical Monuments, connecting a specific location with a route of technical monuments that extends beyond Gliwice.

The buildings of the Gliwice Radio Station are also associated with a pivotal historical event. In 1939, they were the scene of the so-called Gleiwitz incident: a staged attack by a German special unit on its own German facility formed part of the propagandistic and disinformation preparations for the attack on Poland. The site thus represents both a technical structure and an event whose significance lies in the history of the attack on Poland.

A residence, a castle and artistic cast iron

Willa Caro is a well-preserved 19th-century residence in the style of Renaissance villa architecture. The villa hosts temporary exhibitions, concerts, meetings, conferences and workshops accompanying exhibitions. This brings together the architectural history of the house and a varied events programme. If you are planning for a particular date, it is worth checking the programme.

The Piast Castle is one of the oldest buildings in Gliwice. Its permanent exhibition, “Gliwice – a city of many cultures,” covers early history, ethnography, and the history of Gliwice and the Gliwice region. The castle also displays Japanese armour and samurai swords, as well as Chinese and Korean swords. The exhibition topics and objects on display offer different points of interest for a visit focused on history.

The Artistic Foundry Department is located in the former machine hall of the “Gliwice” coal mine, built in 1912–1914. It houses a modern, interactive and multimedia permanent exhibition on artistic cast iron. The collection consists mainly of products from the Gliwice Royal Iron Foundry dating from the 19th century. This allows the building’s date of 1912–1914 to be compared with the earlier history of many of the exhibits.

A former mortuary and a Jewish cemetery

The Upper Silesian Jews Memorial House is a branch of the Gliwice Museum and is housed in a former mortuary built in 1902–1903. A Jewish cemetery lies beside the building, with more than 600 gravestones still preserved. The building, its institutional affiliation and the cemetery provide several concrete points of reference for this part of Gliwice’s history.

A trip on the canal and guidance for your stay

The Gliwice Marina in Łabędy offers passenger trips on the Gliwice Canal aboard the Foxtrot passenger boat. If you are planning a trip, check in advance whether it will run on your chosen date. For getting your bearings, it is also helpful to know that the A1 and A4 motorways intersect in Gliwice.

When looking for a hotel in Gliwice, you can start by considering which discoveries you want to shape your stay: nature, the history of technology, architecture or exhibitions. The places mentioned offer different perspectives on the city. Use these themes to align your accommodation plans with your own travel interests.

Discover more destinations: Przyszowice, Gleiwitz, Sośnicowice, Knurów, Bojszów, Pyskowice, Poniszowice, Chudów, Paczynka, Paniówki, Niewiesze, Rudziniec.

For the broader travel overview: Silesia.