5 PLACES IN POLAND WORTH VISITING IN SPRING AND BEYOND. ON A GREEN CARPET IN THE RZESZÓW – CITY AND REGION

ŁAŃCUT CASTLE

Łańcut Castle is one of the most unique and beautiful places in Poland. It’s especially worth visiting in spring. This gem among Polish tourist attractions becomes surrounded by a riot of colors and an array of beautiful scents during the season. What can you see here? The list is long... You’ll discover, among other things: a rose garden, linden alleys, a beech tree avenue with red foliage in the landscaped part of the grounds, and a charming perennial bed filled with roses, coneflowers, daylilies, anemones, salvias, and annuals.

The Rose Garden at Łańcut Castle was established at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by Roman Potocki and his wife Elżbieta from the Radziwiłł family. Today, you can admire both modern rose varieties and historic ones, such as ‘The Fairy’ (1932) or ‘Gruss an Aachen’ (pre-1909).

The park surrounding Łańcut Castle is known for its spectacular annual tulip plantings, which attract crowds of tourists. The numbers are impressive! Each year, nearly 3,000 tulip bulbs are planted across 32 different varieties. Every spring, they put on a stunning display of color — just one of many reasons to visit Łańcut Castle.

As of 2024, a new botanical curiosity blooms in the park each May: Dracunculus vulgaris, also known as the dragon lily. This dramatic plant features a large, dark purple (almost black) flower that can grow up to 1 meter tall. It's a treat for nature enthusiasts seeking the rare and unusual. The flower blooms for only a few days and emits an intense, unpleasant scent resembling rotting meat. This “fragrance” has a biological purpose — it attracts flies and other carrion insects that help pollinate the plant.

THE MANOR-PARK AND FARM COMPLEX IN WIŚNIOWA

This tourist attraction in the Podkarpackie region lies near Rzeszów and offers equally delightful springtime experiences. In 1867, the Mycielski family purchased Wiśniowa, originally as a summer residence — and to this day, it's a peaceful place to relax amid the greenery of the surrounding park and the hills of the Strzyżów Foothills.

This spot in Poland became a favorite outdoor retreat for several renowned Polish artists who were friends of Jan Zygmunt Mycielski, including Józef Czapski, Jan Cybis, Tytus Czyżewski, and Leon Chwistek.

In early spring, the flowerbeds come alive with crocuses and daffodils, bringing color and vibrancy to the landscape. A little later, the garden delights with beautiful blooming roses.

The manor park hides many curiosities — such as the tombstone of the Mycielski sisters’ beloved dog. One of the park’s greatest treasures is the European Tree of the Year 2017 – the Józef Oak (Dąb Józef). This monumental tree, with a circumference of 675 cm and a height of over 30 meters, contains a large hollow that once served as a hiding place. During World War II, the Józef Oak sheltered two Jewish brothers, making it not only a natural wonder but also a witness to history. This unique tree was also featured on the 100-zloty banknote from 1932, designed by the renowned artist Józef Mehoffer.

Be sure to take a walk down the two hornbeam alleys: the old and the new. The newer alley includes as many as 360 trees! These picturesque green corridors are remnants of the historical garden layout. At the end of the newer avenue stands the neo-Romanesque Mycielski family mausoleum, built at the end of the 19th century.

LUBOMIRSKI PALACE IN PRZEWORSK

At the Lubomirski Palace, now home to the Museum in Przeworsk, visitors can admire elegant interiors such as the pink salon, the princess’s boudoir, the bedroom, the ballroom, and the dining room. However, it’s also worth taking time to explore the picturesque park surrounding the palace covering an area of 10.5 hectares.

What’s worth seeing in spring within the estate (now the Palace and Park Complex)? Right next to the palace, you’ll find a true natural rarity – the oldest tree in the park. This large-leaved lime tree is believed to have been planted by King John III Sobieski himself, who, according to legend, stayed in Przeworsk in 1687 while escorting Queen Marysieńka to the health resort. Today, beneath the lime tree "sits" Andrzej Lubomirski, the last estate heir, commemorated with a bench-shaped monument.

The landscape-style park is home to around 1,900 trees and shrubs, including unique specimens such as London plane trees and Amur cork trees. Other noteworthy natural monuments include oaks, lime trees, ashes, maples, and Eastern white pines. Be sure to take a stroll along the impressive hornbeam alley, which dates back to the time of Henryk Lubomirski (first half of the 19th century). In the Przeworsk park, hornbeams were planted densely and in straight lines, once forming two neatly trimmed rows. Today, without regular pruning, their crowns have interwoven to create a unified structure resembling a lush, picturesque tunnel leading to the park’s upper terrace.

In spring, the colorful carpets of blooming woodland plants will dazzle you—wood anemones (white and yellow), lesser celandine, hollowroot, yellow star-of-Bethlehem, sweet violet, and lungwort all cover the park floor. One of the most popular sights among visitors is the magnolia tree near the palace, frequently photographed when in bloom.

THE OPEN-AIR MUSEUM IN KOLBUSZOWA

This charming tourist attraction is a place where birdsong, a pond, trees, and blooming spring flowers around the traditional cottages of the Lasowiacy and Rzeszowiacy will awaken your senses after winter. The Open-Air Museum in Kolbuszowa, nestled in the lush greenery of the former Sandomierz Forest, lets you experience not only the culture and daily life of these ethnic groups, but also brings you up close with vibrant nature — and more than a few curious geese.

Here, you’ll discover traditional plants once cultivated in old rural gardens: medicinal herbs like mint, chamomile, and St. John’s wort, as well as heritage varieties of apple, pear, and plum trees native to the region.

For the Lasowiacy, contact with nature held deep spiritual and practical meaning. For example, it was believed that linden branches blessed during Pentecost or taken from altars during Corpus Christi could protect homes from hailstorms, rodents, and insects.

This unique site in Poland is full of charming cottage gardens, orchards, and apiaries. In the museum's farmsteads — just like in a real village — you’ll meet traditional farm animals once raised by the locals. While you won’t see cows or horses here, there’s a rich variety of poultry, especially geese, and among the smaller mammals: goats, sheep, and rabbits.

In the home gardens, alongside blooming fruit trees, you can see what old-time vegetable patches and herb gardens looked like. If you want to see a truly rustic garden, this Podkarpackie attraction is a must-visit. You’ll find flowers such as hollyhocks, white lilies, delphiniums, phlox, marigolds, calendula, snapdragons, rudbeckias, and asters — so the garden beauty doesn’t end with spring.

THE RZESZÓW RESERVOIR

The Rzeszów Reservoir is sure to impress both water sports enthusiasts and nature lovers alike. It’s a unique spot on the map of Rzeszów that is definitely worth visiting! The area is characterized by its exceptional and wild nature, which is protected as part of the Natura 2000 network. Its rich biodiversity makes it both an interesting and unique place. Here, you can discover the largest habitat of water chestnut in Poland — a fascinating edible plant that, after 20 minutes in boiling water, tastes like a nut. The water chestnut (Trapa natans) is listed in the Polish Red List of Plants. Its diamond-shaped leaves create a picturesque mat on the water, so dense that small birds can walk on it. You can observe these chestnut mats as early as the end of April.