Lower Silesia has been dug into for centuries: for gold, for coal and, in WWII, for secret tunnels. An hour or two's drive from the city, kids can ride a train through a medieval gold mine, tour a coal mine with a former miner, or walk past cave bear bones and stalactites. Here's what we checked, from Złoty Stok's gold mine to Kłodzko Fortress's tunnels.
A gold mine worked since the Middle Ages, now a guided underground route through two old adits. Kids see the 16 tons of gold display, a 10-meter waterfall, an underground slide and a hologram ghost story, then ride an orange train through the tunnels.
The Medieval Mining Settlement next door has old machines kids can start, an executioner character and a Path of Fear.
Stara Kopalnia is the former Julia coal mine, restored in 2014 into a 4.5-hectare museum of shaft towers, engine halls and original machinery. Guided tours, often led by former miners, pass through the lamp room, the miners' bathhouse, the dispatch room and an underground tunnel.
The SOWA zone adds hands-on science exhibits for kids, and there is a contemporary art and ceramics gallery on site.
Jaskinia Niedźwiedzia is a show cave on the slopes of the Śnieżnik Massif, named for the cave bear bones found inside. Guides lead groups of up to 15 along a lit 360-meter path past stalactites, a cave bear skeleton, an 8-meter calcite cascade and a sound-and-light show in the Palace Hall. About 200 bats roost here. It suits kids who are fine with the dark and a few dozen steps.
Osówka is part of Riese, a network of tunnels Nazi Germany dug into the Owl Mountains from 1943, worked by prisoners of war and prisoners. The main guided route runs 1,200 m through concrete guardrooms, low tunnels and huge halls cut into gneiss rock, with documentary films, holograms and cases of wartime equipment found on site.
A flashlight-only route adds a boat crossing and wooden walkways in the northern corridors.
Kłodzko Fortress is a vast Prussian hilltop fortification above the town of Kłodzko, with more than 1,000 years of history on the site. The upper route runs 2.5 km along ramparts, exhibitions and viewing terraces over the town.
Below ground, a 1.2 km route leads through the countermine tunnels, a labyrinth dug under the slopes. Kids who like tunnels, cannons and soldiers get the most from it.
Lower Silesia has been dug into for centuries: for gold, for coal and, in WWII, for secret tunnels. An hour or two's drive from the city, kids can ride a train through a medieval gold mine, tour a coal mine with a former miner, or walk past cave bear bones and stalactites. Here's what we checked, from Złoty Stok's gold mine to Kłodzko Fortress's tunnels.
A gold mine worked since the Middle Ages, now a guided underground route through two old adits. Kids see the 16 tons of gold display, a 10-meter waterfall, an underground slide and a hologram ghost story, then ride an orange train through the tunnels.
The Medieval Mining Settlement next door has old machines kids can start, an executioner character and a Path of Fear.
Stara Kopalnia is the former Julia coal mine, restored in 2014 into a 4.5-hectare museum of shaft towers, engine halls and original machinery. Guided tours, often led by former miners, pass through the lamp room, the miners' bathhouse, the dispatch room and an underground tunnel.
The SOWA zone adds hands-on science exhibits for kids, and there is a contemporary art and ceramics gallery on site.
Jaskinia Niedźwiedzia is a show cave on the slopes of the Śnieżnik Massif, named for the cave bear bones found inside. Guides lead groups of up to 15 along a lit 360-meter path past stalactites, a cave bear skeleton, an 8-meter calcite cascade and a sound-and-light show in the Palace Hall. About 200 bats roost here. It suits kids who are fine with the dark and a few dozen steps.
Osówka is part of Riese, a network of tunnels Nazi Germany dug into the Owl Mountains from 1943, worked by prisoners of war and prisoners. The main guided route runs 1,200 m through concrete guardrooms, low tunnels and huge halls cut into gneiss rock, with documentary films, holograms and cases of wartime equipment found on site.
A flashlight-only route adds a boat crossing and wooden walkways in the northern corridors.
Kłodzko Fortress is a vast Prussian hilltop fortification above the town of Kłodzko, with more than 1,000 years of history on the site. The upper route runs 2.5 km along ramparts, exhibitions and viewing terraces over the town.
Below ground, a 1.2 km route leads through the countermine tunnels, a labyrinth dug under the slopes. Kids who like tunnels, cannons and soldiers get the most from it.
