Important Historical and Touristic Sites:

Memorial And Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau
Memorial And Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau Former German Nazi Concentration And Extermination Camp – it is located 70 kilometers west of Krakow (1.5 hour by bus or train) next to the city Oswiecim. Information about guided tours can be found here: https://www.auschwitz.org/en/
The Wieliczka Salt Mine
It is located 15 km south-east of Krakow city center (30 min by bus or train). Wieliczka Salt Mine offers great tours around the mine chambers and corridors and also accommodation. The Wieliczka Salt Mine will be our Conference dinner venue. More information about guided tours can be found here: https://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/

The Bochnia Salt Mine
It is located 40 km east of Krakow. Bochnia Salt Main offers several different tours, including the world’s only ferry crossing of an underground chamber flooded with brine. More information can be found here https://kopalnia-bochnia.pl/.

Podhale region (Highlander area)
It is located 90 km south of Krakow. The region is know from its distinct culture, music and food compared to other parts of Poland. Podhale cuisine consist of lamb/mutton meat, cabbage, forest mushrooms, potatoes and sheep milk products, especially variety of cheeses: Oscypek, Bundz and Bryndza. Podhale is surrounded by four mountain ranges with excellent landscape areas, which the most known is Tatra range. Here the Zakopane city is located that is considered as the center of Polish winter sports. Podhale is also known from the numerous hot springs resorts. The informal capital of Podhale is Nowy Targ city, famous from the great ice-cream, ice hockey, and one of the biggest open market whose history dates back to the 14th century.
National and Landscape Parks
There are 23 national parks in Poland, and 6 of them are located in the Malopolska region in the close vicinity of Kraków. Most of them are located in the Polish part of the Carpathian mountains that offer great number of hiking routs with outstanding views and wild nature. Most of them are well connected with Krakow by the public transportation. The most important ones are:

Pieniny National Park
Pieniny National Park – the oldest Polish National Park established in 1932. It is located on the border with Slovakia, 115 km south of Krakow. The park is known from steep (few hundred meters high) limestone slopes, growing over the Dunajec River, which flows through the Park. Among the numerous hiking routs, the most important attraction of the park is the Dunajec River rafting on traditional wooden rafts operated by outspoken local highlanders in traditional outfits. Pieniny Park is unique for its great number of endemic spices. More information can be found here: https://www.pieninypn.pl/en/911/0/pnp-regulations.html.

Tatry National Park
Tatry National Park – The Tatra mountains are the highest Carpathians range, they are alpine-style mountains full of steep slopes, rocky peaks, and U-shaped, glaciated valleys. Glaciers gone thousands years ago after the last ice age finished, however, there are still some areas and peaks covered by snow throughout the year. Here the highest Polish peak is located (Rysy 2499 m). Tatra mountains are located on the southern part of Podhale region (100 km south of Krakow), on the Polish-Slovakia border. The Tatra mountains are one of the most visited touristic areas in Poland, they consist of numerous hiking, climbing and mountaineering routs of varying difficulty, allowing everyone to visit them. There are several mountain huts that serve food, shelter from bad weather and an overnight stay. Tatras are home to many species of wild animals, the most important are Tatra chamois, marmot, lynx, red deer and brown bear. As the August and October are still in the high touristic season, please bear in mind to arrange your stay there in advance. One day trips from Krakow are possible, but in case of longer stays it is advisable to book accommodation few weeks earlier. More information can be found here: https://tpn.pl/en.

Ojców National Park
Ojców National Park – the closest National Park to Kraków. It is located 20 km north from Kraków. It offers beautiful landscapes that contains numerous caves, ravines, limestone cliffs, and outstanding rock formations. There are several tourist routs and numerous castles to visit. More information can be found here: http://www.ojcowskiparknarodowy.pl/main/General_information_about_the_park.html.
Among National Parks there are also 125 Landscape Parks (8.36% of the area of Poland), and 11 of them are located in the Malopolska region.
In order to find oneself on the trails, we recommend applications mapa-turystyczna.pl and en.mapy.cz/turisticka.
Other important destination to visit in Poland
Cities: Wroclaw, Gdansk, Warszawa; Baltic See resorts, Mazury Lakes region, Karkonosze Mountains, Bieszczady Mountains, Białowieża National Park and many more.