The Ogrodzieniec Castle, Poland
The Ogrodzieniec Castle is one of the most interesting castles on the Trail of the Eagles' Nests in the Polish Jurassic Highland (Kraków-Częstochowa Upland), located approximately 60 km north-west of Kraków (Cracow). The castle dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth century and to present day remained pretty good-looking ruins that can be visited. These ruins are so interesting that were used in some Polish movies and series, for example Zemsta ("Revenge") or Janosik.
Parking in Ogrodzieniec
You can drive to the Pozdamcze village on road 790 and then park on one of the available parking lots, for example on the Krakowska Street (P; GPS: 50.453458, 19.547468). Note: you should arrive early, otherwise you will probably have a problem with finding a free place. We visited the castle on Saturday and while returning to the car at about 10:30 we saw that our parking lot is almost full.
The Ogrodzieniec Castle - tickets prices
An asphalt road with a length of about 250 meters leads to the castle (A; GPS: 50.453661, 19.552413). Here you can buy some souvenirs, drinks and quick meals. At the entrance to the castle area you need to stop and buy a ticket. Ticket prices are as follows (as for 2017): normal ticket - 12 zł, reduced ticket - 8 zł. You can also explore an additional attraction - the castle on the Birów hill (B; GPS: 50.464036, 19.551373) located about 2 km from the castle in Ogrodzieniec in the price of respectively 5 zł or 4 zł. If you buy a ticket for both attractions, you've got a small discount: normal ticket 16 zł, reduced ticket 11 zł. Please note that the castle is not available throughout the whole year. From December to March you can not visit it, while in the remaining months the opening and closing times are dependent on the season. For more information please visit the website of the castle (warning: only in Polish language, please use the Google Translator in case of problems).
Visiting the castle
After entering the castle area you have to walk a stone path to approach the buildings. Looking around you can admire interesting landscape with rocks with interesting shapes. In our opinion, some rocks were similar to a dragon. In the castle you can visit 14 specific places. You have to climb up and down different floors while visiting the rooms. You can also climb the tower from where you can have a great view of the castle's surroundings. In nice weather you can see the areas located several dozen kilometers away from the castle. The castle hosts also a small museum, where you can see some equipments of knights and different types of weapons. The visiting is really interesting, because each room is different. Castle impresses with its size and complexity. In its heyday it had to look really special! And if your stay in Ogrodzieniec has encouraged you to see other castles, you can also visit the nearby castles of Mirów and Bobolice.
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