The seven quirkiest places to stay in Poland, from a remote glass bubble to a luxury tent
If you’re wondering how to spice up an autumnal staycation, this intriguing list of locations comprises everything from trendy country retreats to stylish cabins and grandiose train carriages.
Comprised of interlocking wooden cubes and oblongs, the design of Szuflandia was inspired by a chest of randomly pulled drawers – to others, though, it’s equally reminiscent of a 3D game of Tetris.
Voted by Polska Architektura as the country’s top architectural project in 2016 (a year that saw the debut of stunning investments such as Hala Koszyki and the Warsaw Spire), features include giant floor-to-ceiling windows and over-hanging beds on which visitors snuggle down in to enjoy views of Poland’s rolling countryside.
The owners advise visitors to head here “to do nothing”, but the truth is there’s curiosities aplenty – not far away you’ll find a Museum of Parachuting, adventurous mountainous bike paths and a 180 kilo statue of Adam Małysz, the local ski-jumping hero. It’s not the weight that’s unusual, but the fact it’s made from chocolate!
If ever you’ve wanted to twirl your moustache whilst pondering the works of Tolstoy then it is to Carska one should head. And even if you don’t have a moustache, don’t think of that as a prerequisite.
Set inside a train station first constructed to handle the last Tsar’s luggage for his hunting jollies in Białowieża, standout elements include lodgings inside a stout water tower and an elegant restaurant serving locally shot game dishes by waistcoated flunkies.
But it is the train carriages that steal the show: in all, four have been revived to serve as opulent suites decorated with rich, luxurious fabrics and portraits of the nobility. With slants of sunlight seeping through the windows, days pass by as you pace your carriage humming the theme from Dr. Zhivago.
Back outside, get ready to go shooting – with your camera. The wider area is home to a vast national park reserve and Europe’s largest free-roaming herd of bison. It’s not uncommon to come eyeball-to-eyeball with these noble beasts as you wander the meandering trails carved into the forests.
The Polish-Japanese painter Lia Kimura has established herself as an artist of enormous and expressive talent. However, to others her greatest masterpiece has been the creation of a zen-like glamping ground just beyond the outskirts of Warsaw.
References to Kimura’s Eastern heritage are abundant in this enchanted garden, and come not least in the naming convention applied to the accommodation: so titled after Japanese gods, the tents are lavish affairs decorated with stoves, hand-carved furnishings and generous rugs.
A bubble of zen-like bliss, explore pathways lit with lanterns and strings of lightbulbs to discover hidden corners hung with hammocks or spaces for yoga. Touting also an open-air cinema screen, a burbling hot tub and a fire pit for grilling, it’s unsurprisingly become a favourite venue for glam-minded photo shoots and escaping couples.
It took time, but Poles have embraced glamping in the same enthusiastic manner that they’ve adopted veganism as a nationwide trend – it was always natural that somewhere along the line these two lifestyles would merge.
Buried in the bosom of the scenic Klodzko Valley, this all-year tented village finds accommodation set on a sloping hillside with accommodation presenting perks such as armchairs and air-con inside spherical domes. Equipped also with ensuite bathrooms, the big pull are the wooden platforms on which the tents have been set – from these guests sit and watch the skies turn crimson over the mountains in front.
Seeking to bring people as close to nature as possible, the eco-minded approach is emphasized via a 100% vegan menu and a cowshed repurposed as a Finnish sauna. According to the owners, “it’s better served that way than having animals inside.”
Set over an incredible 70 hectares, a stay at Zaborek has more in line with visiting a skansen. Though capable of sleeping 100 people, its sheer vastness guarantees human interaction is as limited as you so wish.
Among your numerous choices, opt between sleeping at the top of atmospheric wooden windmill from the 1920s, a restored forester’s cottage or, get this, a wooden church from 1880.
Not short on personality, you immerse yourself here in the past enjoying simple pleasures such as horse-riding, board games, kayaking and cycling. A place of innocent, old-fashioned pursuits, days conclude with hefty meals inspired by the traditional cuisine of the Podlasie region.
Who doesn’t dream of lazing around with a glass of bubbles whilst looking skywards through their own stargazing telescope? At wBańce you do just that from the confines of futuristic bubble tents that look like they were pioneered by NASA.
Boasting names like Starlink, Venus, Bitcoin and Milky Way, these transparent tents are segregated from each other courtesy of neat, tended greenery and tactically planted trees. Snuggled under pristine linens, guests enter a dreamy state of mind as they watch the unfolding show in the skies above.
And panic not if it’s a drab, cloudy night. A hub of dynamic creativity and energetic nightlife, the temptations of Łódź are just 20-minutes by Uber.
The name says it all. Offering complete privacy in the middle-of-nowhere (well, in a rural spot 50 clicks from Warsaw), this woodsy, country retreat was custom-built with avid readers in-mind.
Set on a cutesy footprint of just 25 sq/m, this off-grid escape comes with a cozy mezzanine level, five-metre tall windows and a wooden outdoor deck on which you rest and recline while leafing through the books that line this cabin’s shelves.
As the nights get colder, retreat inside to cover yourself with a blanket before lightly toasting yourself in front of the stove – in this flickering warmth, enjoy the sensation of fulfilling the dream of staying in a cabin in the woods.
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This article was first published in September 2021.
