webber's world

The new King of cool, superlatives don’t do Katowice justice

Katowice’s main rynek is as far you get from the characteristic Polish square, a point underscored by the presence of a so-called beach – in actuality, a water feature fringed by sun loungers and some great, big palm trees plonked all around them. Alex Webber/TFN

Once unwanted and unloved, Katowice has gone through a renaissance and good things are happening, as TFN’s Alex Webber found out. 

Arriving in Białystok, I suddenly remembered what living was all about. I wanted to kiss the ground

Having spent two months hermetically sealed inside my Warsaw apartment, it was to Białystok that I headed to celebrate the easing of the lockdown. And I left with no regrets.

An unusual choice? Maybe. A good one? Absolutely! Why Łódź is top travel destination for 2021

From a personal point of view, it’s sheer depth of contrast comes somewhere near the top: lavish wedding cake palaces that reference the might once wielded by the city’s power players; futuristic office compounds; blackened, broken tenements; abandoned, creepy warehouses; restored redbrick factories; and PRL blocks of cosmic dimension.

Goodbye to all that: travel highlights from the year just gone

From polar bear trails to revamped castles, Webber presents his top travel finds of 2020.

Webber’s World: Zamek Korzkiew sports a staggering sense of character that’s ravishing to admire

Lying less than 15 kilometres north of Kraków, the 14th century castle was built as part of the Eagles’ Nest trail: a string of ancient fortifications constructed to defend the region and its trade routes. Here, you know you’re in a castle and that’s a feeling that is a bonus in itself.

A head-forward plunge into unrestrained luxury, there is nothing about K22 that doesn’t leave you in awe

Following a gentle curve, and opening out at the mouth of Wawel Castle, is ul. Kanonicza 22. A guestbook exposes some of the past guests that have slept here: Jim Carrey; Depeche Mode; Hans Zimmer. Not bad company that I keep, I think to myself, as my gaze falls on a signed snap of Benedict Cumberbatch.

Get onboard The Matrix

Webber reveals his secret weapon for tracking down his favourite type of places, which this week includes a haunted castle and ends with a foamy adventure.

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