Health resorts
Duszniki, Polanica, Krynica, Augustow and Sopot, these are all locations where the healing power can be found in nearly every corner of Poland. Most of them specialise in alleviating specific illnesses.
Naleczow is dedicated to those suffering from heart ailments, Konstancin soothes the nerves shattered by the fast pace of life, Ladek and Polczyn facilitate the treatment of female problems and Rabka focuses on treating children’s ailments. There are also resourceful resorts, like sunny Busko and Kolobrzeg, whose healing powers are directly linked to their position on the Baltic coast, with the fresh sea breezes acting as a giant, natural inhaler.
Climatotherapy (change of climate), balneotherapy (bathing), thalassotherapy (sea water) are only a small sample of the range of treatments available in these health resorts. Patients can stroll along the flowered walkways in Ciechocinek to inhale the salty air that is produced by the largest „teznie” in Europe or they may prefer to take a pearl bath in the marvellous interior of the historic SPA in Ladek or maybe even be talked into sipping the fiery geothermal waters at Iwonicz or enjoy the mud wraps in Goldap.
Muszyna is a spa town in the administrative district of Nowy Sacz in the province of Lesser Poland. The resort has the characteristics of a piedmont spa and lies in the valley of the River Poprad and its tributaries the streams Szczawnik and Muszynka.
Przerzeczyn-Zdroj is probably the smallest spa resort in Poland. The village comes under the administrative municipality of Niemcza which is found in Dzierzoniow County in Lower Silesia. The resort has the characteristics of a lowland spa that lies close to the Sudety Mountains in a valley surrounded by the Niemcza and Strzelin Uplands.
Naleczow is a city in the district of Pulawy which is located in Lublin Province. It is the administrative seat of the urban and rural county of Naleczow and lying within the Kazimierz Landscape Park in the north western section of Lublin Uplands on the Naleczow Plateau. The resort has the characteristics of a lowland spa found at the confluence of the River Bochotniczanka and the River Bystra which is a tributary of the River Vistula.
Krasnobrod is an administrative part of the county of Zamosc and of the province of Lublin. The city is located in south-eastern Poland amid the picturesque hills of the Lublin and Roztocze Uplands and in the valley of the headwaters of the River Wieprz. Due to its location in the Central Roztocze, Krasnobrod has often been called the „Heart of the Roztocze”.
Horyniec-Zdroj is a spa village and an administrative district of Lubaczow County in the Subcarpathian Province which is found in south-eastern Poland. The town nestles at the foot of the wooded and picturesque hills of the Southern Roztocze and is very close to the Ukrainian border.
Solec-Zdroj is a spa village that is part of the administrative district of Busko which is in Swietokrzyskie Province. With just over 1000 permanent inhabitants, this lowland characteristic spa resort lies on the edges of the Lesser Poland Uplands and the Sandomierz Basin and along the banks of the Rzoska River. It also lies about 17km to the east of Busko-Zdroj.
Busko-Zdroj is a town in the Swietokrzyskie Province of Poland, the capital of the Busko District and today having a population of around 35,000. Historically, the origins of the settlement of Busko can be traced back to the 12th century when shepherds settled around the local church of St Leonard’s.
The Swoszowice Spa Estate is an administratively district of the city of Krakow in the province of Lesser Poland. The resort has the characteristic of a lowland spa as it lies in the valley of the River Wilga with a moderately stimulating climate and a microclimatic zone.
Rabka-Zdroj is a city which is part of the administrative district and the seat of the municipality of Nowy Targ in the province of Lesser Poland. The resort has the characteristic of a mountain spa as it is situated in the Rabka Valley, at an altitude between 500m and 560m above sea level, and at the confluence of three mountain streams with the River Raba.
Szczawnica is a city that is part of the administrative district of Nowy Targ in Lesser Poland Province. With a population of about 7500 inhabitants, it lies in the valley of the Grajcarek Stream, a tributary of the river Dunajec, which separates the Beskid Sadecki from the Pieniny Mountain range. The city lies at an altitude between 430m and 510m above sea level.
Piwniczna-Zdroj is part of the administrative district of Nowy Sacz which is located in the Province of Lesser Poland. The city is the seat of the rural and urban municipality of Piwniczna-Zdroj which is made up of six towns, Kokuszka, Glebokie, Mlodow, Wierchomla, Lomnica-Zdroj and Zubrzyk as well as seven smaller villages.
Krynica-Zdroj is part of the administrative district of Nowy Sacz which is located in the Province of Lesser Poland.
Wysowa-Zdroj is a spa village in the municipality of Uscie Gorlickie in Gorlice District that is in Lesser Poland Province. It lies in the valley of the River Ropa not far from the town of Uscie Gorlickie and has become known for its therapeutic mineral waters.
Wapienne is a spa village in the municipality of Sekowa which is in Gorlice District in Lesser Poland Province. It is one of the smallest Polish spa resorts situated in the Lower Beskid Range lying in the valley of the Wapienka mountain stream and surrounded by the peaks that include Lysa Gora, Ferdel, Kamienna Gora and Mecinska Gora.
Iwonicz-Zdroj is a city that is part of the administrative county of Krosno in the Subcarpathian Province. It is a piedmont characterised spa resort that is located in the valley of the Iwonicki Stream and surrounded by the slopes of the Lower Beskidy Mountain Range at an altitude of 410m above sea level.
Rymanow-Zdroj is a spa village which is an administrative part of the Rymanow Municipality in the county of Krosno and located in the Subcarpathian Province. It lies in the valley of the River Tabor, about 4km to the south of the city of Rymanow.
Polanczyk is a spa town, that is administratively part of the municipality of Solina, lies in the county of Lesko which is found in the Subcarpathian Province. It is a charmingly located Carpathian resort lying on a peninsula on the western shore of Lake Solina at an altitude of 440m above sea level.
Goczalkowice-Zdroj is a spa village in southern Poland. It is a municipal administrative centre located in Pszczyna County which is in the province of Silesia. The town lies in Oswiecim Valley which is part of the Upper Vistula Basin, and about a kilometre from its banks.
Ustron is a spa town in the administrative district of Cieszyn which is in the south-western province of Silesia. The town lies in the valley of the River Vistula that flows through the Silesian Beskids.
Dlugopole-Zdroj is a spa village in the valley of the River Nysa situated at an altitude of 400m above sea level. It is part of the Bystrzyca Klodzko administrative municipality, in Klodzko County which is found in the province of Lower Silesia.
Jedlina-Zdroj is a spa town in Walbrzych County located in the Province of Lower Silesia in south-western Poland. The town lies nestled between the ranges of Walbrzych and the Owl Mountains and is surrounded by wooded slopes primarily made up of spruce and beech trees, on three sides.
Szczawno-Zdroj is a city and municipality which is part of the administrative district of Walbrzych. It lies at an altitude between 400m and 430m above sea level in the Walbrzych Mountains, part of the Middle Sudety Range, which can be found in Lower Silesia in south-western Poland.
Today Cieplice Slaskie-Zdroj is the spa district of the city of Jelenia Gora which is located in south-western Poland in the Province of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Gora is a 900 year old city lying in the Jelenia Gora Valley in the heart of the Karkonosze Mountains.
Swieradow-Zdroj is a town spa in Lubanski County and an administrative part of Lower Silesia. It is situated at an altitude between 450m and 710m above sea level in the valley of the River Kwisa in the Izerski Mountains which are part of the Western Sudety and close to the city of Jelenia Gora.
Today, the health centre of Czerniawa-Zdroj is a district of the town of Swieradow-Zdroj in Luban County, which is located in the Province of Lower Silesia in south-western Poland, close to the border with the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest spa resorts in this region.
Konstancin-Jeziorna is a city in Piaseczno County in the Province of Mazovia. It is located about 20km to the south of Poland’s capital Warsaw and is also part of an agglomeration.
Wieniec-Zdroj is a spa village which is part of the administrative municipality of Brzesc Kujawski, in Wloclawek County and one of only 3 spa resorts in the Kujavian-Pomeranian Province.
The town of Ciechocinek can be found in the Aleksandrowski District in the Kujavian-Pomeranian Province, about 25km from the city of Torun. Because of its proximity to this European tourist gem, Ciechocinek benefits also from the large influx of tourists into the area.
Inowroclaw is a city and an urban municipality in the Kujavian-Pomeranian Province as well as the administrative seat of the county and the rural municipality of Inowroclaw. Between 1975 and 1998 the town administratively came under the province of Bydgoszcz.
Suprasl is a city is an administrative part of Bialystok County which is found in Podlaskie Province. The city is also the seat of the urban and rural municipality of Suprasl and included in the agglomeration of Bialystok. It stands on the River Suprasl on the Bialystok Uplands and in the heart of the Knyszyn Forest Landscape Park.
Dabki is a spa and seaside resort in south-western Poland. It is part of the administrative municipality of Darlowo which is in Slawno County in the province of West Pomerania. The town lies on the Slowinski Coast on the Baltic Sea, about 7km from the town of Darlowo, and also on the shores of Lake Bukowo.
Polczyn-Zdroj is a spa town and administrative part of Swidzinski County in the province of West Pomerania in north-western Poland. It is situated amongst the moraine-formed hills of the so called „Swiss Polczyn”.
Kolobrzeg is the administrative city in Kolobrzeg County in the Province of West Pomerania. It lies at the mouth of the Parseta River where it enters the Baltic Sea and is a large seaside resort and spa centre.
Kudowa-Zdroj is a spa city in the county of Klodzko and part of the administrative structure of the province of Lower Silesia.
Polanica-Zdroj is a spa town and an administrative part of the county of Klodzko that is located in the province of Lower Silesia.
Duszniki Zdroj is a spa town located in the Klodzko Valley, standing on the banks of the Bystrzyca River in Klodzko County in the Lower Silesian Province. It is an important spa centre and a major tourist attraction of the area. It is included in the category of foothill spas.
Kamien Pomorski is a spa resort that is part of the administrative structure of Kamienski County which is located in the West Pomeranian Province. It lies on the Szczecin Shoreline by the edge of the Kamienski Lagoon and is about 90km northwest of the provincial capital Szczecin. It is the second seat of the Archdiocese of Szczecin and Kamien and the town also has a seaport for both fishing and sailing boats.
Swinoujscie is a spa city which is an administrative part of Western Pomerania. It is a seaside resort, situated in the north-western part of the province at the mouth of the River Swina with the Baltic Sea.
Ustka is both a spa city and the municipality in Pomerania in northern Poland which is part of the administrative district of Slupsk. It is situated at the mouth of the River Slupia with the Baltic Sea and, apart from a spa, is also a seaport and seaside resort.
The city of Sopot, with county rights, is an administrative part of the Pomeranian Province. It lies in northern Poland on the Gulf of Gdansk in the Baltic Sea, between the city’s of Gdansk and Gdynia on the Gdansk Riviera with which it forms the Tri-city.
Goldap is a spa town in the Warmian and Masurian Province in north-eastern Poland which was once the historic land known as Lithuania Minor.
Augustow is a city in north-eastern Poland with a population in excess of 30,000. It is located on the River Netta and the Augustow Canal and surrounded by the beautiful Necko, Biale and Rospuda Lakes in the Podlaskie Province of Poland which is why it has been dubbed the „Venice of the North”.
Polish health resorts are not only beautifully located SPA centres with treatments and promenades for social gatherings but also historical locations with mementos of past visiting royalty, politicians, writers and artists. The Polish king, Jan III Sobieski, drank the mineral waters at Horyniec, while Ada Sari, an opera singer, had treatment on her throat in Szczawnica and the author, Stefan Zeromski, wrote his book the „Actions of Sin” in Naleczow. A sojourn in a SPA for health reasons or „taking the waters” as it was known, at the mineral springs, was an essential date in certain society’s annual calendar. It was classified as a social event, a time of reunion and meetings.
Today, elderly people and children are not the only visitors to health resorts. The young and healthy people are also looking for a certain solace away from urban turmoil. A stay in a SPA resort or a biological regeneration centre with, pearl baths, mud baths, „fango” wraps, Scottish showers and walks in its peaceful, green surroundings have become very fashionable. The SPA resorts in Poland can also prove to be less expensive for British, French, Italian, German or Scandinavian visitors than those in their own countries.
Photos from Poland
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