Trail of the Eagles' Nests

The Krakow-Czestochowa upland is a belt of Jurassic limestone where erosion has left white crags standing out of farmland and beech woods, and in the fourteenth century, mostly under Kazimierz Wielki, a chain of castles was built on them to hold the frontier with Bohemia. The trail links about twenty-five of them over roughly 160 kilometres, waymarked in red, and it can be walked in a week, cycled faster or driven in pieces. Most of the castles are ruins - Ogrodzieniec, the largest, Mirow and Bobolice on their crags, Olsztyn, Smolen, Bydlin - and two are intact and furnished, Pieskowa Skala and Bobolice after reconstruction. The walking between them is as much of the point as the castles: dry valleys, rock pillars used by climbers, caves, and villages with almost no tourist infrastructure between the honeypots. Ogrodzieniec and Mirow get crowded; the middle sections of trail rarely do.

What you actually see

• About twenty-five castles - mostly ruins on limestone crags, built in the fourteenth century.
• 160 kilometres waymarked - walkable in a week, or driven in sections.
• Jurassic rock - white pillars, dry valleys and caves between the sites.
• Two intact castles - Pieskowa Skala, and Bobolice after reconstruction.

When to go

April to October. Several days to a week.

Honest expectations

Most castles are unroofed ruins with limited interpretation. Ogrodzieniec and Mirow are crowded at weekends. Water points on the trail are sparse. Public transport between sections is thin - plan the logistics.

Nearby

Ojcow National Park is on the southern half; Jasna Gora is at the northern end.