Trail of the Eagles' Nests
Szlak Orlich Gniazd
A red-waymarked trail through the limestone Polish Jura between Kraków and Częstochowa, past a chain of ruined medieval castles.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Kraków (Pękowicka Street)
- Ends in
- Częstochowa railway station
- Length
- 164 km
- On foot
- ≈ 7–8 days
- Countries
Poland
About the trail
The Trail of the Eagles' Nests crosses the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, a band of limestone hills, gorges and white rock towers. The castles that give the trail its name were built on these outcrops, many in the fourteenth century, to guard the western border of the Polish kingdom, and their ruins still stand above the villages.
The idea of a marked trail along the castles came from the geographer Stanisław Leszczycki between the wars, and a route close to today's was laid out after the Second World War by Kazimierz Sosnowski. Leaving Kraków, the trail passes through the valleys near Ojców, then by the castles of Smoleń, Ogrodzieniec, Morsko, Bobolice, Mirów and Olsztyn before reaching Częstochowa, home of the Jasna Góra monastery.
The Silesian tourism portal lists the trail at 164 km, although its own route table and description give slightly different figures. It suggests no number of days; with frequent villages, guesthouses and train links, the route is easy to split into day stages.
No source gives the days on foot, so they are worked out from the length at 20–25 km a day.