Kielce

Kielce is a city in Poland's Świętokrzyskie voivodeship and also its capital.

Understand

Kielce is the largest city of the Holy Cross Voivodship (Świętokrzyskie) with a population just under 200,000 residents. Its history dates back to the 10th century. In 1364 Kielce becomes recognised as a city and gains certain privileges connected with this legal status. In 1496 Kielce is conferred its coat of arms by the Fryderyk cardinal Jagiellończyk, Polish prince and primate, serving as a bishop in Krakau. The history of Kielce is rich in important events for the history of Poland, for example here, in 1816, was organised first Polish higher technical university (that was free of charge and had two teaching languages: Polish and German). The city has hosted howsoever the unfortunate scene of the Kielce pogrom, which resulted in the deaths of 40 Jewish Holocaust survivors and another 80 injured nearly a year after the final Nazi death camp was liberated. The antecedence of the pogrom are still not clear and many hypotheses are still being considered.

• 🌍 Regional Tourist Information Centre, ul. Henryka Sienkiewicza 29, ☎ [phone]. M-Sa: 9:00—17:00. Closed on Su. (updated Jun 2017)

Get in

By plane

There is an international airport in the near town of Kraków Kraków-Balice Airport (KRK ^IATA), but more flights go from Warsaw: Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW ^IATA): For those travelling from Warsaw serviced by Polski Express. See also: Routes/Timetable

By train

Kielce is very easy to reach by train, as it is on the main line between Kraków and Warsaw. You can check train timetables in English at

By car

You can easily get there by car from Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź.

By bus

Many international connections (see Poland::By bus).

Get around

See

• The National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe), pl. Zamkowy 1, ☎ [phone]. Tu-Su: 9:00—17:00. Closed on M. 
• 🌍 Palace of the Kraków Bishops (Pałac Biskupów Krakowskich), plac Zamkowy 1, ☎ [phone]. May-August Tu-Su: 10:00—18:00, M closed. September-April: Tu-Su: 9:00—17:00, M closed. The Palace nowadays is a branch of the National Museum in Kielce. 20 zł regular, 15 zł reduced.  

One of the buildings collected in Kielce Village Museum

• The Kielce Village Museum (Muzeum Wsi Kieleckiej), ul. Jana Pawła II 6. Open air museum. 
• 🌍 Toy Museum (Muzeum Zabawek i Zabawy), plac Wolności 2, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Cathedral of the Ascension of Mary (Bazylika katedralna Wniebowzięcia NMP), plac Najświętszej Maryi Panny. In near proximity to the Palace of the Kraków Bishops.  
• Municipal Park (Park Miejski). 
• 🌍 Stefan Żeromski's School Years Musuem (Muzeum Lat Szkolnych Stefana Żeromskiego), Jana Pawła II 5, ☎ [phone]. M-F and Su: 08:00—16:00. Sa closed. Another branch of the National Museum in Kielce. 8 zł regular, 6 zł reduced. 
• 🌍 Kadzielnia Amphitheatre (Amfiteatr Kadzielnia), aleja Legionów 1. 
• 🌍 Institute of Design Kielce (Instytut Dizajnu w Kielcach), ul. Zamkowa 3, ☎ [phone]. Located in renovated jail house. 

Do

• Sienkiewicza Street
• Forest Alleys

Buy

• 🌍 Sienkiewicz Street (ulica Henryka Sienkiewicza), Henryka Sienkiewicza. The main shopping street in Kielce and partially pedestrianized. 
• 🌍 Galeria Echo, Świętokrzyska 20. 
• 🌍 Pasaż Świętokrzyski, Edmunda Massalskiego 3, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Centrum Handlowe Radomska, Radomska 8. 

Eat

Drink

Sleep

• 🌍 Hotel Kongresowy, Al. Solidarności 34, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. The Hotel Kongresowy is a modern 3 star hotel catering to business people. 182 PLN - 690 PLN. 
• 🌍 Best Western Grand Hotel, Ul. Sienkiewicza 78 (In front of the train station), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• 🌍 La Mar Hotel, Ul. Sikorskiego 2, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. This hotel is only a few years old and has very large rooms. The hotel also has a swimming pool and bowling alley. 
• 🌍 Qubus Hotel, ul. Składowa 2, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 4 star hotel located between the bus and train station and the historic city centre. 
• 🌍 Hotel Kameralny, ul. Tarnowska 7, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Hotel Ibis Kielce Centrum, ul. Warszawska 19, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. A recently opened chain hotel (May 2009) in the city center with reasonable rates. rates from 36 €. 
• 🌍 Dom Harcerza Hostel Kielce, ul. Pańska 1A. A cozy & friendly hostel invites you to rest and relax about 6 km from the city center of Kielce. rates from 5 €. 
• 🌍 Youth Hostel Wedrownik (HI hostel), ul. Szymanowskiego 5, ☎ [phone]. Budget hostel in a school, about 15 minutes by foot from the city center, with Wifi accessible from the entry of the TV room. Nearby are Tesco on the one side (in Bohaterow Warszawy), Biedronka and Lidl on the other side (Sandomierska-Slaska intersection). 29 PLN. 

Go next

• Łódź
• Częstochowa
• Sandomierz — a very important historic town on the banks of the Vistula river, relatively close to Kielce