Kielce

Kielce is the largest city of the Holy Cross Voivodeship (Województwo Świętokrzyskie) with a population just under 200,000 residents (2018). It is also its capital.

Understand

Its history dates back to the 10th century. In 1364 Kielce was recognised as a city and gained certain privileges connected with this legal status. In 1496 Kielce was conferred its coat of arms by the Fryderyk cardinal Jagiellończyk, Polish prince and primate, serving as a bishop in Kraków.

The history of Kielce is rich in important events for the history of Poland. For example here, in 1816, the first Polish higher technical university was organised. It was free of charge and had two teaching languages: Polish and German. The Kielce pogrom 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.

• 1 Regional Tourist Information Centre, ul. Henryka Sienkiewicza 29, ☏ +48 41 348 00 60. M-Sa 09:00—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 despite its size and central location not very well connected to the national train network. The 1 Kielce rail station is conveniently located in the city centre.

Travel time varies depending on the class of train, with the shortest time needed to get to Kielce from other major destinations being:

• Częstochowa - 2 hours
• Katowice - 2 hours
• Kraków - 1h30mins
• Warsaw - 2h15mins
• Lublin - 2h30mins

You can check train timetables in English at

By car

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

By bus

The 2 Kielce bus station has a distinct design and architecture from it's original design in the 1970s. Many locals call the building "The UFO". The station had a major renovation and reopend again in 2020.

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

See

• 1 Palace of the Kraków Bishops (Pałac Biskupów Krakowskich), plac Zamkowy 1, ☏ +48 41 344 40 15. May-Aug: Tu-Su 10:00—18:00, M closed; Sep-Apr: Tu-Su 09:00—17:00, M closed. The palace is the most important branch of the National Museum in Kielce. 20 zł regular, 12 zł reduced. (updated Jun 2022)

One of the buildings collected in Kielce Village Museum

• The Kielce Village Museum (Muzeum Wsi Kieleckiej), ul. Jana Pawła II 6. Open air museum. 
• 2 Toy Museum (Muzeum Zabawek i Zabawy), plac Wolności 2, ☏ +48 41 343 37 06.  
• 3 Historical Museum of Kielce (Muzeum Historii Kielc), ul. Świętego Leonarda 4. This museum displays the history of Kielce from the first settlements to modern day history. 12 zł, reduced 7 zł. Free entrance on Saturdays for the permanent exhibition.. (updated Jul 2022)
• 4 Cathedral of the Ascension of Mary (Bazylika katedralna Wniebowzięcia NMP), plac Najświętszej Maryi Panny. Close to the Palace of the Kraków Bishops.  
• 5 Municipal Park (Park Miejski). One of the oldest parks in Poland.  
• 6 Stefan Żeromski's School Years Museum (Muzeum Lat Szkolnych Stefana Żeromskiego), Jana Pawła II 5, ☏ +48 41 344 57 92. M-F Su 08:00—16:00, Sa closed. Another branch of the National Museum in Kielce. 8 zł regular, 6 zł reduced. 
• 7 Kadzielnia Amphitheatre (Amfiteatr Kadzielnia), aleja Legionów 1. 
• 8 Institute of Design Kielce (Instytut Dizajnu w Kielcach), ul. Zamkowa 3, ☏ +48 41 367 68 01. Located in a renovated jail house. 

Do

• Football: Korona Kielce were promoted in 2022 so they now play soccer in Ekstraklasa, the top tier. Their home ground (capacity 15,700) is Stadion Miejski or Suzuki Arena, 1 km south of city centre.
• Sienkiewicza Street
• Forest Alleys

Buy

• 1 Sienkiewicz Street (ulica Henryka Sienkiewicza), Henryka Sienkiewicza. The main shopping street in Kielce and partially pedestrianized. 
• 2 Galeria Echo, Świętokrzyska 20. 
• 3 Pasaż Świętokrzyski, Edmunda Massalskiego 3, ☏ +48 41 368 90 96. 
• 4 Centrum Handlowe Radomska, Radomska 8. 

Sleep

• 1 Hotel Kongresowy, Al. Solidarności 34, ☏ +48 41 332-63-93, hotel@kongresowy.pl. The Hotel Kongresowy is a modern 3 star hotel catering to business people. 182-690 zł. 
• 2 Best Western Grand Hotel, Ul. Sienkiewicza 78 (In front of the train station), ☏ +48 41 365 50 00, hotel@grandhotelkielce.pl. 
• 3 La Mar Hotel, Ul. Sikorskiego 2, ☏ +48 41 33 02 200, poczta@hotellamar.pl. This modern hotel has very large rooms. The hotel also has a swimming pool and bowling alley. 
• 4 Qubus Hotel, ul. Składowa 2, ☏ +48 41 243 81 00, kielce@qubushotel.com. A 4-star hotel between the bus and train station and the historic city centre. 
• 5 Hotel Kameralny, ul. Tarnowska 7, ☏ +48 41 348 25 30. 
• 6 Hotel Ibis Kielce Centrum, ul. Warszawska 19, ☏ +48 41 3406900, fax: +48 41 3406969. A chain hotel opened in 2009 in the city centre with reasonable rates. rates from €36. 
• 7 Dom Harcerza Hostel Kielce, ul. Pańska 1A. A cozy & friendly hostel invites you to rest and relax about 6 km from the city centre of Kielce. rates from €5. 
• 8 Youth Hostel Wedrownik (HI hostel), ul. Szymanowskiego 5, ☏ +48-41-3423735. 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 zł. 

Go next

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