hile inviting you to Jelenia Góra we wish not only to introduce you to a town with history many centuries long, but also to numerous historical monuments, tourist attractions, and to encourage you to wander about the neighbouring Karkonosze Mountains with the highest peak in Silesia, Śnieżka (1602 m above the sea level), or the Izery Mountains, the Kaczawy Mountains and Rudawy Janowickie. Here you may take advantage of one of the oldest Polish health resorts, Cieplice, where there are hot springs that have been known for their curing qualities since the 13th c.

elenia Góra, situated in the south of Poland sits nestled in the valley surrounded by the Karkonosze Mountains. In the river valley of Bóbr, Kamienna and Wrzosówka, it is center of the West Sudety Mountains. It's origins go back as far as the 13th c., When the prince from the Piast dynasty, Bolesław called Krzywousty, founded a fortified town on the hill at the point where the Bóbr and Kamienna rivers meet. Later, it developed at the foot of the hill and has town functioned for its whole history as mining, commercial, and later also as a tourist and cultural centre.

Jelenia Góra became famous all over Europe owing to trade with linen woven at the foot of the Karkonosze Mountains by the local population, and thanks to the discovery of hot springs in nearby Cieplice where patients from different countines  have come for treatment. These patients caused the development of tourism in the region. We invite you for a walk around the Old Town which has preserved its medieval architectural arrangement. You are sure to come across fragments of penance crosses built into the walls of churches. You will pass through the Wojanowska Gate to see the Gothic St. Erazm and Pankracy's church.
The Market Square surrounded with 55 Baroque and Rococo-style tenement houses with arcades and with Classicist Town Hall, recognised as one of the most beautiful squares in Silesia, is a unique attraction of the town. Here in summer, you will have an opportunity to buy an original souvenir at the market of antiquities.
It is worth while to see the baroque Church of Grace attracts visitors with its magifecence just outside the Old Town's walls. It was built in the beginning of the 17th c., and is a symbol of evangelical unity of European nations.

Admirers of the Secession style will be interested in the theatre constructed in 1904, according to the design by A. Daehmel. The C.K. Norwid memorial theatre, widely known in Poland and abroad, organises every summer the International Festival of Street Theatres. Here, the Jelenia Góra Theatrical Meetings are held every October.

Those seeking peace and quiet wil be attracted by the Health Resort Cieplice. While wandering about its beautiful parks, or visiting palaces and spa houses one may feel the atmosphere of the health resort as it was centuries ago. In the parish church one may admire a painting by Michał Wilman called Silesian Rafael.

At the Spa House or at the fountain you should taste some water which has been restoring strength to patients for hundreds of years. The water temperature in the springs reaches 86,7⁰C. Thermal, little mineralised, fluoride-siliceous waters and mud baths are a basis for the health resort treatment. In a few years a modern complex of thermal pools will be constructed here.

The most beautiful panorama of Jelenia Góra and surrounding mountain ranges may be admired from the tower of the fourteenth- century Castle Chojnik overlooking Sobieszów, situated on the hill of the same name. 

The fortress goes back to the times of the dynasty of the Piasts and is at present situated within the limits of the Karkonosze National Park.

Amateurs of real mountain trips should go Jagniątków, an astate of Jelenia Góra showing characteristics of a holiday resort.

From here torist routes lead to the greatest attractions of the Karkonosze mountains, to Śnieżne Kotły.
In the beginning of the 20th c. the dramatist and Nobel award winner Gerhard Hauptmann built a villa here, where today one may admire colourful plychromy by a Secession painter, Avenarius, illustrating the works by the writer.
The location of the town favours active leisure. For amateurs of foot trips, a network of tourist routes leading through the most interesting corners of the valley of Jelenia Góra have been crated.

ARPACZ - a touristic town in Karkonosze mountains with a lovely view to Sniezka mountain. The town is placed close to the river Lomnica ;the boundries of the town include also a highest part of Karkonosze with the hill Sniezka ( 1602 m ). For the sake of its location, Karpacz is a great town to carry on sport, both in the summer and winter.There are about 11,5 thousands of places to sleep. Karpacz offers the places in the private pensions, at the hotels, at the hostels and at the camping sites.Karpacz gives the biginning for the plenty of interesting tracks including that most famous towards Sniezka.
At the summit of Sniezka mountain you may visit a baroque chapel of St Wawrzyniec, a hostel and a meteorological station.

Wang is a medieval temple which was made from wood and it is the most interesting attraction in Karpacz .It was built at the turn of the 12th century at the lake Vang in the south Norway. An earl von Reden brought this temple to Karpacz in the 19th century. Some elements are original and the rest was made by the local craftsmen . You can see an evangelic house which belongs to the parish. The temple : Sniezki 8 , street ; tel.(075)761 82 74.

Sniezka ( 1602 m )is the highest mountain in the Sudety mountains. On the summit you can visit St Wawrzyniec chapel from the 17th century - St Wawrzyniec is a patron of the tour guides; a meteorological observatory IMGW which looks like a typical flying saucers and a closed czech`s hostel.
From Sniezka you have a great view to the panorama of Karkonosze. You can take a chair lift to the summit of the hill from the czech town Pec.

Kolorowa - a summer sledge track which was finished on the 18th of July in 1998. You can enjoy a ride on the sledges even during the summer. The surface is heated what helps you to ride even when the temperature outside reaches 0 degrees of Celsius .The lenght of the track is 1060 m , the time of the ride is about 5 min , the maximum speed is about 30 km/h (it is regulated by the brakes ). In the winter the slope is artificially prepared to make the skiing more comfortable. 

In the winter there are plenty of ski lifts opened , there is a ``Ski Arena``; a longlasting and thick surface of the snow makes Szklarska Poreba ``a paradise for the skiers``.

ZKLARSKA PORĘBA - a town near Jelenia Gora with about 8300 of the inhabitants, it is situated in the river Kamienna Valley .Szklarska Poreba can be divided into the three districts : The Bottom district , the Middle and the Upper one. Szklarska Poreba consists of several housing estates which are situated on the north slopes of Karkonosze (Marysia , Szklarka) and on the southern-east slopes of Wysoki Grzbiet (Huta, Biala Dolina, Jakuszyce, Orle).Those housing estates are situated on the different altitudes from 440 m to 886 m .The highest point which still belongs to the boundries of the town (1420 m)is situated on the western slopes of Labski Szczyt. Szklarska Poreba is the biggest touristic town in Sudety.Thanks to its location Szklarska Poreba is a great starting point for every excursion in Karkonosze and Izerskie mountains.Szklarska Poreba is situated close to the Czech boundrie Jakuszyce-Harrachov and a touristic boundrie Twaroznik, what helps the tourists to visit the Czech part of Karkonosze if you have a car you can see the "Rock City" (in Aderszpas) and Boskowskie caves and Prague. 

Jakuszyce is a part of Szklarska Poreba which is situated next to the road to Czech . It is an international centre of skiing (in the summer you can take up cycling). Every year in Jakuszyce there is a "Bieg Piastow" organised. 

In the house from the 19th century there is a museum which is a branch of Okregowe Museum in Jelenia Gora(11 Listopada 23, street ).Two great novelists lived there - Gerhard and Carl Hauptmann brothers.The exposition is connected with their life, there are also Wlastimil Hofman`s pictures.