Pleszew: City History, Museums and Narrow-Gauge Railway
Accommodation in Pleszew
Pleszew combines architectural history with regional collections, a narrow-gauge railway and marked trails. You can focus on different interests when planning your trip: explore architecture, learn about crafts and the history of bread, or compare the lengths of named hiking trails. Further afield in the region, cultural attractions in Dobrzyca and Gołuchów add to the picture.
Architecture and archaeology
Pleszew Town Hall was built in the neoclassical style in 1835. The eastern part of St Florian’s Church is a Gothic structure dating from before 1444. These two construction dates offer a concrete starting point for exploring the city’s history: the Gothic section was built considerably earlier than the 19th-century town hall.
Pleszew Regional Museum is housed in a former post inn built around 1820–1830. Its permanent exhibition, “From the Early History of Pleszew and Its Surroundings,” focuses on the early history of the town and its surrounding area. Archaeology is therefore also among the subjects covered by the local museums.
Crafts, bread and domestic life
The “Kuźnia Zawodów” Craft Museum presents tools, equipment, photographs and documents related to crafts in the Pleszew region. The varied exhibits offer insights into regional crafts from material, visual and written perspectives.
At the Bakery Museum, you can learn how bread is made and see old bakery equipment. This includes three ovens for bread and confectionery. A visit thus connects the process of making bread with specific historical equipment.
The Museum of the Sisters SĹ‚uĹĽebniczki Monastery displays embroidery, tools and documents from the domestic science school run by the congregation since 1923. The exhibits introduce another subject covered by the local collections: the history of this school run by the congregation.
Narrow-gauge railway and trails
The Pleszew Narrow-Gauge Railway station building was built in 1903. Municipal visitor information updated in 2025 lists regular services throughout the year, as well as tourist rides in open cars during the summer. Check the timetable before your trip if you plan to take a ride.
The “Leśna Pętla” Nordic walking route is in Planty Park. There are also two marked hiking trails: Pleszew–Lutynia–Dobrzyca is 18 km long, and Pleszew–Lenartowice–Tursko is 14 km long. At 18 and 14 kilometres respectively, the two trails differ in their listed lengths by four kilometres. A section of the Transwielkopolska Cycling Route runs through the town and municipality of Pleszew, adding a cycling route to the options for exploring on foot.
Cultural attractions further afield
The “Dobrzyckie Spotkania z Klasyką” have been held annually in Dobrzyca since 2004. Check the dates for the relevant edition when planning your trip. The palace in Dobrzyca is an 18th-century neoclassical building with a permanent exhibition and a temporary exhibition.
The castle in Gołuchów was built between 1550 and 1560; today, it houses a branch of the National Museum in Poznań. The castle is set in a 158-hectare park with more than 600 species of trees and shrubs. Its size and variety of species make the park a distinctive regional landscape attraction alongside the historic buildings and museum collections in Pleszew.
Discover more destinations: Pleszew, Lutynia, Dobrzyca, Kościelna Wieś, Szymanowice, Zawidowice, Gołuchów, Jarocin.
For the regional travel overview: Greater Poland.
