Discover Kowary: Mining, museums and walking trails

Kowary brings together several themes that can be given different emphasis when planning a stay: underground mining history, a museum in a former factory building, walking trails in the town park, and hiking and cycling routes. The specific places and routes can help you decide whether you would rather spend your time exploring mining history, enjoying interactive museum experiences or taking part in outdoor activities.

Underground mining history

The underground visitor route “Sztolnie Kowary – Uranium Mine Liczyrzepa” passes through authentic tunnels that were part of the historic Liczyrzepa uranium mine complex. Another underground visitor route is “Kopalnia Podgórze”. It runs through the extraction chambers of the former mine of the same name in Kowary and is about 1,600 metres long. The two routes have different points of focus: Liczyrzepa centres on the authentic tunnels of the historic uranium mine, while Podgórze focuses on the extraction chambers and the stated route length. This allows you to distinguish between the underground attractions based on their specific features.

Museum and retro experiences

The Sentymentów Museum is located in a building belonging to the former carpet factory in Kowary and displays artefacts from past decades. The museum experience also includes interactive retro attractions: visitors can use a rotary-dial landline telephone and retro computers from Atari or Commodore. These named devices add a distinctive element alongside the exhibits. If you are interested in everyday objects and retro technology from the past, they offer a hands-on way to explore this part of the museum.

Walking trails and educational trail

Leśny Park Miejski offers walking trails among trees and shrubs, including both common and rarer species. If you would like to follow a longer, marked hiking route, consider the red “Szlak Tradycji Górniczych” educational trail. It is just over seven kilometres long and takes no more than two and a half hours each way. The time estimate is for one direction and can be factored into your plans accordingly. Check current trail conditions before setting out.

Cycling routes and circular route

The Euroregional “Liczyrzepa” ER-2 cycling route passes through Kowary. The “Obwodnica Kowarska”, by contrast, is a circular cycling route of about 33 kilometres around Kowary. When choosing a route, you can distinguish between a route through the town and a loop around Kowary. The approximate length of the Obwodnica Kowarska can help you gauge the extent of this circular route.

Lower Silesian architecture in miniature

The Park Miniatur Zabytków Dolnego Śląska displays scale models of castles, monasteries, churches and historic town centres in Lower Silesia at a scale of 1:25. Using the same scale makes it possible to compare different buildings and townscapes as models. The park thus offers an architectural perspective on Lower Silesian history, distinct in theme from the mining sites and museum artefacts. If you are interested in historic buildings and townscapes, this focus complements Kowary’s other cultural themes.

Discover more destinations: Miedzianka, Staniszów, Zachełmie, Karpacz, Milków, Komarno, Kopaniec, Trzcińsko.

Go to the regional travel overview: Jeleniogórski.