Good morning, today’s journey begins in Kraków, where the spires of the Old Town give way to winding roads that lead into Poland’s southern heartlands. As the city fades in the rearview mirror, the route carries you through the lush landscapes of the Beskid Sądecki, a region known for its mineral springs, wooden spa villas, and Eastern Orthodox influences that hint at the cultural richness ahead. This area marks the beginning of Lemko territory, a cultural crossroads shaped by centuries of coexistence, migration, and resilience.

Your first major stop is Krynica-Zdrój, a historic spa town nestled in the mountains and long cherished for its healing waters and wooden architecture. Here, take time to explore the story of Nikifor, one of Poland’s most remarkable self-taught artists. Born Epifaniy Drowniak, Nikifor was a Lemko painter whose naïve style captured the essence of Carpathian life, its churches, hills, and quiet villages, rendered in vivid color and fine detail.

Living in near-obscurity for most of his life, Nikifor created thousands of paintings using modest materials, often working outdoors on the streets of Krynica. Today, his legacy is preserved at the Nikifor Museum, housed in a beautifully restored wooden villa. The museum offers a powerful glimpse into his life and work, presenting original pieces alongside photographs and personal artifact. Visiting this space introduces you to the emotional depth and creative resilience of the Lemko spirit, making Krynica not just a stop, but a key to understanding the regions you will visit ahead.

Just a short drive from Krynica, make a meaningful stop in Powroźnik, home to one of the oldest and most beautifully preserved wooden tserkvas in the region. The Church of St. James, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a striking example of Lemko ecclesiastical architecture. Originally built in the early 17th century and later moved to avoid flooding, the church features richly painted interiors, intricate iconography, and a layered roofline that mirrors the surrounding mountains. Even if the last Lemko of the village passed away years ago, its enduring presence is a powerful symbol of faith and resilience, and walking through its quiet wooden walls offers a moment of deep connection with the past.

As the journey continues, narrow roads wind through wooded valleys and meadows scattered with wildflowers, where more wooden tserkvas begin to appear, some weathered and quiet, others still alive with prayer. Their distinct onion domes and hand carved interiors mark them as spiritual landmarks of villages nearly lost to time.

Today’s path moving from the familiar comfort of the city into the quiet mystery of the mountains, where history whispers from every timber and the landscape speaks in the language of memory and wood.

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Accommodation:
Rural lodging in Beskid Niski

Optional extra attractions for this day:
✓ Nikifor Museum in Krynica-Zdrój
✓ St. James Church in Powroźnik (UNESCO-listed tserkva)
✓ Visit wooden tserkvas

Today is devoted entirely to the Beskid Niski (Lower Beskis), a region shaped as much by absence as presence. These hills, once home to vibrant Lemko communities, now carry a haunting beauty, dotted with the remnants of wooden villages, abandoned cemeteries, and churches standing as quiet sentinels of a lost world.

You’ll begin the day visiting UNESCO-listed wooden tserkvas, where richly painted iconostases and hand-carved interiors reveal the blend of Orthodox tradition and local craftsmanship. These churches, still surrounded by ancient lindens and stone fences, are among the finest surviving examples of Eastern Carpathian wooden architecture.

As you travel between villages, the rhythm of the land slows. Paths wind through dense forests and rolling fields, and every clearing offers a glimpse of a chapel, a cross, or a weathered wooden home. You may visit a small open-air museum or speak with a local who recalls the stories of those who once lived here.

The day offers more than sightseeing, it invites quiet reflection, a chance to walk gently through the memory of a people whose traces remain etched in wood, stone, and earth.

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Accommodation:
Rural lodging in Bieszczady

Optional extra attractions for this day:

This morning, your journey leads deeper into the southeast, where the forested peaks of the Bieszczady Mountains rise in soft, sweeping waves. These highlands were once home to Boyko communities, whose wooden churches and homes reflect a more austere and elevated interpretation of Carpathian tradition.

Along the way, you’ll pass through sleepy villages and, where UNESCO-listed tserkvas still serve as places of worship. These structures, built with sharp-pitched roofs and dark timber, mirror the simplicity and isolation of the Boyko lifestyle, forged by centuries of mountain living.

You’ll also explore parts of the Bieszczady National Park, where trails meander through old beech forests and meadows known as połoniny. Wildlife is abundant here, and silence reigns, broken only by birdsong or the occasional whisper of the wind. In the afternoon, there may be time to visit a wooden skansen, where traditional crafts and architecture are kept alive.

Evening falls quietly in Bieszczady, where village lights twinkle like stars in the valley and the night sky stretches wide above. This is a land that rewards stillness, and tonight, that stillness is yours.

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Accommodation:
Rural lodging in Bieszczady

Optional extra attractions for this day:

As the final morning begins, there’s time to linger a little in Bieszczady, perhaps with a short walk or one last visit to a hidden chapel or scenic viewpoint. The journey back to Kraków begins gently, retracing some of the winding roads through hills and valleys that now feel more familiar than foreign.

Along the way, you may pause in Sanok, home to one of Poland’s finest open-air museums. Here, dozens of reconstructed wooden homes, churches, and workshops give insight into the daily life of Lemko, Boyko, and other Carpathian communities. The museum offers a fitting farewell, a curated yet deeply human way to say goodbye to the world you’ve traveled through.

As you return to the bustle of Kraków, the shift feels more than physical, it’s a return from a quieter, older world, where stories were carved in timber and carried by wind. What remains are the textures of memory: the scent of pine, the creak of old floors, and the soft echo of prayers whispered under wooden domes.

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Accommodation:
Return to Kraków, hotel stay optional (extra cost)

Optional extra attractions for this day:
✓ Skansen in Sanok