Europe is full of wonderful castles and Poland isn’t an exception to this rule…have your heard about Ksiaz Castle, well let me introduce you to a castle with more tales than all of the European Castles put together.
On our way between Katowice and Wroclaw during our Road Trip through Poland we stopped off at Ksiaz Castle and you know I’m a huge sucker for a castle.
Now it’s hard to grasp how big this castle is until you see it from different angles and my goodness she knows how to work her angles better than a Victoria Angels supermodel…entering through the gates which are pretty…
…darn…
…gorgeous!
We had arrived during the hottest part of the day so unfortunately some of the photos aren’t that good…but hey ho…that’s the way the cookie crumbles!
Purchasing tickets, we popped inside the castle for a self guided tour…
…I will be brutally honest and say the interiors aren’t that great…
…if you’re wanting to see antiques then you will be sorely disappointed. The castle was emptied during WW2 and quite brutally remodelled. I can imagine the interiors of Ksiaz Castle were truly magical once upon a time.
Don’t get me wrong, I did find a pretty door…
…or two to photograph…
…the castle also houses an antique shop weirdly…there are more antiques in the shop then in the rooms!
When you reach the top level of Ksiaz Castle make sure you admire the view from the windows over the grounds.
There was a really interesting photo exhibition, the chef prior to WW2 was a keen photographer and he took photos not only of his family but also of the Princess and her children so it’s rather wonderful to see all the grandeur before it was all stripped away.
Now I promised a scandalous love affair…the Prince divorced and then remarried, the second wife divorced and then married her step son. The Polish version of Downton Abbey…oh to be a fly on the castle wall while asking for a divorce to marry your husbands son from his first marriage!
We all popped out into the gardens…
…two…
…then three…
…number four was taking the photos from above!
The gardens were my favourite part of Ksiaz Castle and are definitely worth the ticket price…
…unfortunately they don’t seem to turn on the fountains in the gardens any more and as Dad pointed out, it’s been a while since they were last turned on.
We sniffed a few roses in the aptly named Rose Garden…
…and may have dressed a certain lady friend…
…my “Go Big or Go Home” motto also covers hats! The bigger the better…I picked up that beauty a few years ago in the sales for £3 at Accessorize!
There is a quote that I really love which is “Life is not measured by the numbers of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”…I had one of those moments as I arrived in the next garden so I’m going to spam you with photos…
…it truly took my breath away…
…I told you that Ksiaz Castle could work her angles…
…this lady has skills!
We continued to wander around the castle…
…poor Daddy may have had to push me up a hill as I was a bit worn out (castle hunting is exhausting!).
Grabbing a bite to eat and plenty of fluids, we went in search for the view point which is a good 10 minute walk away from the castle gates…wear comfortable shoes, pretty sandals get wrecked (I learnt this lesson the hard way…the ground is uneven and very dusty!)…
…but when you get there, the view is pretty special.
^^Lisa and Ksiaz Castle…if you don’t know, my little sister absolutely loves Poland.
So yes, I’ve let you into one of the stories of Ksiaz Castle but not to the other two…so the Hidden Treasure, there are a number of tunnels which you can enter for a fee and apparently they think there is hidden treasure that Hilter ordered to be hidden from the Soviets. You may remember a few years ago when the media went crazy about the gold train, well it was around Ksiaz.
And the missing Princess…well the pretty social butterfly that was Princess Daisy died in Poland and buried however fearing that the Soviet’s would do something horrible with her remains due to her being buried with a famous pearl necklace, her body was exhumed and reburied…apparently only her family knows where.
I’m pretty sure Ksiaz Castle will pop up in the news in the future…I’m a firm believer, where there is a rumour then there is gold and just imagine what hidden treasure could be hiding in these tunnels! You only have to read the story of the guy selling off stolen artworks from WW2 a few years ago to realise that you can never say never.
Did I love Ksaiz Castle; she is absolutely glorious outside but a bit bland inside however that is due to the history of the property. I’m still glad we visited.
Travel Tips for Ksiaz Castle
- Looking for more visitor information on Ksiaz Castle then check out the official website here.
- If arriving by car, there is a main car park however this is generally full by mid afternoon and you will have to walk up the long driveway as you will need to park at an alternative car park.
- You need cash to pay for parking!
- There are a couple of restaurants at the gate offering meals, ice creams and drinks and a hotel if you fancy staying the night at the castle
- The price of entrance is 34 zloty (around £7.50pp) – if paying by credit card they don’t accept American Express; to be honest most of Poland doesn’t accept American Express so make sure you have an alternative with you or pay by cash.
- Day Tours from Wroclaw are available or you can catch the train and then a bus to Ksiaz Castle
- Take comfortable walking shoes…you will cover a lot of ground especially if you are walking to / from the alternative car parks and there are a number of stairs to hike up as well inside the castle.
xx
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