Glimpse of Malbork Castle, Poland

one does not travel to northern poland and miss malbork castle, an absolutely beautiful red brick (very characteristic of the area) castle built by the teutonic knights in the middle ages. i am happy to report that i am currently feeling quite cured of being castled out like i was last spring, so a visit to the giant fortress on the vistula river seemed like a fantastic day trip out of gdansk at just over an hour by train. (photo via)

besides all of these beautiful ornate interiors and ballrooms, i really found this unfinished chapel quite fascinating. damaged in WWII, the chapel still does not have a roof and the interior is in desperate need of some love and care. i was a little shocked that even with the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of visitors to malbork castle each day, this curiously still has not been repaired.

to get to the castle, you arrive at poland’s cutest train station and walk through the sweet little town. maybe you’ll catch a market like i did!

thinking of heading to malbork castle?

>> open tue-sun 9:00-19:00 peak, 10:00-15:00 off-peak
>> prepare for a 20-30 minute wait in the peak season ticket queue
>> bring a guide book! although in reason years it’s gotten better, there is no free useful english language information leaflet or map available. i used rick steves’ guide from his eastern europe guidebook, which worked perfectly for us.
>> there are a couple eateries/restaurants on the premises and a cheap coffee & cookies stand (yum) but it would be a fantastic picnic destination in my opinion.
>> just go! malbork is a wonderland for castle lovers.

happy travel tuesday! today i’m featuring sara’s dreamy post about bruges in the late autumn. i loved re-visiting the town through her camera lens and i could almost taste the cherry kriek and waffles!