Via Regia Polska

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Medyka border crossing on the Ukrainian border / Görlitz, across the Old Town Bridge from Zgorzelec; the operator names Korczowa as a second starting point
• Length: 935.0 km
• Duration: 41 stages in our breakdown, the operator suggests 38; with rest days in Kraków and Wrocław, about six weeks
• Elevation: ↗ 7,445 m / ↘ 7,469 m
• Highest point: 474 m at km 400.9 between Sułoszowa and Przeginia, on the Kraków Jura north of Ojców
• Landscape: Carpathian foothills, the rolling hills of Lesser Poland, Jurassic limestone around Ojców, the Upper Silesian industrial belt, the Oder plain, Lower Silesia
• Waymarking: yellow scallop shell on a blue background and yellow arrows
• Traces of St. James: St. James churches in Krzemienica, Góra Ropczycka, Tuchów, Sławków, Sączów, Skorogoszcz, Małujowice and Zgorzelec; relics in Sączów since 1779; a St. James hospital in Lubań from 1323
• Accommodation: no albergue network; parish houses for a donation, small pilgrim lodgings in Sączów and Toszek, a pilgrim house on St. Anne's Mountain, plus agritourism farms, guesthouses and hotels
• Connecting routes: Camino Jasnogórska at Sączów, Camino Raciborska from Zimna Wódka, Camino Częstochowska at St. Anne's Mountain, Camino Dolnosląska and Camino Sudecka in Lubań, Via Regia Deutschland and Zittau Way in Görlitz
• Best time: May to June and September; hot in high summer, and in winter many parish lodgings are cold
• Pilgrim passport / certificate: Polish pilgrim passport or credencial; the Polish pilgrim certificate is issued for 100 km or more walked in one go

Overview

The Via Regia was the main artery between Eastern and Western Europe: merchants from Kyiv, Lviv and Kraków traveled it to Breslau, Leipzig and Frankfurt. In Poland it is still also called Wysoka Droga, the High Road, and wherever it ran through the country you find trading towns with market squares far too big for their present size: Jarosław, Tarnów, Olkusz, Brzeg. Since 2006 it has become a Camino again, section by section, and the network it belongs to now measures some 6,000 kilometers.

Past Przemyśl come wooden churches and farm tracks, past Kraków limestone crags and mining towns, then two pilgrimage hills and Lower Silesia, with towns that until 1945 were called Löwenberg, Goldberg and Lauban. Pilgrims here are solitary guests; when you arrive, you ring the bell at the parish house. At the end you stand on a bridge over the Neisse and realize the route doesn't stop there—only the language on the signposts changes.

Other Names

In Polish the route is called Droga św. Jakuba Via Regia, and in the Carpathian foothills also Podkarpacka Droga św. Jakuba Via Regia; the operator translates the name itself: "Via Regia – Droga Królewska", the King's Highway. In German the historic road is known as the Hohe Straße (High Road), in Polish Wysoka Droga, and it is part of the Council of Europe's VIA REGIA Cultural Route. We list the Polish section as Via Regia Polska and its continuation from Görlitz as Via Regia Deutschland.

On old maps the Silesian towns carry German names: Wrocław is Breslau, Opole Oppeln, Brzeg Brieg, Legnica Liegnitz, Lubań Lauban, Góra Świętej Anny Sankt Annaberg.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you want a long route where you walk through history rather than ticking off scenery: World Heritage in Kraków, Wieliczka and Wrocław, Renaissance market squares, Piast castles, two centuries of mining, and a border that has been crossed on foot without checks since 2007. Ideal on a small budget, too.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect pilgrim camaraderie like on the Camino Francés: you will often walk alone for days, and albergues in the Spanish sense barely exist. Not for you if you want to manage without a phone and a few words of Polish—parish lodgings are arranged the day before, not at the door. And not for you if you hate asphalt: between Będzin and Piekary Śląskie you walk through a densely built-up industrial belt, and several stages over 30 kilometers are not a recommendation but gaps in the supply of beds.

Route & Landscape

Medyka to Kraków (km 0–366.4): The route starts at the Medyka border crossing and, via Siedliska and Nehrybka, reaches Przemyśl (km 25.8) on the San. Via Jarosław (km 64.9), Przeworsk (km 85.5) and Łańcut (km 108.3) it heads to Rzeszów (km 135.1), then via Ropczyce (km 171.1) and Pilzno (km 204.5). Tuchów lies 0.7 kilometers off the route; via Łękawka you reach Tarnów (km 244.7), then via Wojnicz, Brzesko (km 287.4) and Bochnia (km 303.0) the Benedictine convent of Staniątki (km 329.2) and Wieliczka (km 346.0).

Kraków to Görlitz (km 366.4–935.0): Beyond Kraków the route climbs into the valley of Ojców (km 387.8) and up onto the Kraków Jura to the highest point (474 m, km 400.9). Via Olkusz (km 421.2) and Sławków (km 441.9) it crosses the industrial belt at Będzin (km 483.7), meets the route from Częstochowa in Sączów (km 508.1) and, via Piekary Śląskie and Toszek (km 559.1), reaches St. Anne's Mountain (km 591.9). Via Opole (km 628.2), Brzeg (km 685.1) and Oława you reach Wrocław (km 745.0); the old town lies just under a kilometer off the route. Through Lower Silesia follow Środa Śląska (km 789.1), Legnica (km 821.7), Złotoryja (km 847.6), Lwówek Śląski (km 878.6) and Lubań (km 905.1); via Henryków Lubański and Zgorzelec you reach the Neisse and Görlitz.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 41 stages; the distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 935.0 km. The operator suggests 38 non-binding stages. In villages, accommodation is often just a parish house or an agritourism farm—call ahead.

1. Medyka → Przemyśl (25.8 km) — from the border via Siedliska into the San valley.
2. Przemyśl → Rokietnica (22.4 km) — fields and villages.
3. Rokietnica → Jarosław (16.7 km) — short.
4. Jarosław → Przeworsk (20.6 km) — to the Confraternity of St. James.
5. Przeworsk → Łańcut (22.8 km) — to the castle.
6. Łańcut → Rzeszów (26.8 km) — via Krzemienica and its wooden St. James church.
7. Rzeszów → Iwierzyce (21.3 km) — into the hill country.
8. Iwierzyce → Ropczyce (14.7 km) — short, via Góra Ropczycka and its St. James church.
9. Ropczyce → Pilzno (33.4 km) — long and hilly via Stasiówka.
10. Pilzno → Zalasowa (16.9 km) — wooded hills.
11. Zalasowa → Tarnów (23.3 km) — past Tuchów into the Renaissance town.
12. Tarnów → Wojnicz (15.9 km) — down to the Dunajec.
13. Wojnicz → Brzesko (26.8 km) — via Okocim and its brewery.
14. Brzesko → Bochnia (15.6 km) — short, to the salt-mining town.
15. Bochnia → Staniątki (26.2 km) — to the Benedictine abbey.
16. Staniątki → Wieliczka (16.8 km) — time for the salt mine.
17. Wieliczka → Kraków (20.4 km) — the last kilometers are city.
18. Kraków → Ojców (21.4 km) — through the Prądnik valley into Jurassic limestone.
19. Ojców → Olkusz (33.4 km) — long, over the highest point (474 m).
20. Olkusz → Sławków (20.7 km) — silver towns on the old road.
21. Sławków → Kazimierz Górniczy (19.1 km) — forest.
22. Kazimierz Górniczy → Będzin (22.7 km) — through the industrial belt to the castle.
23. Będzin → Sączów (24.4 km) — to the St. James church with its pilgrim hostel.
24. Sączów → Zbrosławice (29.9 km) — via Piekary Śląskie and its basilica.
25. Zbrosławice → Toszek (21.1 km) — to the castle and the small pilgrim hostel.
26. Toszek → Góra Świętej Anny (32.8 km) — long; Zimna Wódka splits the day.
27. Góra Świętej Anny → Kamień Śląski (13.9 km) — short, down into the Oder valley.
28. Kamień Śląski → Opole (22.4 km) — to the Oder.
29. Opole → Dobrzeń Wielki (14.9 km) — short.
30. Dobrzeń Wielki → Skorogoszcz (20.9 km) — pine forest.
31. Skorogoszcz → Brzeg (21.1 km) — to the Piast castle.
32. Brzeg → Oława (24.3 km) — via Małujowice and its wall paintings.
33. Oława → Siechnice (18.0 km) — Oder floodplains.
34. Siechnice → Wrocław (17.6 km) — into the city.
35. Wrocław → Wojnowice (25.9 km) — to the moated castle.
36. Wojnowice → Środa Śląska (18.2 km) — farmland.
37. Środa Śląska → Legnica (32.6 km) — long and short on shade.
38. Legnica → Złotoryja (25.9 km) — up into the foothills.
39. Złotoryja → Lwówek Śląski (31.0 km) — long, through Pielgrzymka, once Pilgramsdorf.
40. Lwówek Śląski → Lubań (26.5 km) — to the three-route junction.
41. Lubań → Görlitz (29.9 km) — past the yew of Henryków to the Neisse.

Technically, nothing is difficult. What wears you down is distance and gaps: five stages over 30 kilometers, lots of asphalt in the industrial belt and on the approach to the big cities. You gain your elevation in the Carpathian foothills and on the Jura; from Opole it is flat until just before Złotoryja.

Built Against the Walking Direction: How the King's Highway Became a Pilgrim Route Again, Starting from the Neisse

You walk west, but the route grew east. In 2004 people in Poland began waymarking the first Caminos; on July 24, 2005, the Camino Dolnosląska from Głogów to Zgorzelec opened, the country's first. In 2006 came the Via Regia section from Brzeg to Zgorzelec, in 2008 the stretch through the Opole region. The operator writes: "Późnym latem roku 2008 udostępniony został dla pielgrzymów opolski odcinek Drogi św. Jakuba wzdłuż Via Regia"—in late summer 2008 the Opole section was opened to pilgrims. In 2015 faculty and students of the University of Lviv waymarked the 101 kilometers from Lviv to Przemyśl. And in 2026 the Przeworsk confraternity renewed the signs between the Ukrainian border and Pilzno. So if you set off from Medyka today, you walk from the youngest section to the oldest.

The road itself is older than any scallop shell. In 1252 a charter of Margrave Henry of Meissen calls it "strata regia"; in Poland it ran from Kraków via Bytom to Wrocław, and along this line Sławków and Olkusz grew rich. Pilgrims to Santiago were a minority on it, and you can count them: the Görlitz registers from 1358 to 1545 record 140 pilgrimages, four of them to Compostela, nearly all the rest to Aachen. One of the four has a name: in 1508 the Breslau city council issued Jan Wenzel of Lubań a letter of recommendation for the road to Compostela. Lubań is your second-to-last stage. There, the innkeeper Ulrich Aumann had already founded a St. James hospital in 1323.

In practice this means: the waymarking is well worn in the west and fresh in the east, but not gap-free everywhere. Load the track into the app before you start and ask for a stamp at every parish house.

Highlights Along the Way

• Przemyśl (km 25.8) — first mentioned in 981; after the largest siege of World War I, about 110,000 men of the fortress surrendered on March 22, 1915.
• Łańcut (km 108.3) — castle built from 1629 to 1642, with Poland's largest collection of historic carriages and an 18th-century synagogue.
• Krzemienica (km 111.8) — the first wooden St. James church stood here in 1492; today's wooden building dates from 1750.
• Tarnów (km 244.7) — town charter 1330; on June 14, 1940, the first prisoner transport to Auschwitz left from its station.
• Wieliczka Salt Mine (km 346.0) — mined since the 13th century, World Heritage since 1978.
• Kraków (km 366.4) — town charter 1257, UNESCO World Heritage since 1978; Veit Stoss's altarpiece in St. Mary's Basilica, completed in 1489.
• Olkusz (km 421.2) — a silver and lead town; in St. Andrew's, a nearly unaltered Renaissance organ from 1612 to 1623.
• Sączów (km 508.1) — St. James parish, consecrated in 1224 by Bishop Iwo Odrowąż, whose nephew, St. Hyacinth, was born around 1185 in Kamień Śląski—four stages further along the same route; authenticated relics of St. James since 1779, a pilgrim hostel since 2013.
• Piekary Śląskie (km 520.8) — after Częstochowa, Poland's most important Marian shrine, with pilgrimages since 1676.
• Góra Świętej Anny (km 591.9) — Franciscans since 1655, a late 15th-century St. Anne with Virgin and Child; fighting in the Third Silesian Uprising in May 1921, a visit by John Paul II in 1983.
• Brzeg (km 685.1) — Piast castle with a Renaissance gatehouse, rebuilt from 1966 to 1990; St. Nicholas Church from 1370 to 1417.
• Małujowice (km 693.0) — St. James church from around 1250 with wall paintings from the 14th to 16th centuries, whitewashed in 1526 and rediscovered in the 19th century; next to it the battlefield of Mollwitz, April 10, 1741.
• Wrocław (km 745.0) — a bishopric since the year 1000, Centennial Hall from 1913, UNESCO 2006; the city's dwarfs began in 1983 as a protest against the regime.
• Legnica (km 821.7) — in 1241 Duke Henry II fell against the Mongols at Wahlstatt; until 1993 the Soviet Army's "Little Moscow."
• Złotoryja and Lwówek Śląski (km 847.6 and 878.6) — Goldberg received Silesia's first German town charter in 1211, Löwenberg the second in 1217.
• Lubań and Henryków Lubański (km 905.1 and 912.7) — part of the Upper Lusatian League of Six Towns in 1346; before 1945, 95 percent of Germany's handkerchiefs came from here, under the slogan "Lauban putzt der Welt die Nase." (Lauban wipes the world's nose.) In Henryków stands the more than 1,300-year-old yew, considered Germany's oldest tree in 1921 and Poland's oldest tree today.
• Görlitz and Zgorzelec (km 935.0) — the Old Town Bridge, mentioned in 1298, blown up on May 7, 1945, reopened on October 20, 2004; on the Polish side, the house of Jakob Böhme.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

The Via Regia Polska is itself the gathering route of the East. In Medyka the Lviv section arrives from Ukraine; the operator names Korczowa as a second border start, about 40 kilometers from Przemyśl. Along the way, more Polish Caminos join and cross:

• Camino Jasnogórska — from Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, joins at Sączów and runs alongside as far as Piekary Śląskie
• Camino Częstochowska — also from Częstochowa, ends at St. Anne's Mountain
• Camino Raciborska — branches off at Zimna Wódka near Ujazd toward Racibórz and Opava
• Camino Dolnosląska — from Głogów, shares the same line from Lubań to Zgorzelec
• Camino Sudecka — starts in Lubań and heads south toward Bohemia

If you have less time, start in Kraków (568.6 km to go) or in Wrocław (190 km to go).

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes, without a break: in Görlitz, just past the Old Town Bridge, the Via Regia Deutschland begins—the Ecumenical Pilgrim Way, 473.7 kilometers via Bautzen, Leipzig and Erfurt to Vacha on the Werra. The waymark stays the yellow shell on a blue background; only the language at the parish house changes.

If you want to head south, take the Zittau Way from Görlitz via Zittau to Prague, or turn onto the Camino Sudecka as early as Lubań.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Polish Caminos, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in parish houses and pilgrim lodgings and to collect your stamps; the Compostela is only issued in Santiago. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip; the Polish association sells its own pilgrim passport. With the Camino Ninja App you have the map and track offline; the easiest way to plan the route is right in the app, where you put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation at the same time.

The Polish pilgrim certificate. The association issues a Certyfikat Pielgrzyma if you have walked at least 100 kilometers in one go toward Santiago and can show the stamps. You send a scan of your pilgrim passport by email and receive the certificate by mail.

Accommodation and language. Call the parish house the day before; a message in Polish helps. Dedicated pilgrim beds exist at the St. James church in Sączów, in Toszek with four places since 2019, and on St. Anne's Mountain; otherwise it's agritourism, guesthouses and city hotels. Pack a sleeping bag and a sleeping pad, because parish lodgings are often just a room with a mattress.

What the journey will cost you

A parish lodging costs a donation; 8 to 15 € (approx. 35–66 PLN) is fair. Agritourism with breakfast runs 20 to 35 € (approx. 87–150 PLN), a double room in a guesthouse or hotel 40 to 70 € (approx. 170–310 PLN), more in Kraków and Wrocław. Lunch in a milk bar or inn costs 6 to 10 € (approx. 26–44 PLN). The pilgrim certificate costs approx. 4.30 € (19 PLN) including registered mail, the Polish pilgrim passport approx. 3.40–5.70 € (15–25 PLN) (as of October 2026).

Budget 25 to 35 € a day (approx. 110–150 PLN) with parish houses and self-catering, 40 to 55 € (approx. 170–240 PLN) with guesthouses and hot meals. For the whole route that comes to roughly 1,000 to 2,300 € (approx. 4,400–10,000 PLN), not counting travel. Honestly, this is the cheapest long route we list—only Kraków gets expensive if you take a rest day there.

Getting Here

To the start. Przemyśl Główny is served by Intercity trains from Kraków and Warsaw; the international trains to Ukraine stop here too. The nearest airport is Rzeszów-Jasionka. A regional bus runs to Medyka; the border crossing is on the edge of the village.

From the finish. From Görlitz station it's about an hour and a half by train to Dresden, with further connections to Cottbus and Wrocław. The nearest airports are Dresden, Berlin and Wrocław.

• Rail Poland: intercity.pl — connections to Przemyśl and Rzeszów
• Rail Germany: bahn.de — connections from Görlitz
• Operator: camino.net.pl — stages, GPS tracks, pilgrim passport and certificate