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Tourist Attractions
A Park of miniatures of Lower Silesia's Monuments
The unusual attraction is located in the town of Kowary, approx. 12 km by car or 8 km on foot from our guest house at the Okraj Pass. Visitors can see the models of the most magnificent buildings of the Lower Silesia region, such as monasteries, castles, palaces and town halls. All the models were made in 1:25 scale with precise architectural details. The space among models is filled with flowers' compositions and grass. Nearby the park there is a car park,a souvenir's shop a cafe and a snack bar.
Kowary's mines-Underground Tourist Path
The present path includes the part of the mine „Podgórze”. In 1950 uranium was discovered and the site was exploited until 1958. The whole mine included 5 adits all together 34 km of excavations. During the extracting time about 7 years- 140.000 tones of ore uranium was extracted. This number shows the engagement of the work. After closing the mine in early 70s there was a radon inhalatorium the only one in Poland and one of five in Europe. There is a beautiful tourist path. The underground path is 1600 meters long. During walking the route tourists can find out about the history of mining in Kowary and nearby area. Tourist can see uranium ore in natural rocks.
Rock Town - Teplice
Teplice the Rock Town (Czech: Teplické skalní město) is located in the south part of the ridge only two kilometers from the town of Teplice. It is located in the south part of the ridge of Sudety just two kilometer away from the town of Teplice upon Metuji direction to Adrshpach and Trutnov Is is the biggest rock site in the Czech Republic with an area about 1800 ha.
The Rock Town nearby Teplice in less known than the famous Adrshpach Rocks, however, is bigger less explored and higher. The Rock Town is built with long walls, soaring shapes erecting out of the flat area, there are deep canyons surrounded by massive rock towers erecting up to 100 meters. It is very different from the Adrshpach Rocks which consist of multiple layers forming a labyrinth. Visitors can admire different unique rock shapes, one of the best known is the famous Rock Crown (the emblem of the Teplice's Rocks), Karkonosh's Stick, The Tower of Guard, and Butcher's Axe and many others.
The underground tourist's path Liczyrzepa
This is the second of underground tourists' paths located nearby Kowary. The main tourist attraction is an old adit no 9. There is a 1200 meters tourist path, visitors can find out about the rich mine history, secret plans and the history of uranium mining in the region and exploitation process of uranium by the Soviet Union. The very interesting point of the trip is the exhibition of geology of the Sudety Mountains. Tourist can see minerals that can be find in the region. Special educational topics' proposal for groups.
Grzbiet Lasocki
The Guest house on the Okraj Pass is a perfect site to hike the Grzbiet Lasocki (Lasocki Ridge). It is south- east from Okraj and it is one of the Karkonosze ridges. Despite well developed tourist infrastructure the site is not often visited by tourists as the rest of the Karkonosze. All the ridge is 9 km long along the Polish-Czech border. It is a picturesque path signed with green signs. The top of that part of the Karkonosze is Łysocina peak (1188) It is a fantastic sight point for all the rest of the Karkonosze mountains. Not only beautiful landscapes can attract visitors, it is the best preserved ecological site part of the Karkonosze. On the east part there is a didactic path. On the Czech side worth to visit is the small town Horni Albertice, There are three limestone caves and an old lime stove.
Śnieżka
Sněžka in Czech or Śnieżka in Polish is a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Karkonosze mountains. At 1,602 meters, its summit is the highest point in the Czech Republic, and in the entire Sudety mountains.
It is just 3 hours of walk from the Okraj Pass. Śnieżka's characteristic shape is connected the rocks – hornfelses. The rocks are resistant for erosion processes. The first historical account of an ascent to the peak is in 1456, by an unknown Venetian merchant searching for precious stones. The first settlements on the mountain soon appeared, being primarily mining communities, tapping into its deposits of copper, iron and arsenic. The mining shafts, totaling 1.5 kilometers in length, remain to this day. The first recorded German name was Riseberg (a giant mountain),it also gave the name for all the ridge in German Risegebirge, (Giant Mountains), mentioned by Georg Agricola in 1546. The German name later changed to the giant top and finally to Schneekoppe ("snow top", "snowy head". In Czech, the mountain was initially S called Pahrbek Sněžný. Later Sněžka, with the eventual name Sněžovka, meaning "snowy" or "snow covered", which was adopted in 1823. An older Polish name for the mountain was Góra Olbrzymia, meaning "giant mountain".
The first building on the mountain top was the chapel of Saint Lawrence, built ca. 1665–1681 by the Silesian Schaffgotsch family to mark their dominion, serving also as an inn for a brief period of time. The territory including the mines were the property of the Schaffgotsch family until 1945. The so-called Prussian hut was built on the Silesian (now Polish) side in 1850, followed by the Bohemian hut on the Bohemian (now Czech) side in 1868, both built with the purpose of providing lodging. The Prussian hut was rebuilt twice after fires (1857 and 1862), and the (after 1945) "Polish hut" was finally demolished in 1967. The Bohemian hut fell into disrepair after 1990 and was demolished in 2004. A wooden weather station was built on the mountaintop ca. 1900, being the only weather station in Central Europe remaining intact after World War II. It was demolished in the 1980s.
Karpacz
Today it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Karkonosze mountains. Even the most demanding visitors should find something for themselves. There are some museums e.g. the Sport's Museum, the Toys' Museum, the Tourism's Museum and the Secrets of the Karkonosze. Also there are some exhibits, e.g. an interactive exhibitions of Lego blocks models or the minerals' gallery. For the youngest and their parents there are a Fairy Tale park and Karpacz's Express-an old train tour. For the active ones there are the summer sledge route, a synthetic ice rink, or a ropes' park. History lovers must not forget about the old Wang church from Scandinavia. There are also some minor attractions like the Hymalaists' Square, the Mill of Love, or Ravens' Rocks. You can easily reach Karpacz on foot, it is just 2 hours of walking along the green path (Tobacco Path) one way.
