Introduction to Park Śląski - Silesia Park, Chorzow

At 535Ha, Silesia Park is one of the larger public urban parks in Europe and it is a glorious venue , full of public amenities.

It's creation began in the 50s when land was designated for the creation of the park.  75% of the land was post-industrial and included mining wasteland, sinkholes and swamps.  3.5 million m3 of humus soils and peat were imported to improve the poor soils.  3.5 million trees were planted and woodland covers around 260Ha.  Investment continued throughout the 50s and 60s and a number of attractions were added to the park.

You can easily get to the park from Katowice and Chorzow with trams running alongside the park.  You can also drive around the park.  There are barriers at the entrances and you can then take a ticket and you will then pay as you exit the park.  Navigating the park by car is not necessarily simple though, many routes are blocked off and a bridge was closed during this last visit.

There are many trails across the park and you will find walkers, runners and cyclists.  There are also two cable cars, though these have not been in operation during either of our visits to the park.  Originally the cable car had three sections giving a triangular route of around 6km.  The condition declined however and the cable car closed.  In 2011 a new cable car was built from the amusement park to the stadium and in 2023 the second line opened from the amusement park to the planetarium.

Looking online, it seems that it operates between 10am and 5pm but during the winter, the days are reduced to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  You can buy tickets online and I would definitely check it is running.

As well as the woodland areas, there are large areas of grass and gardens.  Some of the gardens include a Japanese Garden, a rose garden, a sculpture garden and probably many more...  The Japanese Garden is one I have very much enjoyed in Autumn and would be beautiful in any season.  The Rosarium looks amazing but I have not visited when the roses are in bloom.  I have seen the sculpture garden from a car and would really love to have a good look round!  The park has a lot of sculpture dotted around as well.

There are also a number of places to eat in the park.  We have stopped at Zielona Dolina.  We have shared pizza and loaded fries (patatine fritte spianata pikante) which were absolutely lovely.  Poland also does really, really good tea.  They call it winter tea and add all sorts of extras to their fruity and herbal teas.  It makes tea in the UK look a little dull....

We also had the opportunity to eat at Kasztel one evening, a restaurant situated in the park.  The food was great, very tasty and well presented.  There were also really nice options for those not eating meat.  An equivalent meal in the UK would have been so much more expensive.  I tried Parsley route.  It seems they don't eat Parsnips in Poland but instead eat Parsley root which is very similar but is a little sweeter, without that slight bitterness parsnip can have.  We also tried tempura mushrooms and duck.  All lovely.

The park also has a number of large attractions, including a zoo, a stadium, a science museum with a planetarium, an amusement park and a swimming pool.  There is a lot to see and do throughout the park with many events.  It is definitely well used and loved by residents and they are very proud of it, with good reason.

You can look at the website for the park here.

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