Things to Do in Rzeszów, Poland: Walking Guide

Rzeszów is a compact regional capital in southeastern Poland, known for its historic centre, elegant architecture and lively student atmosphere. It offers a rewarding mix of heritage sites, museums and vibrant city life without the crowds of Poland’s larger cities, making it well worth a visit.

Neywo provides a free audio guide for Rzeszów with 52 narrated places, letting you explore the city at your own pace.

Explore Rzeszów’s highlights

Rzeszów Castle

Rzeszów Castle, also known as Zamek Lubomirskich, stands beside the old part of the city. The present four‑wing complex was built between 1902 and 1906 within the bastions of an earlier fortress. It now serves as a courthouse and previously housed a prison until 1981. An early fortified residence probably existed here by the sixteenth century, and Mikołaj Spytek Ligęza enlarged the manor and moved his residence here before 1610, later transforming it into a palazzo in fortezza in 1620.

Rzeszów Regional Museum

The Rzeszów Regional Museum, or Museum of the History of Rzeszów, is located at 19 3 Maja Street. The building was erected between 1644 and 1649 to a design by Jan Zanger and later housed a Piarist monastery from 1655 to 1784. After the monastery closed, the building was used for secular purposes before becoming a museum in 1935. Today it holds about 24 000 objects, including the Gallery of the Dąmbski Family, and offers an underground tourist route beneath the Market Square with artefacts dating back to the fourteenth century.

Church of the Bernardine Friars

Known as the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church of the Bernardine Friars dates from 1629 and stands on the western edge of the historic centre. It forms part of a larger religious complex with the Bernardine friars’ monastery directly beside it, and both are protected as historic monuments.

Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church on Targowa Street is an active parish church in the city. In Polish it is called Kościół pw. Świętej Trójcy and serves as a notable landmark in the centre of Rzeszów.

Letni Pałac Lubomirskich

The Summer Palace of the Lubomirski family, commissioned by Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski in the 1690s, was built on the site of a former vineyard belonging to Mikołaj Spytek Ligęza. This late Baroque magnate residence with Rococo elements was created as a place of leisure and forms part of the Lubomirski estate, linking the castle retreat to the wider aristocratic landscape.

Pałac Jędrzejowiczów

Located a little north of the centre in the Staromieście district, the Jędrzejowicz Palace is a historic residence dating from the nineteenth century. It forms part of the Osiedle 1000‑Lecia area and represents a surviving piece of Rzeszów’s historic character.

Muzeum Etnograficzne im. Franciszka Kotuli

Also known as the Ethnographic Museum, this institution preserves the memory of Franciszek Kotula and is dedicated to the ethnographic heritage of the region.

Saints Stanislaus and Adalbert Church

One of the city’s central landmarks, the Church of Saints Stanislaus and Adalbert (Kościół Farny) stands on Farny Square and serves as the parish church for the Old Town.

Church of the Holy Cross

Situated on 3 Maja Street, the Church of the Holy Cross is the only part of a larger Piarist complex that retains its original function in the twenty‑first century. The southern wing of the former monastery now houses the District Museum, while the northern wing is home to the Stanisław Konarski General Secondary School. The entire complex was entered on the register of monuments on 8 June 1979 under number 1027.

Church of St. Joseph

Known in Polish as Kościół pw. Świętego Józefa, this church has been a diocesan Sanctuary of Saint Joseph since 27 April 2022.

Church of the Assumption

In Zalesie, the Church of the Assumption (also the Sanctuary of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) was built in 1889 as a Greek Catholic church on the site of earlier wooden Orthodox and later Greek Catholic churches that probably existed since the fifteenth century. After the Second World War most families of this faith were resettled near Lviv, and in 1975 the building was adapted for the Latin rite by parish priest Józef Sowiński. The object of special devotion is an eighteenth‑century icon of Mary with the Child, bearing the inscription “Mother of God and Virgin, we commend ourselves to your love.”

Wanda Siemaszkowa Theatre

The Wanda Siemaszkowa Theatre (Teatr im. Wandy Siemaszkowej) is one of the region’s most important theatre institutions and a key cultural venue in Rzeszów.

Kościół pw. Matki Bożej Śnieżnej

The old Church of Our Lady of the Snows began construction in 1905 to a design by Adolf Sumper, an engineer from Rzeszów, and was consecrated on 5 August 1907. It served as a parish church until 2002, after being enlarged in 1961 and 1962, and a new church was built between 1999 and 2002. On 3 March 2021 decorations from two altars and the benches in the main nave were destroyed inside the building.

Saint Martin Church

Located in the Słocina district in the eastern part of the city, Saint Martin Church is also known as the Church of Saints Roch and Martin (Kościół pw. św. Rocha) and serves the local parish.

Christ the King Church

In central Rzeszów, Christ the King Church (Kościół Chrystusa Króla w Rzeszowie) is a Roman Catholic place of worship with an active parish presence.

Explore Rzeszów with Neywo

Neywo’s free audio guide includes four walking tours and one bus route in Rzeszów.

• The Lubomirski Court: From Palace to Castle – 2.03 km, 97 minutes, 9 stops (Subcarpathian Philharmonic, Fontanna multimedialna, Letni Pałac Lubomirskich, Rzeszów Castle, Teatr Przedmieście, Our Lady Queen of Poland church, Burgaller Palace, Muzeum Diecezjalne, Church of the Holy Cross).
• Under the Market Square: Cellars, Synagogues and Old Town Stories – 1.31 km, 87 minutes, 9 stops (Saints Stanislaus and Adalbert church, Rzeszów Cellars, Rzeszów Regional Museum, Muzeum Etnograficzne im. Franciszka Kotuli, Pomnik Wdzięczności Armii Czerwonej, The Museum of Bedtime Cartoons, Old Town Synagogue, New Town Synagogue, Holy Trinity church).
• Bernardines, Bishops and Cold War Monuments – 1.39 km, 74 minutes, 7 stops (Monument to Cursed Soldiers, Wanda Siemaszkowa Theatre, Wojewódzka i Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna, Church of the Bernardine Friars, Monument to the Revolutionary Act, Episcopal Palace, Christ the King church).
• North of the Centre: New Town Square, Technology and a Palace – 2 km, 62 minutes, 4 stops (Wolności Square, Museum of Technology and the Military, Pałac Jędrzejowiczów, Church of St. Joseph).
• Bus 17 Through the Centre of Rzeszów – 13.9 km, 60 minutes, 10 stops (Church of the Holy Cross, Holy Trinity church, Old Town Synagogue, Saints Stanislaus and Adalbert church, Episcopal Palace, Church of the Bernardine Friars, Rzeszów Regional Museum, Subcarpathian Philharmonic, Rzeszów Castle, Our Lady Queen of Poland church).

Each story plays automatically as you reach the location, allowing you to move at your own pace with no group and no schedule. The narration is available in 11 languages, so you can discover Rzeszów’s history and culture in the language that suits you best.

If you enjoyed learning about Rzeszów’s landmarks, download Neywo and let the city’s stories guide your walk. For more ideas on what to see in nearby destinations, you might also enjoy visiting Lublin, Warsaw, Poznań or Wrocław. Safe travels!