About the region

The Podkarpackie Voivodeship, with its capital in Rzeszów, is located in south-eastern Poland and borders on the East with Ukraine, on the South with Slovakia, and on the Polish side with three voivodeships: Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie and Lubelskie.

• Close to  the nature

The greatest wealth of the region is nature, Podkarpacie is one of the greenest regions in Poland. Almost half of the region’s territory is under protection, there are rare species of plants and animals, and the local forests are a remnant of the ancient Carpathian Forest. To this day, bears live here, it is in Podkarpacie that we can meet 90% Polish population of this mammal. An ideal region for adventurers, curious about the world and lovers of natural beauty, as well as for those who want peace and closeness with nature. In addition to bears, lynxes, wildcats and eagles live in the region, and the local piece of sky is the most starry in Poland.

• Where East meets West

Podkarpacie is also rich in history, in Przemyśl, at the intersection of trade routes, for centuries, East and West met, and religions and cultures intertwined. To this day, there are wooden churches in Podkarpacie, several of which are on the UNESCO list. Lemkos, Armenians, Kresowiacy, Ukrainians, Austrians, Czechs and Jews marked the culture of the region with their influences, and the testimony of this past are sacred buildings, castles and beautiful towns.

• Polish Silicon Valley

The capital of the region is Rzeszów, a dynamic city that focuses on modern business and technologies. The region attracts more and more innovative companies. New faculties are being created at universities, and the authorities are recruiting very good academic staff from all over the world, and thus also thousands of students. Scientists are open to cooperation with business. Automotive, telecommunications, information, aviation, cosmonautics and quality of life – these are the pillars of smart specialization on which the region’s economy is based.

Podkarpackie is not only factories – it also includes numerous pilot and research projects aimed at creating new products and introducing new technologies, which are an important element of the region’s development. Hence the information and telecommunications so important for the development of Podkarpacie, aimed at providing tools for the development of other specializations.

Companies from the IT industry, developers of computer applications and systems, including the largest Polish IT company, i.e. Asseco Poland, and the smaller but dynamically influencing SoftSystem, G2A.com, Prime Bit Studio and Vshaper play a key role. Podkarpacie is a place where both creative young people who want to fulfil their dreams of their own business meet, as well as investors who have already established their business in Podkarpacie. It is here that beginning undertakings receive support from the region through development programs, EU funding, and work space.

Modern infrastructure, a base of qualified employees and all this surrounded by beautiful nature, conducive to rest after work.

Hotels

The main hotel base is located in the capital of the region – Rzeszów. The airport as well as the extensive road network and the motorway in recent years facilitate communication with the rest of the country. The city offers great, modern hotels with a conference base, among them:

• Hotel Bristol 5*****
• Hotel Ambasadorki 4****
• Blue Diamond Hotel Active SPA 4 ****
• Hotel B&B Rzeszów Centrum 4****
• Metropolitan 4****
• Hotel Grand Ferdynand 4****
• Hilton Garden Inn Rzeszów4****
• Hotel Classic 3 ***
• Hotel Hetman 3***
• Hotel Eden 3***
• Hotel Forum 3***

For those looking for contact with nature, we recommend fantastic hotel and hotel and conference centres in the region:

• Dwór Kombornia Hotel & SPA 4****
• Hotel Bacówka Radawa & SPA 4****
• UITM Tourism and Recreation Center (Centrum Turystyki i Rekreacji WSIiZ)
• and the impressive resort Hotel Arłamów 4****

Conference and business venues

The dynamic development made Podkarpacie a region with great potential for the development of the meetings industry. A modern Trade Fair Center was established in Rzeszów in 2016, thus attracting important scientific, exhibition and business events to the region.

The G2A Arena Centrum conference and exhibition center is the most modern business facility located in the Podkarpackie Province, intended for the organization of events, conferences and exhibitions. A place conducive to the development of business contacts and building the image of a modern region, but with a background of good quality of life in the form of nature and an established cultural identity of the region.

Numerous modern hotels in the capital of the region as well as fantastic hotel and conference centres with sports facilities and spa, surrounded by beautiful nature, are an ideal base for organizing all kinds of events.

Substantive support is provided by the Podkarpacie Regional Tourist Organization.

Local cuisine

• Borderland cuisine

The cuisine of the region is a mixture of dishes from Polish, Jewish, Austrian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Lemko cuisine. It can be described as borderland cuisine based on natural products, from delicatessen originating from borderland manors, to simple dishes from rural cottages and shepherds’ huts.

• Proziaki, fuczki, gomółki

Everywhere we can find Proziaki from Podkarpacie, simple flour pancakes with the addition of soda, Lemko fuczki (pancakes with the addition of sauerkraut), buckwheat stuffed cabbage, Lubaczów honey, lamb roulades, goose flour from Dachnów, gomółki, Keszów jam, goat cheese and Rzeszów cheese wedding cake, or delicacies with exotic-sounding names, derived from the cuisine of ethnic groups, such as the Lemkos: hartacze, rollers, kugiel or noise. Local restaurants, taverns and agritourism increasingly focus on the cuisine of the region, so it is not difficult to find a place with good regional cuisine

• Wine trail

Podkarpacie is one of the most important Polish wine-producing regions. There are currently 160 vineyards on the trail. Many of them organize tastings and focus on the development of oenological tourism.

The most interesting attractions

In addition to Rzeszów and the wild Bieszczady routes, there are many places worth visiting in Podkarpacie due to their historical, cultural and landscape values.

• Magical Przemyśl

It belongs to the oldest Polish castles. Situated like Rome on the hills of the Carpathians, it has been a pearl in the crown of the Polish cities for hundreds of years. The city is rich in monuments. The mementos of history and the atmosphere of the former Borderlands create an amazing atmosphere here. The city centre is situated on the right bank of the San river. The square is surrounded by historic tenement houses from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is worth visiting the National Museum of Przemyśl with collections of the history and ethnography of the region, as well as art collections and a rich collection of icons. Another great attraction is the Museum of Bells and Pipes, which is located in a historic late-baroque clock tower from the 18th century, as Przemyśl was famous for the production of pipes and bells already in the 19th century. The exhibition includes a pipe-making shop with old equipment and tools, and from the terrace at the top of the tower, you can admire the architecture of Przemyśl.

• The land of gentleness – Beskid Niski

A green, hilly valley full of small towns, picturesque villages and wooden churches and Orthodox churches. It is famous for the Lemko culture, Hucul horses and unique climate. The perfect place to feel the atmosphere of slow travel.

• Krosno, Nowa Dęba and Rudnik upon River San – handicraft and craftsmanship of the Podkarpacie region.

In addition to historic palaces and tenement houses, the city boasts a 500-year-old tradition of glass-making, as the Glass Heritage Center tells about. Glass handicrafts straight from Krosno are a perfect souvenir from Podkarpacie. Just like hand-painted Christmas balls from Nowa Dęba, millions of which decorate Christmas trees all over the world every year. To buy souvenirs and gifts, it is worth going to Rudnik upon River San, the town is the largest centre of wicker in Poland. It is necessary to bring one of the famous, hand-made pipes from Przemyśl, and regional delicacies – honey, cold cuts and wine – will complement the Podkarpacie gift basket.

• Łańcut

It is one of the most beautiful aristocratic residences in Poland. Decorated with taste and panache, in period styles, bedrooms, lounges, ballrooms, bathing rooms, dining rooms, as well as an English park with a collection of horse-drawn vehicles give an idea of ​​how the Lubomirski and Potocki family lived here. In the castle, in the gardens, but also in the Basilica. Bernardynów in Leżajsk, the Łańcut Synagogue and the Concert Hall of the Subcarpathian Philharmonic, concerts of the Music Festival in Łańcut are held. Top artists take part in this world-class event.

• Krasiczyn

The castle and park complex in Krasiczyn is the pride of the eastern route. The Renaissance residence of the Krasicki magnates. There is a hotel and a restaurant in the castle.

• Wooden Architecture Trail

It is 1202 km long and covers 127 sites on 9 routes. Among them there are objects appreciated by UNESCO – the church in Haczów which is over 500 years old, the parish complex in Blizne with a unique polychrome showing the so-called plebeian bible and Greek Catholic churches in Smolnik, Turzańsk, Chotyniec and Radruż. The Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok is also worth visiting. The Museum in Sanok is de facto the largest open-air museum in Poland, which in an authentic way reflects the atmosphere of villages and towns in south-eastern Poland from years ago.

The ideas for incentives in Podkarpacie

• Bieszczady

Hiking in the mountains, observing nature, trying to track animals, safari in Poland in search of the “Polish Big Five”: bison, bear, wolf, wildcat, lynx. The Bieszczady film trail are just some of the ideas for activities in these wild, beautiful and still least known mountains in Poland.

• Culinary

The original cuisine of the region offers a wide range of possibilities to organize all kinds of workshops. An ideal idea for activities during an incentive trip will be participation in the harvest in one of the numerous vineyards combined with tasting. Wine and chocolate workshops are also available. Autumn time this region is perfect for mushroom picking.

• In the saddle

The Podkarpacie region advertises itself this way: “You don’t have to go across the Ocean to feel like a cowboy. And on the back of a strong mountain horse, not afraid of steep or precipices, a hucul ”. It was in the Bieszczady Mountains that the legend of the Polish Wild West in the East was born. For lovers of horse riding, there are several hundred kilometres of marked horse trails available here. There are also over a hundred equestrian centres here.

• Unusual things to do in the region

In Podkarpacie, we can travel in a trolley and thus get to know the region; on routes rushing along the tracks of bicycle trolleys powered by the muscles of passengers.

• Cycling through Podkarpacie

For active people, over 1,800 km of bicycle routes of various difficulty have been prepared, leading through the region.

• Admire the starry sky in the Podkarpacie region …

It is an ideal region for a bit of a romantic scenery… Without a telescope, you can see 7,000. stars (for comparison, in rural areas with only a few street lamps, only 2,500 stars can be observed). When we look at the sky, we see it as our ancestors saw it hundreds of years ago.
The high quality of the night sky in the southern part of Podkarpacie, especially in the Bieszczady Mountains, and the lack of artificial light pollution made it possible to create the “Bieszczady Star Park”.

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