Where to stay in Gliwice

The Slav particle gliw indicates a soggy bog, and the medieval town channeled its river to form a defensive moat. But the terrain can't have been too quaggy, as Gliwice lay on a trading route. Early industries were brewing and textiles, but the boom came in the 19th century with mining, steel-making and metal-bashing trades. The town was in a borderland and changed nationalities several times - for much of the last 200 years it was Gleiwitz in Prussia or Germany, and in a post-World War I referendum it voted to remain in Germany along with Zabrze and Bytom, while Katowice joined Poland.

Getting in

Katowice Airport (KTW) is usually the most convenient, with budget flights across Europe. Bus M14 runs hourly direct from the airport to Gliwice, otherwise take the bus into Katowice and change. Kraków John Paul II Airport (KRK) has more flights but involves a longer transfer, changing in Kraków city centre and Katowice. Trains from Katowice run every 20 minutes and take 30 min via Chorzów and Zabrze. These may start from Częstochowa, Dąbrowa Górnicza, or all the way from Przemyśl on the Ukraine border via Kraków.

Getting around

The central area is compact; further out, buses ply all the main streets. ZTM Metropolia run almost all buses and trams across the 40-some cities of Upper Silesian Metropolis, which straddles the Czech border. They have a unified ticket system: see Katowice for ticket options and where to buy them.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.