A world of its own A basin of meadows and forest, ringed by mountains and bordered on three sides by Czechia. Kłodzko Land is small enough to get to know in a week and rich enough to keep you coming back. Silesians used to call it God’s own corner, the Herrgottswinkel. Drive in over any of the passes and you see why: baroque wayside chapels and stone crosses line the roads, old spa towns with pump rooms and parks sit in the valleys, and a mighty fortress keeps watch over Kłodzko. In the west the Table Mountains rise from the forest like ships of stone; in the south-east the bare dome of Śnieżnik climbs above the treeline. Dom Skowronki, the House of Skylarks, lies in the quiet eastern part of the region, in the valley of the Biała Lądecka river, five kilometres before Lądek-Zdrój. Almost everything in this guide is less than an hour’s drive away – and in the evening you are back with the skylarks, the campfire and a sky full of stars. How to read this guide The circled numbers match the map on the facing page. Distances are rounded road kilometres from Dom Skowronki. A few words that help with the names: zdrój means spa, góra mountain, jaskinia cave and twierdza fortress. The Kłodzko rose Not a rose at all but the globeflower (Trollius europaeus): golden, perfectly round, and the emblem of the region. In May and June it lights up damp mountain meadows. It is protected – admire it, but please don’t pick it. At a glance Area about 1,640 km² (Kłodzko County) Highest peak Śnieżnik, 1,425 m Spa towns five: Lądek, Długopole, Polanica, Duszniki, Kudowa National park Table Mountains (Góry Stołowe), since 1993 Border Czechia on three sides A little history For centuries the County of Kladsko belonged to the Bohemian crown, from 1742 to Prussia and since 1945 to Poland. Hence the Bohemian baroque in the churches, the Prussian fortresses on the hills – and three languages on old maps. 2 Kłodzko Land, a compact travel guide
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