The First World War’s Eastern Front Trail in the Małopolska Region encompasses places, which were a theatre of key military operations on the Eastern Front of the Great War in the years 1914–1915. The hike along the trail begins in Krakow. Krakow Fortress, which played a crucial role in the battles fought in the late 1914 north and south of the capital of Małopolska, impresses with the grandeur of design until this very day. Krakow also boasts the Polish Aviation Museum featuring examples ofauthentic military aircraft dating from the First World War. The famous First Cadre Company headed by Józef Piłsudski set off to war from Krakow as well, and following the company’s traces, one can reach the battlefield locations of the Polish Riflemen’s units and then of the Polish Legions formed by Józef Piłsudski. The trail routes run to the battlefields located north of Krakow to the Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska Upland, where battles were fought in November of 1914, and then south, to the battlefields around Łapanów and Limanowa, and further east to the area of the decisive Battle of Gorlice, which brought victory to the Austro-Hungarian and German forces in the early May of 1915. The picturesque ranges of the Low Beskid Mountains are full of war relics. Tarnów also features buildings dating from the Great War, such as old barracks or garrison hospital. Heading south of Tarnów, it is worth visiting the field of the Battle of Łowczówek fought in December of 1914, and the charming war necropolises of the Tarnów Land.

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