After around two hours' drive from Wroclaw you reach Jagniątków, a picturesque district of Jelenia Góra with fine views of the main ridge of the Karkonosze Mountains. Nobel Prize-winning writer Gerhart Hauptmann lived here for many years. His impressive Wiesenstein Villa now houses the Gerhart Hauptmann Museum. Visitors can see the preserved study, former library, fireplace room and entrance hall decorated by J.M. Avenarius in 1922, together with personal memorabilia and multimedia material about the writer's life and work.
The route continues with a short walk to Chojnik Castle near Sobieszów. The dramatic ruins stand on a wooded 627-metre hill at the foot of the Karkonosze Mountains. From the castle there are panoramic views over the mountains and the Jelenia Góra Valley, including the steep cliff descending into the so-called Hell Valley.
Lunch may be taken in Jelenia Góra, the lively principal city of the Karkonosze foothills. Its historic centre includes elegant Baroque and Rococo townhouses with arcades around the Market Square, an eighteenth-century Neoclassical town hall and the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Built in 1709 and inspired by St Catherine's Church in Stockholm, it combines Protestant architecture with rich Baroque decoration.
The Jelenia Góra Valley is known as the Valley of Palaces and Gardens. Twenty-two palaces and castles stand within a relatively small area, surrounded by historic landscaped parks associated with architects and designers including Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Friedrich August Stüler and Peter Joseph Lenné. King Frederick William III established a summer residence here and was followed by other members of the Prussian aristocracy.
Nearby highlights include Łomnica Palace with its permanent exhibition, beautifully restored Wojanów Palace and the former royal summer residence in Mysłakowice.
Nature lovers may instead begin a mountain excursion from Karpacz. A chairlift leads to Kopa, from where walkers can continue towards Śnieżka, the highest peak of the Karkonosze Mountains.
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