One of our most recent day-trips was to Malbrok Castle.  This is just down the road from us a nice 2 hour drive.

Now if you read one report it will say that Malbrok is the world’s largest castle because they looked at one big brick building.  But then I read another one and they figured garden space as well so the title went a castle in France.  Yet another one said the title belonged to a castle (I am not sure I would classify it as a castle) in China because they used square footage of all the buildings on the complex.

Malbrok is on my top 5 list of castle’s in Europe that I have been to.  We spent about 3 hours walking through the castle.  If it was just my husband I, we would have spent a bit more time in there reading a bit more in some of the exhibits especially the Amber stone.

We paid 98 zloty for a family pass for 3 of us to get in.  Our littlest one was free as 6 and under are free.  By Polish standards this is pricey but when you figure that we each got an audio guide that was included in the price it is not a bad deal.  Most castle’s the audio guide is an additional charge.

Now the parking that is a different story!  Be prepared to pay for parking and I am not talking 10 zlotys either.  We had to pay 25 zlotys upfront and that got us 4 hours and each additional hour as an additional 5 zlotys.  Ok, I know we parked at the closest parking lot to the castle and that should have given us a heads up but the sticker price got us here!  So when you go on the other side of the bridge there is another parking lot, I would park there they can’t be anymore expensive!

Malbrok Castle is an example of a medieval fortress.   It was completed in 1406, UNESCO designated the “Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork” and its Museum as the World Heritage Site in 1997.  It is one of two World Heritage Sites in the region with origins in the Teutonic Order.  The other is the medieval town of Toruń.

This castle is AMAZING!  There were lots of different rooms and hallways to explore.  With the audio guide and map we got and everything was nicely marker so I don’t think we missed anything!  The restoration work that they have done from the WWII bombing is great.  There is one chapel that has not been redone and to be honest I hope they don’t so people can remember a time in history that should be repeated.

There are lots of souvenir shops both inside and outside of the castle all with good prices.  There are also at least 3 restaurants inside the castle and several more outside of the castle if you get hungry.  Right before you leave the castle there is a cute little one with items cooked over an open grill or smoked.  The prices were great, cheaper than if we ate at McDonald’s.

Now if you make it to the Gdnask, Bydgoszcz or Torun area make sure you take an afternoon and explore this AMAZING castle!

Here are just few of the way to many pictures I took that afternoon!

What is your favorite castle to visit?

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Kelley Kagele