Bydgoszcz: Golub-Dobrzyn Castle Tour

While visiting Bydgoszcz, we encourage you to visit a beautiful Teutonic castle erected in 1296-1306 in the city of Golub-Dobrzyn. This fortress was supposed to defend the borders of the monastic state from the side of Mazovia. In the second half of the 15th century it was passed into Polish hands. In the 16th century, the fortress became a wonderful, eagerly visited Renaissance residence thanks to King Sigismund III Vasa’s sister – Anna Wazowna. It was an important period in the history of the castle. Unfortunately, during the Swedish invasion, the castle was destroyed but luckily, after World War II, this building regained the appearance of its heyday. Presently, at the castle there are knight tournaments and concerts organized and it is regularly visited by tourists. It is said that the castle is doing so well, because its walls are guarded by the White Lady – the ghost of Anna Wazowna. Join us for this tour to find out what power the White Lady has!

We organize private tours from Bydgoszcz to the Golub-Dobrzyn Castle on request

Tour itinerary:

• pick up from your hotel at chosen time
• approximately 1,5 hour drive from Bydgoszcz to the Golub Dobrzyn Castle by a comfortable, air-conditioned car/bus with an English-speaking driver
• visiting the castle with a private local guide in chosen language for up to 1 hour where you will see:

• Courtyard – it is surrounded by a wooden cloister built on brick pillars, running around the first floor and connecting the four wings of the castle. In the middle, a very deep well was once dug, which was filled up several times over the centuries. Looking over the cloisters, we can notice relics of Renaissance decorations on the walls – the so-called sgraffits. They help us imagine how beautiful the residence could have looked in the 17th century
• Basement – from the courtyard, we can go down to the huge castle cellars through vaulted descents, which were called goosenecks. They were formerly used as pantries. We will have the chance to see that the fully gothic character of these rooms preserved to this day (with raw walls, brick floors and beautiful rib vaults)
• Ethnographic Museum – in one of the Gothic rooms on the ground floor we can find the ethnographic museum. It houses exhibits that testify to the material culture of the inhabitants of nearby towns.
• Hypokaustum Furnace – a fire chamber located in a small room on the ground floor which gives us some idea of what everyday life could have been like in a medieval castle. It was part of the heating system at that time. Even today, on its walls, we can see traces of the fire sustained here, which warmed the air flowing through special channels and openings to the rooms
• Chamber of torture – in one of the rooms on the ground floor, where there were utility rooms, in which we can see iron hooks on the ceiling. Even before the Second World War, there was a bowl with a slot here, used for terrible torture
• Horse stairs – From the courtyard to the first floor and above we enter through a spacious staircase built in the 17th century, the so-called horse stairs – they owed their name to the fact that knights reportedly rode them up on horseback to the very chambers
• Hungry Loch – in the basement of the north-eastern corner, which used to be the basis of the so-called high tower, there was a hunger dungeon. It is built on the plan of a circle of fieldstones. Contrary to its name. The dungeon was not supposed to be a place of starvation of people imprisoned there, but a prison for prisoners waiting to be ransomed by the family
• Penitential purpose – When we enter the cloister, we will have the opportunity to see one of the small rooms hidden in the wall by the chapel which are penitential cells.
• As the legend goes, anyone who has something on their conscience should go inside for a moment and their sins will be forgiven
• Dormitory – once the bedroom of brother knights. Today, the dormitory houses the installation of the archaeological exhibition Secrets of the St. Wawrzynca Mountain. This exhibition presents the results of archaeological research conducted in the village of Kaldus near Chelmno, where in the early Middle Ages there was a stronghold with a settlement. The exhibition presents items from a thousand years ago.
• Refectory – on the first floor of the east wing of the castle there is a refectory where monks used to eat meals and held feasts
• Chapel – In front of the entrance to the chapel, from the cloister side, there is a deep recess with an ogival portal. There we can see the surviving fragments of sculptures that once adorned the portal
• Infirmary – next to the chapel there is a smaller room considered to be an infirmary, i.e. a hospital room. Here, monastic brothers were provided with medical care, and in a later era, Anna Wazowna practiced herbalism here.
• Capital – From the infirmary we go to a spacious chamber – this room was in fact a meeting place for religious brothers during their daily duties. In the past the most important decisions were also made here. The former chapter house once served as a bedroom of Anna Wozowna. The legends says that it is enough to enter the niche and make a wish, and it will certainly come true as soon as possible thanks to the guarding White Lady (the ghost of Anna Wozowna)

4.1 hour of free time to walk around the castle, take pictures, relax or have a cup of coffee in the restaurant
5.approximately 1,5 hour drive back from Golub-Dobrzyn Castle to Bydgoszcz with the same driver
6.drop off at your hotel in Bydgoszcz

Whole tour lasts up to 5 hours

Prices:

• 950 PLN per person (1 person)
• 490 PLN per person (2 persons)
• 340 PLN per person (3 persons)
• 290 PLN per person (4 persons)
• 250 PLN per person (5 persons)
• 220 PLN per person (6 persons)
• 200 PLN per person (7 persons)
• Contact us (8 persons or more)

What is included?:

• pick up from your hotel at chosen time and drop off after the tour
• private transportation by comfortable, air-conditioned car/ minivan,
• English-speaking driver’s assistance during whole tour
• entrance tickets to the Golub-Dobrzyn Castle
• private local guide’s service in chosen language for up to 1 hour

This private tour is available in following languages:
English, German