Ninety seconds on Kłodzko Fortress
In summer, you can swap the heat of Kłodzko for the cold, low tunnels under its fortress, then climb back out onto the ramparts.
Under the outer slope of the fortress runs a network of countermine galleries, dug by soldiers known as miners. Their job was to find and stop the tunnels an attacking enemy drove toward the walls.
The guided route takes you through about a kilometre of them, and it is cool, damp and dark. In places the ceiling is only 90 cm high, and you crouch or bend double to get through.
Above ground, the upper route leads through courtyards, casemates and former prison quarters. Its displays follow the fortress from the tenth century to the twentieth, and it finishes on observation decks with a panorama of Kłodzko. It is one of the best-preserved fortifications in Europe.
Buy the Commander's Pack, the combined ticket for the upper route and the labyrinth, at the box office or online. No reservation is needed for individual visitors, and each route also has its own ticket if you only want one.
The labyrinth can only be visited with a guide, because a visitor alone would soon get lost in its branching passages, and the tour lasts about an hour and a half. Do the labyrinth first, then finish above ground on the upper route, with the view at the end.
The upper route takes about as long again. Dogs on a lead can come with you up there, but they are not allowed in the labyrinth.
Guided groups usually set off into the labyrinth every half hour. A tour in English is possible only if you reserve it ahead by email (twierdza@twierdza.klodzko.pl). Some family tours are led by a guide in period costume, playing a camp follower of the old garrison.
Bring a fleece or light jacket even on a hot day, because the tunnels stay at 8 to 10°C all year. Wear closed, comfortable shoes: the route mixes paving, cobbles and uneven ground.
Anyone over 180 cm will need to stoop, with room to straighten only in two larger chambers. Children under five are not allowed in the labyrinth, and it is not advised for anyone with claustrophobia or a heart or circulatory condition.
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