Use your imagination, because we are going back in time. The year is 1802, a carriage is entering the estate in Bukowiec, there are lots of flowers, applause and fireworks around. It is the local residents and servants who welcome the new Lady. They do not know yet that Countess Friederike and her husband Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden will quickly transform the Bukowiecki estate into an extraordinary residence with a beautiful park in the style of the English "Ornamental Farm". On 120 ha, they will create a romantic, rural estate with a thriving farm, which will delight with its aesthetics for centuries to come. Even a barn, a sheepfold or a cowshed will be classicist architectural pearls. Counts von Reden were ahead of their times. He: director of the State Mining Office, specialist in steelworks and mines, minister in the Prussian government, talented gardener. He personally designed the park in Bukowiec. And a romantic! On the second wedding anniversary, he gave his wife a beautiful teahouse, a building in the shape of a Greek temple. She: a German noblewoman, raised in North America, altruist, patron of the arts. Today we would say that she is a woman who is not afraid of any work. She prepared economic plans, made fruit preserves, managed the brewery, bred purebred cows, and managed the estate.
Today, after 200 years, Ornamental Farm Bukowiec is still a unique place. The former farm buildings became the Artistic Barn, the Sheepfold with cozy rooms, museums and a café. The park is still stunning, the view from the boat to the Karkonosze Mountains is jaw-dropping, and visiting the estate at night allows you to travel back in time. Come for concerts, workshops, exhibitions and to relax. We cordially invite you to Count von Reden. We will be happy to accommodate you as Friederike would wish.
The only ornamental farm in Poland. The farm estate founded at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries by Count Frederick von Reden was to serve as a profitable farm and at the same time be attractive to the eye, conducive to recreation and relaxation. The farm buildings were to sensitize the people working here and visitors to the omnipresent beauty.
The farm includes:
- Owczarnia, where we have 10 double rooms, 2 triple rooms, 2 huge quadruple rooms and 2 apartments with kitchenettes (for 3 and 4 people). On the ground floor of the sheepfold there is a hall and a large banquet hall.
- The former brewery, which now houses the Mysterious Forest Museum and the office of the Valley of Palaces and Gardens Foundation
- The Former Board Building, where we provide 7 cozy apartments for guests who want to relax in the privacy of the park
- A barn built around 1800, which currently houses a café, the “In the Valley of Palaces and Gardens” Museum and a concert hall.
In the rest of the estate, on 120 hectares of the Park you will find:
- Fisherman's House with a barbecue offer and a garden in the summer season
- 9 ponds, including the largest Kąpielnik
- a garden pavilion, called the Tea Room or the Temple of Athena, located on the top of a small hill, from which you can see the Karkonosze Mountains with Śnieżka at the forefront
- a viewing tower, called Strażnica, from which you can admire the panorama of the Karkonosze, Kaczawskie Mountains, Jizera Mountains and Rudawy Janowickie
- The Abbey, which initially served as a garden pavilion, then the founders' mausoleum
- countless paths with educational boards
- lots of green corners, benches scattered throughout the area, including the most famous and most impressive bench of Countess von Reden at Długi Pond, from which the Countess contemplated Śnieżka
At Owczarnia we serve breakfast in the form of a buffet. We try to include local products in the menu. We buy bread, cheese, eggs from the hosts or from local shops. We have vegetables from the market. Coffee from a drip coffee machine, a large selection of teas.
For a second breakfast, a light lunch, as well as coffee and dessert, we invite you to the Café in the Artistic Stodoła (from April to October). We run a small bistro there; the menu includes delicious soups, dumplings and, of course, vegetarian dishes. At the Café we also serve homemade cakes, coffee and tea.
And in the Fisherman's House, located on the scenic Kąpielnik pond, we serve grilled dishes and regional beers in season. We can also organize a small party there.
We hope you have reserved plenty of time with us, because we have a ton and a tad more attractions here. In addition to the 120 ha of park and walks in silence, fishing (just remember to buy a brick for the revitalization of the park - in the Café or in the Mysterious Forest Museum), contemplating on the pier over the Ponurej Kapliczki pond or in the Temple of Athena, coffee with homemade apple pie in the Café, we have a few dozen more suggestions for your free time.
What awaits you in Bukowiec. Folwark and Park?
- Interactive Museum of the Mysterious Forest,
- Interactive exhibition In the Valley of Palaces and Gardens,
- events and concerts in the Artistic Barn,
- annual festivals such as: the August Festival dell’Arte, the Folk and Folklore Song Festival, the main idea of which is to combine different genres of art and present them in historical buildings,
- Observation tower located in our Park, which is a remnant of an artificial ruin of a building called Kessel Castle. After climbing 65 stairs, you will get to the top, from where you can admire the panorama of the Karkonosze, Kaczawskie, Jizera Mountains and Rudawy Janowickie. - daytime walk with a Sudeten guide in our park
- night walk with torches, during which the guide will tell you about the history of Bukowiec, and will also share interesting facts about the landscape and nature,
- plenty of bike routes
Routes to be completed individually or during a guided tour:
- 10 km Bukowiec - Kowary - Bukowiec route with a passage through the Kloeber Gate and the historical border of the park to the pass under Brzeźnik (entrance to the viewpoint).
- 17 km uphill route: Bukowiec - Sokole Mountains - Bukowiec along the blue trail towards Karpniki. From there, along the yellow trail to the Szwajcarka shelter. Lunch break (picnic under the linden tree). Entrance to the selected viewpoint - Krzyżna Góra or Sokolik, panorama of the Sudetes.
- 26 km Bukowiec - Starościńskie Skały - Bolczów Castle - Bukowiec route, along the blue trail through the Karpnicka Pass to Lwia Góra, Piec, Skalny Most.
The Main Sudeten Trail and the Camino de Santiago trail run through our area. The Sudeten Trail is 444 km long and takes about 120 hours, or about two weeks of hiking. We recommend taking it from Bukowiec through the Abbey to Mrowiec Hill and then to Mysłakowice and the Royal Park; or the section towards Kowary and the aforementioned Kloeber Gate and the viewpoint on Brzeźnik Hill. As a curiosity, we will add that the Lower Silesian St. James Trail is the oldest section of the Camino in Poland.
What’s there for children?
Holidays in Bukowiec. Folwark i Park. are like a green school in its best form. Children will leave here with a head full of knowledge, with brilliant memories, with new skills and a desire to return. During the holiday season, on weekends, we organize workshops for children (parents' participation is possible :). Our offer includes artistic, forest and ecological workshops. At the paths, at the crossroads, we have educational boards about animals, plants and birds, which allow you to get to know nature better and remember the names of individual species.
There are also museums in our park, but not just any museums, because they are modern and interactive! In the Mysterious Forest Museum, children will be able to listen to and imitate the sounds of nature and watch wild animals in their natural environment. For the youngest, there is an interactive pond, which they will be able to "jump into" and educational kiosks, thanks to which they will remember interesting natural facts about the Jelenia Góra Valley through play.
In the "In the Valley of Palaces and Gardens" Museum small and big tourists will learn what the Polish Loire Valley is all about. They will delve into the history of residences and aristocratic families, listen to famous people talk about their stay in our region, and travel back in time. "In the Valley of Palaces and Gardens" you can see hand-made models of Chojnik Castle or the Palace in Pakoszów and, thanks to streaming speakers, travel into the world of Izabela Czartoryska's memories.