XX anniversary edition Twenty years on the trail of independence

ŚladamiNiepodległości

On 5 November 2026 we turn the clock back. Kraków becomes the board of an educational city game. We set off from Krzysztofory Palace, walk the streets of the Old Town, cross the Vistula and head for Podgórze. The game ends at 10 Stradomska Street, where a famous pea soup and a few surprises wait for the players.

The name means On the Trail of Independence. We invite primary school classes 1–8 with their teachers — including classes taught in English and Ukrainian.

Game day: 5 November 2026
Sign-up: 14 September – 9 October
Final gala: 19 November

Sign my class up Get the class ready

„The past is not behind us. It is in our city.”

An indicative route. Checkpoints of the 20th edition are listed with each trail. This year the game reaches Podgórze for the first time.

Time to the gameuntil game day

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At a glance

Everything a teacher needs before signing a class up.

Game day 5 November 2026

Thursday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.. Start at Krzysztofory Palace, Rynek Główny 35.

This year's theme Kraków, a stronghold of Polishness

180th anniversary of the Kraków Uprising, 1846–2026

Playing field Old Town and Podgórze

For the first time on both banks of the Vistula.

Who can play Classes 1–8

Primary schools from the Kraków region. The teacher signs up the whole class.

Sign-up 14 September – 9 October

Places are limited and allocated in the order of applications — the trails have a fixed capacity.

Final gala 19 November 2026

Copper Room, Krzysztofory Palace.

International schools Task cards in English

Tick the English version in the sign-up form.

Cost Free of charge

Taking part costs nothing. The school covers only its own travel to Kraków.

Three trails, one story

The same story told three ways. The trail follows the year group.

I Explorers' Trail

Klasy 1–3

A trail made for the youngest participants: fewer checkpoints, a shorter distance, engaging stories, pictures, riddles, play and movement. The children see mid-19th-century Kraków through the eyes of its people – townsfolk, craftsmen, traders and market women. They discover old places, trades, traditions and symbols of the city. The teacher or guardian stays with the class throughout the Game.

Route about 2 h 30 min – 3 h

Krzysztofory Kraków in the mid-19th century and the start of the Game
Main Market Square the Cloth Hall and the life of the townsfolk
Planty Park tales of the old walls and the guild towers
St Florian's Gate the gate of the city
Matejko Square the old Kleparz market and horse fair
Stary Kleparz market trade, crafts and commerce
Kanonicza Street (Długosz House) culture and traditions
Wawel kings and symbols of Polishness
Stradomska 10 finish, pea soup and surprises

Discover · Explore · Remember

II Trackers' Trail

Klasy 4–6

The route leads through Kraków towards Podgórze. Students discover places, people, symbols and turning points in the history of the city. They solve many riddles, work with maps, images and sources, and put the facts together. They work as a group, solving tasks together. The teacher or guardian stays with the class along the whole route.

Route about 3–4 h

Krzysztofory Kraków in the mid-19th century and the start of the Game
Stary Kleparz market trade, crafts and commerce
Main Market Square and the Grey House seat of the National Government in 1846
St Adalbert's Church faith and the role of the Church
Kanonicza Street (Długosz House) culture and traditions
Bernatek Footbridge and the Vistula the former state border
Podgórze Market Square and the Stag Manor life at the time of the Kraków Uprising
Stradomska 10 finish, pea soup and surprises

Discover · Understand · Connect the facts

III Researchers' Trail

Klasy 7–8

The longest route of the game runs through the Old Town, across the Vistula and into Podgórze. Students uncover the history written into the city, follow historical threads, examine the lives of its inhabitants, work with sources, compare periods and place events in a wider context. Points are won by teamwork. The teacher or guardian stays with the class along the whole route.

Route about 4 h

Krzysztofory Kraków in the mid-19th century and the start of the Game
Main Market Square and the Grey House seat of the National Government in 1846
Grodzka Street seat of the Senate and the authorities of the Free City of Kraków
Wawel national memory and symbols of Polishness
Bernatek Footbridge and the Vistula the former state border
Podgórze Market Square and St Joseph's Church faith and the role of the Church
Lasota Square and the Edward Dembowski monument the events of 27 February 1846
Old Podgórze Cemetery remembering the events
Podgórze Market Square and the Stag Manor life at the time of the Kraków Uprising
Stradomska 10 finish, pea soup and surprises

Discover · Compare · Draw conclusions

A drawn illustration of Podgórze Market Square in the 19th century: on the left a row of classicist tenement houses with street lamps and passers-by, on the right a free-standing church with a triangular gable and a clock tower, trees and an advertising column in front of it, and in the middle of the empty square carts, a pile of brushwood and a lone passer-by.

Expansion · XX edition

Podgórze unlocked

A new part of the map and a new story.

Podgórze Market Square in the 19th century. On the right stands the first, classicist church of St Joseph — replaced in the early 20th century by today's neo-Gothic one. Some of the pews from the first church survive. The illustration was drawn after a photograph from the end of the 19th century.

We cross the Vistula, which today joins the two halves of Kraków but in 1846 was the border between two states: the Free City of Kraków and the Austrian Empire. On the far bank a new part of the game is waiting — you will cross the old border and find out what the people of both banks had in common.

Available to: classes 7–8, partly classes 4–6
Premiere: 5 November 2026

The bridge — crossing the former border becomes one of the tasks.
Podgórze Market Square — new checkpoints and more traces to find on the other side of the river.
Two towns, one language — what held the people of Kraków and Podgórze together despite the border.

Get the class ready for Podgórze

Finish zone: Stradomska 10

Pea soup · conversations · creative traces

Pea soup at Stradomska

All trails finish at the school at 10 Stradomska Street. A bowl of hot pea soup and a moment's rest wait for every class before the quiz.

A creative card

Every class gets a large card and markers: a drawing, a motto, one important word from your trail. The cards hang side by side as a shared gallery of traces.

The Independence Tube

Say in a few seconds what you will remember from the game and what you take from this story. The best recordings will be played at the gala on 19 November.

A 20th edition keepsake

An anniversary keepsake for every player and a group photo of the class. Results are announced in 6–10 listopada 2026.

Key dates

Four dates worth putting in the school calendar.

14 September2026
Sign-up opens
A teacher signs up the whole class through the form. Places are limited by the capacity of the trails.
9 October2026
Sign-up closes
Once the list closes, schools receive their trail, starting time and an information pack.
5 November2026
Game day
Start at Krzysztofory Palace. The Old Town and Podgórze, three trails, a final quiz and pea soup.
19 November2026
Final gala
Winners, partners and guests, with a separate anniversary segment: twenty years of the Game.

Patrons and Partners of the 20th edition

Co-organiserMuzeum Krakowa

How to support the Game

How to sign a class up

One class, one application. Sign-up runs from 14 September 2026 to 9 October 2026.

Sign a class up