Lancut is known primarily from the large Lubomirski and Potocki Castle. On our road trip we wanted to explore best places of our eastern side of country, so we put this Castle on our to do list.
Castle is so big that it is impossible to miss the huge fenced area. You can see that the park is a big part of the city area. What was strange, that around the park was almost no parking and the lack of any parking lot for tourists. We needed to leave your car at the parking at one of the streets in the city center, in a restricted payed parking.
We came to ticket office, there we noticed that entry is only in organized groups with a guide. Tickets can be purchased on a single object or in package Castle Orangery + Carriage Room. We decided on a package, because I wanted to see everything worth seeing. We skipped only Orchid building. We even had a small discount as a Large family. Nice.
We needed to wait for a while for a guide in front of the ticket office buildings. The guide was in quite advanced age and her way of speaking disappointed us so much. You could see the lack of substantial preparation, no plan and improvisation consisting in the fact that when you noticed something in the room she told about that particular thing. For us it was complete shock, how it is possible to be so unprepared. We saw Kozlowka Palace few days ago so it was totally different experience. There we learnt everything about each room and each exhibit, here – quite the opposite.
That boring, not interesting way of making tour by our guide was what we didn’t like. Another are the prohibitions. The ban on photographing and filming, in every room “full-time security guard,” whose job is to monitor the premises and return rudely attention to tourists. And it is not about the shooting of the “flash” that as a prohibition understood, because he has to protect images from harmful flashes. But here at all was not allowed to photograph. Last time we saw such “live guards” in Torun, in Museum of Copernicus house. Same style.
To protect antique floors we had to wear the slippers to visit the castle. For children it could even be good fun, because in slippers legs slide like on ice. But – why there was no sizes for them? When we asked that question we’ve got answer that children do not have to wear slippers. It ended up that kids went in slippers a few sizes too big. Although some fun let them have.
The chateau we walked with great displeasure. We thought we were unlucky with assigned guide. But overtaking the group in front of us we saw that all the guides are seniors and are telling about castle without much commitment. Shame.
We bought a family ticket package, which in addition to admission to the castle also included a tour of the Orangery and the carriage house.
The Orangery is a building where cultivated exotic plants. During the tour we saw also aquariums with turtles. Walk through Orangery took a total of maybe 5 minutes. A joke.
Next we went to the carriage house that was located outside the park. During walk we saw unusual patrol of “park guards”. What did they guarded? Maybe there is so dangerous? Hmm, strange.
Finally we reached the buildings with carriage house and stables. There, again we saw sign “no photos”. In the middle there was a lot of nicely displayed carriages, sleighs and carriages. And again, in every corner of the building we saw worker guarding “the ban on shooting.” It is unwelcome to watch exhibitions when someone is looking constantly on your hands. They act like if every visitor was an enemy of the museum or a thief.
With great disgust we literally run away from this place. We left Lancut with a very negative memories. Total lack of openness for the tourist. We conclude that the target group which is expected here are retirees and the elderly. For children there was nothing that has promoted the involvement of the tour. We remember even our visit in Oslo, a museum of the Nobel Peace Prize – for children there was a special game of collecting cards with images of Nobel Prize winners. Here in Lancut there is also huge potential but totally wasted.
In summary tour of the castle and surrounding buildings definitely not suitable in our opinion to visit with children. This place, with the contemporary approach to the visitors, has no chance to be recommended.