In August 1873 a group of tourism enthusiasts including painter and photographer Walery Eljasz Radzikowski from Kraków and physician Tytus Chałubiński founded the Polish cultural Tatra Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie, originally the "Galician" Tatra Society for the Austrian censorship).

A parallel Polish Sightseeing Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Krajoznawcze) was founded by ethnographer Zygmunt Gloger in 1906.

Its activities include designing and marking tourist trails as well as cycling, horse and river trails throughout Poland; maintaining a network of tourist accommodations, including museums and libraries; running several courses and workshops; training and certifying official travel guides, and publishing maps and guidebooks.

It runs accommodation facilities of a varying standards with over 20 thousand beds; including, in 60 tourist homes, 77 mountain chalets, 35 hostels and water sports facilities, 5 inns, and 33 campgrounds; along with a network of 16 museums.

[2][3] The PTTK Society is a member of international tourist organizations such as the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme, the Naturfreunde Internationale, the Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe, and the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques.