When visiting Nowy Sącz and Gorlice counties, we are sure to spot many different monuments of the material culture. These are: brick and wooden churches, built in different styles, East Orthodox and protestant churches, which are diverse in their forms and building materials. From time to time we can also come across a synagogue. Here and there, we will see a few wooden cottages, some of which are still occupied, and in towns we are sure to stumble upon tenement houses from different ages. We can also visit the ruins of fortified castles, or, much better preserved, settlements of noblemen from diverse epochs: from the fortified Renaissance castellums, through classical manor houses, strongly associated with the Polish nobility, up to residences and palaces raised in different styles in 19th and at the beginning of 20th century. They constitute the most easily discerned testimony to the region's cultural diversity. Today, traces of this diverse cultural heritage are nursed and preserved, as far as it is possible, although some of them are irretrievable due to the historical hardships of the previous century.

The cultural wealth of the region was mainly influenced by ethnic diversity: the Lemkos dwelled in the south, in the mountain valleys of the Low Beskids and in the eastern part of Beskid Sądecki. After their post-war resettlement, there were only few of them remaining, although some gradually returned to their characteristic mountain cottages (chyże) and dainty wooden Eastern Orthodox churches. In many towns and even some villages, the Lemkos and Poles had Jews for their neighbours. Unfortunately, during the Second World War, they suffered terrible hardships from the German occupants, who almost annihilated their entire community. Today, you can only see small traces of their settlement in the form of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries. But this is not the whole cultural diversity of the region: the Poles themselves were never a unified group here. Although the old folklore has died out when it comes to day-to-day activities, the culture is maintained by regional music groups and you can also experience it in the Sądecki Ethnographic Park. The lands of Nowy Sącz and Gorlice have seen several different ethnic groups. There were Gorals, Lendians and Polish Uplanders. We also cannot forget that the inhabitants of small Galician towns had different customs. Eventually, the breath of modernity and otherness was brought in by local spas, frequented by patients from different corners of the country, who introduced new cultural standards.

To this day, the cultural diversity of the region is also manifested in different local products and culinary traditions, which, after years of neglect, are being revived by many gourmets. This also applies to old crafts and folk art, whose traditions are still maintained by the local artists and craftsmen.