Poland for two weeks

Hi....

Whether you should include Poznan is up to you. Nobody can decide for you.
As a personal opinion however, I would scrap Gdansk and do Poznan instead.
That's only my opinion though - and I'm not recommending that you should do the same.
Hope you have a great trip.

I'll take a contrary view to Billy...unless you have a particular reason, take a day off Warsaw and then you have an extra day to include Poznan...Gdansk is a lovely city and with its history and outside attractions of Sopot and Gdynia, there's plenty to keep you occupied including stopping off at Malbork, on the way from Torun...

I'm happy to hear that you've choose Poland as your travel destination.Poland is beautiful country and I'm sure that you will enjoy your trip there. Unfortunately long distance transportation takes a long time :( You need to allow longer time than in usual European/US standards to get to the places. Both railway and buses will take approx same time. You can book and plan your trip on line; buses: http://www.polskibus.com/ and trains: http://www.pkp.pl/ . Your travel itinerary looks good but I would rather take one day from Warszawa and I'll spend in Poznan

Warszawa 2 days(for example: The Royal Castle http://www.zamek-krolewski.pl/?page=1114, Lazienki Krolewskie http://www.lazienki-krolewskie.pl/, Museum - Palace Wilanow http://www.wilanow-palac.art.pl/, Warsaw Rising Museum http://www.1944.pl/en/)

Tricity & Malbork 3 days ( Tricity: Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia for example: European Solidarity Centre http://www.ecs.gda.pl/About_us, Westerplatte, Old Town in Gdansk, Gdynia Orlowo - very nice coastal walk, Sopot - nice holiday town with one of the longest pier in Europe more on http://www.shopandsee.eu/en/gdansk_guide/attractions). Malbork Castle in my opinion is a must http://www.zamek.malbork.pl/index.php?p=muzeum. If you like nature I would recommend Slowinski National Park http://slowinskipn.pl/en/ with Museum of the Slovinian Village in Kluki http://openairmuseum.pl/skansen/kluki

Torun & Biskupin - 1 - 2 days more info http://www.visittorun.pl/269,l2.html if you will have extra day and you like archeology I would go to Biskupin http://www.biskupin.pl/asp/en_start.asp?typ=13&sub=0&menu=143&strona=1&akcja=archiwum

Krakow + Salt Mine in Wieliczka and Auschwitz War Memorial - 3 days

Wroclaw - 2 days

Of course there is so much more to see but I understand that you have limited time. Hopefully it helps a little bit, if you will have more questions let me know. Have a great trip! Aga

Hi RalfG. I think a lot depends on what you plan to do/see on each city and what kind of traveler you are. When exactly on spring you plan to visit too.
I am not an expert in Poland but I spent about 25 nights on January/February 2011 there on a solo trip, visiting Warsaw,Torun,Malbork,Gdansk,Poznan,Wroclaw,Krakow . This trip felt fast paced to me but I tried to visit some friends on various locations. Usually I travel much more slowly. Most of the time I enjoyed the country by my self and I just met with friends for a meal or a few drinks at some cities..Usually I like to take it very easy, I am very interested to explore as many sites and museums as possible without rushing, and also to walk around various areas of each city, visit parks, town squares, to have a long meal and people watch etc... If you are this type of traveler I think that you do not really want to add more destinations on your list, you may even feel rushed as it is now. Actually I am not sure if the 1 night in Torun would be better spend on Wroclaw, as 2 nights/1 full day there is definitely not enough, while 1 overnight in Torun is ok to have a look around the town, but not enough to visit many sites either... I visit Wroclaw only for 2 nights my self but I think this area deserves at least 4-5 nights, very scenic city with a great vibe and lots of nice sites...I wanted to have a quick look on Torun and break my journey from Warsaw to Gdansk with one Torun and one Malbork overnight, although this is not my style of traveling at all ... I think that 1 night in Malbork about made it as more or less main interest on Malbork is the castle, but this was not a wise decision for Torun if you really like to visit some sites, a few nice museums etc there... Now about the usual Warsaw/Krakow dilemma...I find that people tend to under-rate Warsaw and give more credit to Krakow,but I think this is a bit unfair... I spent 5 nights at start of my trip and 2 nights at the end in Warsaw, and I really liked it. There are some nice sites in Warsaw suburbs and various sites spread out around the city while most sites in Krakow are concentrated in one spot, plus Krakow was not so influenced by WW2 bombards so Krakow seems a bit more attractive...but I really think each city deserves a good 5 nights/4 full days at least, ideally 7 nights if possible. I spent 5 nights in Krakow taking one side trip to Wieliszka Salt Mines and one side trip trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau and I think 5 nights were definitely not enough for me on the area.If you plan to stick strictly in the city its self, then I would think maybe 5 nights are about right... About Gdansk, I pleasantly spent 5 nights/4 days in Gdansk enjoying just the historical center without straying to the coast areas,so if you are interested on those, you should consider more days. I liked Poznan and I managed to visit a few sites, but this is the only destination where a friend came to join me from an other town. I spend 2 nights plus most of next day with her and 2 nights by my self and so we spent a lot of time to catch up on each others news and I did not get to visit too many museums, sites etc. I think 3-4 nights are necessary to visit most of those and have a few nice walks and enjoy some of its vibrant nightlife though...
Note that I visited on a time of year where dark was coming early and weather conditions were something to take into consideration. You may fit more in a day latter in season, but allow for some spare time to relax or take in something you haven't consider, or just in case of trains cancellations or delays or whatever...
I connected among those places in trains, most of trains were rather on the old and slow side, but nothing extremely inconvenient. I think public transport might have improved since my visit due to the Euro 2012 anyway...

skip Poznan, it's nothing interesting there. add one more day for Wroclaw :)

add one week more and head to Mazury or Mountains for some Nature....

Three days in Warsaw is too much, it's better to add a day or two to Krakow or Gdansk. A few months I did an easy day trip from Gdansk to Malbork! Well worth it! In fact, I would give Warsaw a miss. The Royal Castle was rebuilt from scratch less than 50 years ago, the Warsaw Uprising Museum is excellent but only if you are a Pole... Wilanow is interesting, but I am not sure if it's worth stopping in Warsaw.