I am looking to visit Poland sometime in 2011. It will more than likely be in September and the amount of time will be either 2 or 3 weeks.
What are the places I should go and see?
What is the best way of getting around Poland?
I look forward to hearing the suggestions.
Off the top of my head,
Gdansk and the tri city area
Poznon
Wroclaw
Krakow and nearby concentration camp Auschwitz
Warsaw if capitals are your thing
some people really like Zakopane....
depends on your want to do list.... you have not told us much
Train makes for easy travel as does the bus
of course there is plenty more but this goes from N to S much of it along the western part of the country.
The above poster has it all really. If you gave us a little more info on what you like that would help.
But those are the main places to go.
I am glad I did all those places when I went. Yes.... I could have seen more, but those really are the highlights of the country.....
Anything else is over kill especially in two weeks ....perhaps in three u could add something else
Torun is great. On the way down from Gdansk to Poznan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toruń
Several train connections from Gdansk to Poznan pass it.
Malbork with its huge knight fortress will be passed by using a different connection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbork_Castle
Nevertheless there are also direct connections without touching both about three times a day.
Have a look at this list of the top 30 destinations to visit in Poland. Three weeks is enough time to see most of the highlights of the country; be sure to visit the countryside (Tatra mountains, Malopolska, etc.) and not just the major cities. Trains are the best way to travel between the cities, you might need to use some buses if you plan to visit villages or smaller towns.
Wildroo
The Goulash Train Blog
Thank you for your suggestions. I tend to be more of a city person who like to visit galleries and museums. Hope this is of more use to you.
If you prefer museums and galleries - Krakow and Warsaw have dozens of them. 2-3 days for Warsaw will be enough, in Krakow you can spend even a week without getting bored (don't miss Auschwitz and Wieliczka salt mine nearby). Wroclaw, Poznan, Torun and Gdansk are also interesting. It can take you around 2 weeks to explore all these cities, if you have more time left you should pick something from the list WildRoo posted above.
There are many lovely small towns as well - like Kazimierz Dolny, Sandomierz or Zamosc, but it can be problematic to get there in a reasonable time using public transport.
Trains are the most convenient way to travel in Poland - they are slow but inexpensive.
I'm also thinking of visiting Poland next late August or early September. Are any of you familiar with Stay Poland tour of mazurkas travel? I'm thinking that I need to go with a tour guide as I don't speak Polish.
I suggest Wroclaw - with 100,000 university students this is a lively city. What you will not see is tour buses and tour groups, mostly locals and students. The historic town square "Rynek" has at least 50 restaurants within a few blocks from McDonalds / Starbucks to hgh end with menus of various ethnic groups. Since it is not a major tourist city there are not a lot of art galleries, but some. There are various small museums. From Wroclaw you can take a day or better overnight trip to the Sudety Mountains to the south. Your guide book will give suggestions of places to visit - Jelena Gora might be a place to stay then visit the mountains. Suggest you travel by bus from Wroclaw to mountains. The trains are VERY slow and infrequent. The bus station is behind the rail station.