Poland Itinerary

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.

As someone above mentioned Torun and Malbork should be obligatory :)
Both very interisitng.
But don't forget about the east side of the country, some hilighsts are on the list given above:
-Bialowieza National Park
-Zamosc - A UNESCO-listed small town in the east of the country with renaissance-style architecture.
-Kazimierz Dolny - a really small but beautiful city, with great atmosphere, esp. in low season.
Have fun :)

mommyk5
You don't have to speak Polish to come here on your own.
I don't speak khmer or thai, but I visited both countries :)
You will encounter some problems, but your travel will be even more intersting :)
Really, lots of people do speak English in Poland.. You can always ask for help.

It's a good idea to go to Poland (or anywhere you don't speak the language) with one of those slim language travel books and a Polish-English dictionary. After that, you should be good to go anywhere you like. No need to be a Polish speaker or for them to understand English. You will get by just fine.

Personally, I wouldn't be so pre-occupied with seeing 'all the highlights' whatever that means. If you just galavant from city to city, you'll never really visit the countryside. I spent three weeks only in Malopolska, so it is possible to stick with micro-regional highlights. The wooden churches (there are dozens), especially the one at Debno, were a highlight for me, and that is not going to fit into an easy list, though it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Silesia has a great national park site near the Czech border, the Gor Stolowych National park, with its unusual rock labyriths, Biende Skala and Szczeliniec Wielki.

Links:
http://www.pngs.com.pl/angielska/index.html

http://www.drewniana.malopolska.pl/Obiekt.aspx?id=19

" I tend to be more of a city person who like to visit galleries and museums."
My suggestion:
4 nights- Warsaw>>>4 nights Krakow (inc Auschwitz, Salt Mines)>>1 night Czestochowa>>2 nights Wroclaw>>2 nights Poznan (inc Gniezno, Museum of the Beginning of the Polish State, Biskupin Iron Age Village)>>2 nights Torun (inc walled town Chelmno)>>4 nights Gdansk (inc Sopot.Oliwa, Malbork)>> 1 night Warsaw, for departure or depart from Gdansk. Take train (2nd class ok) or bus, based on travel duration or time of departure or number of connections.

Mommy5k - don't worry, you really don't need to speak Polish. I guess majority of younger people here speak at least basic english and people are very helpful. Buy a pocket English-Polish dictionary, LP guidebook and it will be OK. It's also good idea to have a small notepad always with you - you can write down address, departure time etc. which is very useful when buying rail or bus tickets. It's much easier to show such note than trying to pronounce it in Polish ;-)

Hi,

I've only been to Poznan, but from what I've heard the main place for sight seeing is Krakow and other cities have a few things to see which can be done in one day.

I think that Poland is best as a place for going to bars and having fun. In Poznan I found the bars to be amazing, it's so friendly and really good fun to have a drink with the locals so I'd make sure that you experience the night life there.

To be honest Poznan didn't really have anything attractive to see apart from an old town that can be seen in two hours. It also had a nice shopping centre, but apart from that it was more of a place for going out.

I don't speak a word of Polish, but in Poznan I had no trouble at all communicating. A lot of people will at least speak a little bit of English and some people will be fluent.

Chris.

Go to Krakow, Auschwitz and zakopane, you'll have a perfect mix of city, shopping, culture, war, nature and of course good food & drinks (try in Zakopane the warm beer with herbs&honey).

If you travel from Warsaw to Cracov, you can visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaskinia_Raj

nearby Kielce, which is along both the railway and the highway between the cities, so it wouldn't waste you too much time (it is not big as well), while it is one of the most beautiful caves I've ever seen , and judging by the pictures of numerous 'the most amazing caves in the world' , it has a pretty unique display os stalactites and stalagmites. I'm not implying it is a world wonder, but something that won't take you much time and will be nice.

Here's a picture:

http://swietokrzyskie.travel/data/mp/_tapety_1600/1916/jaskinia_raj_1600x1200.jpg

Edited by: lajtu