Krakow, Warsaw and....

[kpc]

Next September I will be in Krakow for 4 days for a conference and i have already read @Mattg 's excellent guide: Quick guide to Krakow, Poland
and @RooFlyer 's excellent TR: More Central and Eastern European bling (incl Transylvania); *A flights, Accor hotels

The Q is I have 7 days free prior to the conference and was wondering where / what to do....I was thinking heading to Warsaw by ?train for a few days...is 7 days too much or should i head somewhere else as well? I will definitely be doing a day trip to Auschwitz, depressing as it will be

 

[kpc]

How about Vilnius, Lithuania as well?....I can tick another country visited of my list

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

Next September I will be in Krakow for 4 days for a conference and i have already read @Mattg 's excellent guide: Quick guide to Krakow, Poland
and @RooFlyer 's excellent TR: More Central and Eastern European bling (incl Transylvania); *A flights, Accor hotels

The Q is I have 7 days free prior to the conference and was wondering where / what to do....I was thinking heading to Warsaw by ?train for a few days...is 7 days too much or should i head somewhere else as well? I will definitely be doing a day trip to Auschwitz, depressing as it will be

I wasn't a fan of Warsaw when i went for work, so i personally wouldn't take 7 days there. Have you been to Slovakia? Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains are 3 hours away on the bus and it's a beautiful and underrated part of the world - particularly if you like the outdoors. In Krakow, Auschwitz is depressing but unmissable. The Wieliczka Salt Mines are good too and about 45 minutes out of Krakow.

 

[Cossie]

How about Vilnius, Lithuania as well?....I can tick another country visited of my list

If you can, do it! Also Estonia and Latvia are close by and worth it as well, small counties and easy to get around.

 

[OATEK]

Unlike others we loved our visit to Warsaw this year. Apart from the rebuilt Old and New Towns, there was the free Chopin in the park concerts (Saturdays only), some great museums (eg Uprising Museum) and out to Wilanov Palace. Easy bus travel in Warsaw as well.

 

[Virgin Bart]

I'm from Warsaw and can't recommend going enough. I suggest 4 days for the non-Polish speaker. I'll come back with recommendations soon. Unfortunately Krakow imo now doesn't reflect Poland - it's more for tourists now, complete with tourist food. Do head there though, and also to Auschwitz if that way inclined.

 

[Buzzard]

I especially enjoyed the Uprising Museum in Warsaw. Krakow was also a pleasure to visit, do the free walking tour. Food in the Jewish quarter was excellent. The town square was magnificent.

 

[kpc]

Thanks for the replies.

How about Vilnius, Lithuania as well?....I can tick another country visited of my list

If you can, do it! Also Estonia and Latvia are close by and worth it as well, small counties and easy to get around.

Would love to do Estonia and Latvia as well but it may be pushing it a bit if I do Warsaw and Vilnius and only have 7 days

Unlike others we loved our visit to Warsaw this year. Apart from the rebuilt Old and New Towns, there was the free Chopin in the park concerts (Saturdays only), some great museums (eg Uprising Museum) and out to Wilanov Palace. Easy bus travel in Warsaw as well.

I especially enjoyed the Uprising Museum in Warsaw. Krakow was also a pleasure to visit, do the free walking tour. Food in the Jewish quarter was excellent. The town square was magnificent.

Thanks for the ideas!

I'm from Warsaw and can't recommend going enough. I suggest 4 days for the non-Polish speaker. I'll come back with recommendations soon. Unfortunately Krakow imo now doesn't reflect Poland - it's more for tourists now, complete with tourist food. Do head there though, and also to Auschwitz if that way inclined.

Yes please for Warsaw recommendations!!

As I have to fly in / out of Krakow as work trip (with 7 days annual leave attached), I am currently thinking: Flyng from Krakow to Vilnius (on Lot via Waw - train seems to take a very long time, unless I'm misreading the timetables), spend 3 days there, then fly from Vilnius back to Warsaw and spend 4 days as suggested above, before catching the train back to Krakow. What do you think?

 

[RB]

I wasn't a fan of Warsaw when i went for work, so i personally wouldn't take 7 days there. Have you been to Slovakia? Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains are 3 hours away on the bus and it's a beautiful and underrated part of the world - particularly if you like the outdoors. In Krakow, Auschwitz is depressing but unmissable. The Wieliczka Salt Mines are good too and about 45 minutes out of Krakow.

We also loved our time in the Tatras many years ago. The border crossing into Poland was quite an experience-walked across while horses & carts went past.

 

[VPS]

At the risk of hijacking @kpc thread but I was about to start one myself. I have Poland on my radar for next year so interested in other cities and places that you think might be worth visiting. I like history, art, architecture and good food. TIA

 

[jase05]

I really enjoyed Poznan and Wroclaw aswell as a little town called Kudowa-Zdroj which was recommended to me by a bloke at work who was born there.
The skull chapel just outside K-Z was pretty eerie but interesting

 

[k_sheep]

I loved Warsaw, and I doubly loved this vodka tour. The Vodka Tour – Eat Polska Food & Vodka Tours The guy running it just has so much passion it's infectious. Incredibly good night out. Even my non-vodka drinking hubby was converted. Enjoyed it so much we went on the food tour in Krakow which wasn't as good, but still would recommend it.

 

[Myrna]

Train trip between Krakow and Warsaw is really nice / scenic. Nothing to add as most have been covered by replies to the thread.

 

[JohnK]

Scenic country but one trip to Krakow and Auschwitz was enough.

 

[OATEK]

Scenic country but one trip to Krakow and Auschwitz was enough.

Agree, important to do once. But that would be enough for most I would think.

 

[marki]

May I remind people about Pierogi ....my favourite are the white cheese pierogi ( sweet) with cream
Address: Szewska 23, 33-332 Kraków, Poland
Hours:
Closed ⋅ Opens 12PM

I am lining up already.........in the queue for boarding to Balice airport














Phone: +48 12 422 21 69

 

[kpc]

i have just come back from 5 nights in Krakow, 3 nights in Warsaw, 2 nights in Vilnius and 1 night in Riga...ran out of time to get to Tallinn. Great part of the world...Poland must be the next tourist European hotspot...cheap hotels and transport, good food and beer, lots of (at times, depressing secondary WW11) history, English widely spoken etc. But my favourite was Vilnius in Lithuania...too lazy to do a TR, but make sure you spend 2-3 nights here if you ever get the chance! Small walkable city with an Old Town, beautiful scenery, excellent cheap accommodation , food, alcohol etc....
A couple of photos:
Vilnius
View attachment 189441
Trakai Island Castle....~35km West of Vilnius
View attachment 190007

 

[marki]

I wasn't a fan of Warsaw when i went for work, so i personally wouldn't take 7 days there. Have you been to Slovakia? Zakopane and the Tatra Mountains are 3 hours away on the bus and it's a beautiful and underrated part of the world - particularly if you like the outdoors. In Krakow, Auschwitz is depressing but unmissable. The Wieliczka Salt Mines are good too and about 45 minutes out of Krakow.

I lived in Warsaw it's lefty and communist central. However, it has been rebuilt totally after WW2 which didn't end until 2004 when it joined the EU. It now has the first time in its history a liberal government. A big difference to the centralist economy with empty selves in 1984.

 

[marki]

It's so much different now with buildings going up in record time. Not like the Shanghri La in Melbourne. That's just starting to be built after years.

 

[Buzzard]

We spent 3 or 4 nights in Warsaw in 2017.
Such a fabulous city with a brilliant (but sad) museum where we spent hours.