We have the opportunity to travel to Poland this summer. We could go either 14 June to 24 June or 10 July to 21 July. For us, the July dates work better. Any of you Slow Travelers been to Poland in July? Please give us your feedback. We wonder if the weather is cooler and the hotels and venues less crowded in June rather than July. Yes, we are naive and for that we apologize!!! but it's why we've turned to you more experienced folks at ST......!!! Thanks very much for any information, Ghetian
Tom and Judy: Oh my!!! Just finished a quick review of your blog......thank you so much for replying to my inquiry and for sharing such wonderful narrative and photos.....absolutely super! You two are true vagabonds. My husband and I will spend more time with all of this tonight.
We will be coming via air from Copenhagen. Not sure how to plan our trip. We would arrive either in Krakow or Warsaw, spend several days in each city (travel by train between the 2) and then get a car to tour for another 7 days or so. We would then return to our arrival city and head back to Copenhagen. Any suggestions?
I can give you a recommendation for a lovely B&B (Jolie) in a central location in Warsaw, where we stayed a little over a year ago. Here is their website.
AppalAnnie: Many thanks for the B&B suggestion! We're so pleased to have a recommendation from a previous guest. I know we'll have more questions as our trip planning continues....... We hope you'll continue to give us your thoughts. Another question: did you rent a car while in Poland or did you visit via train or ???????? Warm regards, Ghetian
ghetian - I can't answer on the weather question re. June or July because I have only been there in the winter but of course most of Northern Europe has school holidays starting late June or early July so from the point of view of crowds I would opt for June.
We stayed (nearly three years ago so things may have changed) in a lovely old fashioned hotel (B&B basis) just a step away from the main square - Rynek Glowny - in Krakow and I would highly recommend it for charm and value at that time. It was elegant and had one of those really scary, out of the ark, 'wire' door lifts. To cut costs, we opted for a bedroom without a bathroom but the bathroom was just across the corridor so that was no problem. It is called Hotel Saski and we booked directly with a hotel agency in Poland who were lovely to deal with. I can look up the details if you like? The position of the hotel was perfect for exploring the city and of course there are lots of restaurants nearby, including a very nice cafe next door.
Felicity, thank you for the recommendation. We'll see if we can obtain Hotel Saski info online but if we can't, we will call on you for more assistance,please!
Looks like we'll target 10 June as our arrival.....getting excited and looking forward to learning more as we plan and prepare.
ghetian- I just looked up some reviews for the Saski and they seem to be very mixed! One complains of smoke smell in the bedroom - (yuk!!) and several complain of it being noisy at night. I have to say we did not have any of these problems but I did request a room at the back as coming from the country with the predominant 'noise' being birdsong I can't begin to sleep with city noise. We thought everything was lovely - different experiences and expectations I suppose, so I would never swear that something that was great for us would be great for the next person and it may have changed since we were there. It is NOT however right on the square as one trip advisor reviewer says, but down a side street. Sometimes I wonder if the reviewers have actually stayed in the places they review!
No, we didn't have a car. On that trip, we were only on a major cities route, so we took a train from Prague to Warsaw and then a plane from there to Vilnius.
In Warsaw itself, you really don't need or even want a car. Public transportation is rather good, and the Jolie B&B is near a transportation hub from which you can take buses or trams in several directions. As this Wikipedia entry says, the district it's in, Zoliborz, is located just north of the city center. The main train station is also quite close, and the proprietor's husband met us there.
My husband and I were in Poland (specifically Warsaw and Krakow)this past summer (July 16-21). These cities were part of our itinerary which included Prague, Vienna and Budapest. We flew from New Jersey directly to Warsaw with a brief layover in Amsterdam. We LOVED both cities in Poland(as well as the Polish people) but did meet with some cooler weather than we had expected. We also hit a bit of rain, but that did not deter us from walking around both of the cities and seeing all of the major (and less well known) sites. We traveled between the two cities by train having purchased a European East Pass through Rail Europe. We also pre-booked tours of Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt Mine through Krakow-tours.com and I highly recommend them. These tourist sites are outside of Krakow.
In Warsaw we stayed in the Polish Chamber at the DUVAL Serviced Apartments (duval@duval.net.pl) located in Old Town Warsaw and I can say that the accomodations, as well as the breakfast which was prepared for us each day by Martin, were wonderful. The only drawback to this B&B is that there is no elevator.
In Krakow we reserved a room with CRACOWDAYS (cracowdays.com) a B&B located in Old Town Krakow and although there are some items in the kitchen of which guests may avail themselves (coffee, tea, fruit, crackers, etc.) there is an extra charge for breakfast which we thought was a bit expensive. However, the manager of the property gave us the best overview of the city and made wonderful suggestions regarding restaurants, etc. that I have ever received. I highly recommend this establishment for its location and modern conveniences, including free use of the computer which is available 24/7.
One last thing, after making my reservations in each of these places, I sent an e-mail to the management asking about being met at the airport and train station. We were accommodated by both. I think this is a good idea no matter where you stay as it makes life a little easier (unless you feel comfortable speaking Polish). In any event, I think you will enjoy your trip to Poland as it has a great deal to offer.
Felicity, thanks for your reply...... We think that we'll make this a city trip too.....more of a "meet and see" type of trip for our first time there. This is what we did when we first visited France. We stayed 8 days in Paris....went many places within the city, learned some useful words, learned the Metro and how to order from the menus.....absolutely wonderful.......! Now we are comfortable with the country and can find our way around the train stations, etc.
Phylmokap, thank you for your advice and recommendations.Must confess that we are concerned about the language and transport from/to airport and hotel and train station......not in that order.
Here is where we are with our planning: Fly from Copenhagen to Warsaw........spend 3 nights. Train to Krakow for 4 nights, return to Warsaw via train for another night and then fly back to Copenhagen the next day.
This isn't "Slow Travel" but it is an introduction to Poland and a discovery visit so we can come back for a more in depth visit next time.Give us your opinion please!!
Phylmokap: I spent some more time exploring the websites of the places where you stayed in Warsaw and Cracow. They look very nice. Were they quiet? We are just a bit timid about finding our way from train and plane so appreciated the comments that the managers came to collect you from airport and train station. Again, many thanks!
ghetian - apart from not being able to read the signs, I wouldn't worry TOO much about not being able to speak the language, in the cities, anyway. Thousands of Poles work in England and Ireland and move backwards and forwards regularly so you will always find someone who speaks wonderful English and be keen to help. I attempted to speak Polish on our little trip and always got a big smile as a result. I am not quite sure if it was a smile of amusement at my terrible accent but it was well worth the try for the charming response. One of my sons has learnt Polish and says it is not really hard once you master the pronunciation.
The B&B in Warsaw was pretty quiet. As our room overlooked the main street, there was one night when we heard some young people enjoying themselves on their way home after a night of drinking, but it only lasted a short while as they were passing through. The B&B in Krakow was very quiet. I agree with Felicity about learning a few phrases (if you can). I learned how to say "please", "thank you", and of course "hello". These phrases were always met with a smile and a willingness to help, even when the helper's English was very limited.
Hi Folks. I want to thank all of you for your kind advice and sharing your information regarding Poland with us. Unfortunately, we had to postpone our trip to Poland and Norway this year.....disappointed but we will get there sooner than later.
We hope to take our granddaughter to Ireland next April if my husband can stay out of the O.R. so don't be surprised if you see my postings on the Ireland board!
Again, many thanks and happy travels to all of you on Slow Travel.
