Polish travel advice anyone?

[dillydally]

Do they love toddlers?
It looks very pretty / cheap, especially Krakow

I am expecting a tumble weed style zero response on this one.

I'd love to go to Krakow in December one year, and have a white Christmas for a change! I didn't realise it went below zero in November already.

I googled for Sopot - looks nice. So you say it's warm enough for the beach up by the Baltic, trace2? Krakow weather is certainly really warm in the Spring and Summer, I thought Northern Poland would be a bit chillier.

Hoppy - don't know if that is the norm - but suppose demonstrates can happen. have to say we also went on the train to auschwitz and trudging in the snow from the station, standing around with wet feet just really brought the horror of what happen home to me even more than I had expected.

Ark, our first visit to Poland (was pregnant with ds at the time) was the only time we went to Auschwitz, and it was in the Spring. We found that the beautiful weather, the trees in leaf and the eerie silence were a painful, stark contrast to the horrors of the camp. I can imagine how evocative it must have been in the snow. We didn't even manage to see the whole camp, or even set foot in Birkenau, despite spending about 3 hours there (it's a shockingly huge place).

I suppose we'll have to complete our visit once ds is old enough (I believe they advise over 13).

Obviously not a fun day out, quite the opposite in fact, but we thought it was something that ought to be done at least once.

On a similar point, back in Krakow, we were lucky enough to be shown round Schindler's office and factory by the security guard - they'll be converting it into a museum shortly, so we were very pleased to have seen it in it's original state.

Hoppy, thats amazing - we didn't have time to do the whole camp either, my feet were turning toblocks of ice!! Did you manage the Jewish quarter in town, I found that particularly erie.

ark, we've never managed to explore the Jewish quarter, but it's always been on our list of places to visit.

Last time in Krakow, we decided it was high time we went on a guided tour of Jewish quarter on one of those mini-moke tourist carriage things. We usually like to walk around and discover things for ourselves, but time wasn't on our side, and then as luck would have it, the weather broke on the evening we'd decided to do it. So it'll have to be next time.

I've got to say that Krakow is great at night, if you're travelling without kids or are lucky enough to have babysitters. You can take your pick of the clubs, bars and restaurants around the main square. I would highly recommend the Harris Piano Jazz Bar on a Tuesday and Wednesday (not so busy then) for some live trad jazz and cheap beer. Nice!

As you can probably tell, I'm really mad about Krakow!

Have been to Poland lots of times (have family living there). Warsaw is a really interesting place (not much of it bombed by the way, mainly dynamited by the Germans after the Warsaw uprising). Love the reconstructed old town and the museum. The Bristol hotel is nice.

Krakow is more touristically appealing because it's pretty and original. The Jewish quarter is interesting (Ariel restaurant is great) although very little remains. Auschwitz is very near for a visit. I really like the salt mine at Wiekliczka - whole ballrooms with chandelier and statutes carved out of salt rock. Apparently they've had classical concerts down there because the acoustics are amazing.

Also have visited Sopot, Gdansk (lots of fantastic gargoyles and amber jewellery), Wroclaw, and Torun (really liked it, birthplace of Copernicus).

Did a great boat trip along the Elblag-Ostroda canal. Instead of locks some Polish inventor in the 19th century came up with rail tracks to get boats uphill so it's like you're sailing on grass(see here

There's mountains in the south and lakes in the north east too - if you go in Winter you could go skiing in the Tatras at Zakopane.

muminlondon, I'm not so keen on Warsaw, though of course it has an interesing history, and is good for shopping. The pace of life is quicker and the people don't go out of their way to be friendly. Typical big city, really. My fil really liked it though, and commented that the Metro was particularly good. Our last stop-off there was further marred by staying at the Novotel, which, though very modern and recently refurbished, was soulless and pokey.

For those on a budget, the Metropol is far more spacious, though the decor makes you feel you've stepped back into the 60s/70s. It also serves very good breakfasts. Would love to afford the Bristol hotel, though!

The canal trip sounds fab, and Torun is also on the list for future trips.

Oh, this post is fab!! Dh is treating me to a long weekend away from the kids for my Xmas and my mate and I have just booked Krakow so really looking forward to it. We're definately going to go to Auschwitz as that's our main reason for going there, so any tips re travel, what to expect etc whoukd be helpful.

We're going mid march so will it be really cold?
Cheers
cc

calpopscalum, we've only travelled in Poland from May onwards, and the weather at the beginning of May is just starting to warm up, so I'd imagine March would still be cold, although I've got not experienc of it myself.

As far as travelling to Auschwitz is concerned, the easiest way is by train from Krakow station. You need to train going to Oswiecim, the Polish name for the town. It takes about 50mins, and you then take a bus from outside the station to the museum - it's about 5 stops. The museum itself is mainly in the camp called Auschwitz, where many of the buildings contain lots of information, photographs and artefacts. A lot of it is understandably upsetting. You are asked to behave in a respectful manner when visiting, and it's best not to take 'this is me at Auschwitz' type of pictures by the gate or in the gas chambers, which we saw some tourists doing, and found rather tasteless.

The Birkenau part of the camp is around 5 times the size and has been left in it's original state. I believe there is a shuttle to it from the Auschwitz museum - we didn't actually go there, but my fil visited Birkenau, and the pictures show lots of barracks, some of them ruined, the railway entrance to the camp, the original latrines, bunks and washing areas.

I don't know what your expectations are of the place, but you'll certainly find it educational.

cc - watch out for people at the station trying to get you to go on their tour to the camp. We giot rweally pestered we saw swome tourists going with them and they were literally getting in these guys cars - obviously a bad idea! There are organised tours but these are much more expensive and imo less of an experience than getting there by train under your own steam.