Highlights

• Warsaw– the capital of Poland, and an interesting and vibrant city. Home of the famous composer Chopin
• Krakow– city in the south, beautiful Old Town with a castle and many churches
• Wieliczka Salt Mine – interesting history, and also beautiful with salt carvings underground
• Auschwitz and Birkenau– although it is incredibly sad to see this place and think about what happened here. It is very interesting and moving, so I recommend it
• Gdańsk – a port city on the Baltic coast
• Wrocław – a city on the west border with a beautiful Old town

Before you go

• Warsaw is the capital of Poland
• During WW2, Poland was on the side of the Allied Forces including Britain and the USA
• The Old Town of Warsaw was almost completely destroyed during WW2 but was rebuilt in the old style
• Many places accept credit cards but smaller places may only accept cash. Also tips are better in cash
• Tipping is optional but appreciated, usually around 10-15% for good to great service
• Check the public holidays, as some tourist sites and shops will be closed, such as on Easter
• Alcohol sales are banned in shops during some night hours since July 2023

Transport

• Poland has many airports, both in the large cities and small cities.
• In particular, the budget airlines such as RyanAir, EasyJet and LOT Polish airlines fly to a lot of smaller cities around the country
• Within the cities, the buses, trams and metros are a good option
• Trains and buses are available for travelling longer distances
• So far, I have not needed to hire a car, but getting to places in the countryside might be easier by car
• Also, to visit Auschwitz and Wieliczka Salt Mine, we needed to join tours to get there

Accommodation

• As usual, I recommend checking Booking.com for reviews to choose a hotel or guesthouse
• In Krakow, we stayed at Hotel Kazimierz I in the Kazimierz area. It was very comfortable and central for visiting the tourist highlights. In March, 2016 the prices were very reasonable even over the Easter holiday
• For Warsaw, hotels were very expensive in July 2023! Luckily I found a good hotel called the Motel One Warszawa-Chopin. It was centrally located across from the Chopin Museum. The rooms and decor were very modern.

Currency

The official currency in Poland is the Zloty and as of September 2023, one British pound is equal to 5.22 zloty.

I recommend to check the currency conversion just before you leave as this fluctuates

Food

Polish food is relatively common in London. Luckily that means that I was familiar with some of the food even before I could travel to Poland. Especially in West London, there are many Polish restaurants and shops.

Some of my favourite savoury dishes include pierogis (dumplings), cabbage rolls, pork cutlets with potatoes, beet soup, and salads. Although, a lot of the dishes contain meat, vegetarian options are available. For example, the cottage cheese or mushroom pierogi are very tasty.

Pickles are also very popular accompaniments. ANy and all vegetables can be pickled! And there are endless choices for meats and cheeses. Oszczypek is a delicious smoked cheese made of salted sheep milk. This can be found in supermarkets and local markets, and I first tried this at the Krakow Easter market. Yummy and easy to transport!

As for the desserts, my favourite is the Polish-style cheesecake. There are many cake varieties, biscuits, and apple tart. Poland also makes a lot of excellent fruit preserves.

Vodka (Wódka) is probably the most famous beverage from Poland. Piastowski is a type of mead. And Krupnik is a honey alcohol usually made from vodka, and it has a similar taste to mead. Poland also has many local beers to try, though I haven’t tasted most of them. Fruit juices are also excellent, and my favourite is cherry juice, which I often buy from a local Polish shop.

For each city, I will make some more specific recommendations for food and drinks.