WE ARE BACK FROM POLAND AND HERE IS OUR REPORT

except on the plain. why put your poor pup through that hassle?

We thought about cancelling our trip because of gas prices but when you figure total cost of the trip cost for gas is a very small part of it. If gas went to $10 and you traveled 1200 miles it might only cost an additional $75 if that much. Don't let that deter your decision.

About the dogs I didn't see that many as compared to other countries . I hope somebody from Poland can answer this question. I don't recall seeing dogs in business establishments. Its something that I was not paying attention to.

In my original trip report I made a mistake and said my costs per day with alcohol was $298 when in fact it should be $289 and thats the total for me and my wife.

Poland is full of dogs, and pet ownership is very high, even in the cities. The mounds of steaming dog poo on almost every city street is proof of this. There are many coffee shops and and pubs that don't mind if you bring a dog, but generally people don't do this. You see it now and then in the smaller, local establishments. Dogs on public transport are ok, but they should be muzzled and leashed....

May is a very good time of year to come here. Just starting to get hot but still pleasant. Late September is another good time to visit. Forget about coming between mid-October and March. Summer can be a bit too hot for comfort.


You can take dogs into most places which don't serve food.
But your dog is unlikely to thank you for taking her to Poland: a stressful 12 hour flight then a one hour flight followed by lots of driving and then even more flying. No holiday for the dog.

Thanks for the tips and replies.

Enjoyed your report on your trip to Poland; my sister and I will travel there Sept 30 - Oct 9th and you had good information about bed and breakfast that you recommend. We had gone 2 years ago and stayed at the Novatel Centrum in Warsaw but wanted to experience something else this trip. We are 65 and 62 - do you recommend that we rent a car? I agree the driving is overwhelming from my last trip but we had a bus tour.

Because we lived in Switzerland in 1973-1978 we had an opportunity to drive through many countries. If you don't have troubles driving through large cities in the US you won't have a problem in Poland but please get a GPS unit or I can guarrantee you will get lost many times and spoil your vacation. If you have a TomTom I will sell the East Europe map I used for $50 as I paid $78 for it and it was a life saver.

Great report Rjrogalla! We have been thinking about going to Poland for a long holiday. We drove there once from Holland - went to Auschwitz. I remember driving through this little village (can't recall name) on the way - no one spoke English but they were incredibly friendly to us. Driving was a nightmare, however living in Holland for several years now and travelling around a bit to other countries in Europe - I have to say the Dutch are some of the most aggressive drivers I have ever encountered. I find myself behaving the same way occasionally just because it's so frustrating!

A very interesting and detailed post. Many of your experiences matched my own from the last trip. Glad you had the chance to go.

Thats an interesting observation. I don't believe the Polish are particularly agressive drivers. They have reputation as notoruiously bad drivers and this is deserved. But on the most part, they are not agressive. In my epxerience. Although there was one driver who wanted to fight me because i didn't let him intimidate and push past me. So maybe I am completely wrong about them being agressive drivers. Maybe they are notouriously bad and agressive drivers. It is all relative.

#1 Super Guy

We had two very close calls in Poland. Once we were confronted by a car heading right at us and we only had seconds to move out of the way or I'm sure we would have been killed. He was playing chicken which was scary. The other was we were going 80 miles an hour on A2 and we didn't get off the "fast "lane fast enough with our Nissom Micro and the driver behind us (large Opel) honked his horn and as we were going to the "slow" lane he intentionaly came VERY close to our car when he passed us which was scary. His car nearly hit my rear view mirror. Other then these two we survived. Its worse then Italy and Portugal and even NY but if you drive defensively you will be fine.

Thank you so much for the great report. We are leaving for Poland at the end of this month (June), and your report is so helpful!

We are visiting my family and friends in Warsaw and in Szczecin. After that we want to go to Krakow for 2-3 days, then to Bilgoraj to visit more family - and return to Warsaw to fly home (California).

I was in Poland 35 years ago, and I'm sure everything will look different.

We will also probably rent a car since we need to go to so many different locations. I have never used a GPS and I'm wondering if the car rental agency rents GPS with maps - and if they would program it for me?

I'm a bit nervous about the horrible drivers.... but we will definitely follow your advice = stay out of their way!

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Does anyone suggest taking the train instead?

Terese

I was told they don't provide GPS at least not with National car rental. GPS is VERY easy to use and I wouldn't go without one. I have a TomTom from Walmart and ordered a East Europe map from TomTom which I have on a SD card that I would sell for $50. New its $78 and it will only work on a TomTom. If you decide to use a GPS make sure the car you rent has a cigarette lighter so you can plug it in.

If you have any questions pls don't hesitate to ask.

Oh, I am leaving tomorrow morning - otherwise, I would buy your maps for sure! I guess we will hope to rent a car that has a GPS. Or else I can go buy one right now at Costco. Do you think I can buy the maps easily in Poland? I will be in Warsaw for a couple days before renting the car.

Your posting has been very valuable to me. Thank you.
(I printed it to take along on the road.)

If you take Express train from Szczecin to Krakow your journey would take some 9 hrs and you are likely to change trains in Warszawa. I've done it several times and had enjoyed it. It seems long but you can have a meal on board and changeover in Warszawa makes your trip in fact less monotonous. There are some direct trains from Szczecin to Krakow as well though. First class is really comfy and there's a bar on board to spend some time. Price is right too, 115 or 156 pln regular ticket.

The maps are only available by downloading from a WEB site to a very small SD card that you would plug into a GPS unit. I would suggest calling all car rental agencies for Europe and see if you can find a car in Poland with the unit already installed. They

would show you how to use it. In the US all rental agencies rent GPS units. I'm certain you cannot buy the digital map in Europe but if you find a car with GPS the map would already be loaded.

Wow what a great trip!! I really can imagine the feeling when you were entering your father's church! Pretty amazing..

Thank you for posting this. :)
I am planning to travel to Poland next year, and I was wondering if someone would write a review of sorts, about visiting Poland.

Thank you, once again.
(I do have a few questions about traveling in Poland.)

That's a shame. That a woman mentioned to you, that Americans smile too-much. I smile quite commonly, every-day (a cheerful person and *up-beat* woman, by nature) so I'll do my best to have others do so in Poland. :)

Traveling is becoming more and more expensive. It's the ticket to fly over-there, that is one of the *kickers*

Hi all,

Whoever is traveling to Poland next, please don't forget to add Wroclaw to your itinerary. Parts of Wroclaw are absolutely stunning!

I second that. I was there last may and recommend greatly.

I was just contacted by someone who was just in Poland and read my trip report and only lives a few miles from us in the country ! What a great forum.

makes more more want to see Poland beautiful place language and culture. it is easey to find why people hard to smile much. my ex was polish and I always wanted to go to Poland. I hope to go one day.Krakow looks amazing. thanks for the report becuase people judge Poland too easily. they are sure better then Ruassians.More Powers to the Poles.

We were warned before we visited Poland that most Polish people don’t smile and unfortunately its true. We feel very bad for all the Polish people who have suffered so much especially the past 70 years with Hitler and the Communist. How could anyone endure such humiliation and deprivation over their turbulent history and still smile.

Its unfortunate most Americans have no idea what Poland and other European countries including Russia went through during both World Wars. We have traveled a lot and have seen much and we think every American should have an education about the hardships of countries in the past and present in our school system. I believe if we had this in our educational system we would have a better understanding and provide more financial aid to countries that are in need.

We are proud to be Americans but we are saddened about the lack of knowledge most Americans have about the rest of the world. Our world is beautiful, that is inhabited with very special people like those in beautiful and historic Poland.

I am sorry for venting but my wife and I felt it had to be said. We hope we have not offended anyone and hope we can get some Polish people to smile from what we have said.

Bob & Dorothy

Bob and Dorothy...great report.....very reflective, common sense based and useful, good luck, Frank

Please read my response.

Fantastic post. I can't wait to go back.

Hi all,

From now on let's share our experiences from our trips, wherever we travel. I'm quite impressed by this great report, lots of helpful pointers for those of you who have never visited Poland :) I excluded myself from this group because I go to Poland quite frequently considering the distance and the costs :)

I wish we (Polish folks) could smile more. When a friend visited me in Poland once before I moved to the States permanently, he noticed the same exact thing. "Did someone die?" was his question LOL Oh well, I didn't know how to explain it to him. And that was long before Poland joined the EU. My experience even here and now is that we don't smile in the USA either. So I guess it is our thing :) I mean not everybody at least.

Anyways, gotta go :)
G.

Nice report! I am thinking of planning a trip for the future to Poland and this forum is proving to be valuable!

agree with you mosat American people dont know about Poland or other countries youa re very right or to even care about the Polish language. I say your report was very good i loved it. Americans need to get their heads out of their asses and into relaity that there are other countires besides the usa. and like to see a Polish Smile :).

I've been in Canada 20 years and went to Poland last year, pretty much as a tourist and see family I haven't seen in a looooong time. Saw Warsaw, Wroclaw, Brzeg and Karpacz. Gotta say Poland's very picturesque. Warsaw was my fave city because of the history and because of the all the great things you can see there. It's the capital. It's got the most monuments and some great parks and architecture. The city's regaining that pre WWII charm. The city is more pretty than Toronto or Ottawa. Wroclaw is a great city as well and Brzeg is quite a fantastic town. I could live there. And Karpacz in the mountains is beautiful.