Going to Poland - Szczecin, Katowice, Bytom, any suggestions

Hi everyone,

I will be traveling next week sept 17-27 and am looking for places to visit or important things to see, or fun things going on. I'm 25/f and haven't been to Poland since 11 years old. Traveling from U.S

I have been to Bytom, it is very near to Gorzów Wielkopolski. I did not like it at all or enjoy this part of Poland. Go to Kraków and then move on to the Czech Republic.

ilawa,olsztyn,malbork are all nice places dont forget siemiany just outside ilawa Enjoy your time here,gdansk is only 2hrs away aswell

if 450km is near for you...
Ireland must be a tiny little island, then.
Less than "near" parallelwise
And twice "near" longitudewise :)

Poznań, Gdańsk-Gdynia, £ódź, Wrocław, Kraków...

Generally not very exiting places to visit... take a trip to Kraków when you are in Upper Silesia, It's 2 houers by train.

I live really close by to Bytom, it's a dirty polluted industrial city, it has some nice Prussian architecture here and there but it's all under a thick layer of soot... one of the worst looking city in the Silesian industrial region..

Oh, thanks for all the interest and feedback! That's why I'm asking. I am really interested to travel to Krakow.
How far away is it from Warsaw.
The places I mentioned are all places where my aunts and family live so unfortunately I must go there but I plan to sight see some more exciting locations.

My plan is to spend the last night in Warsaw as well so I do not have to drive far to the airport.
Do you have any suggestions on hotels????
How long is a train ride from Szcecin to Warsaw?

If you have family in Bytom, they may now some nice places there for you to visit, I don't recall any but Bytom natives have probably a bigger knowledge :)

Which one is which? I ask because there is Bytom and Wytów and I have in fact been to both of them at different times but one is very close to Gorzów Wielkopolski and is really very uninteresting. In fact, there is very little in either from my memories to keep someone for more than about half an hour.

When in Szczecin you could try this (if weather will be fine):
Wolin National Park: wolinpn.pl/html/galeria/nowyindex1.html
50 km north from Szczecin.

Katowice? If you like basketball then between 17-20.09.09 there will be Eurobasket finals in Spodek, Katowice. I don't know if it is possible to get tickets...

Bytom has quite good architecture, but it is in not in good condition: skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=946222&highlight=bytom

If you are looking for cultural events try here (in Polish): cjg.gazeta.pl/Polska/0,87918.html

PS. If by any chance you will be in Wroclaw, you could use city guide :-) : wrota.wroclaw.pl/w/Main/main_eng.htm

I mentioned Silesia - that pinpoints the location of the Bytom I was talking about, it's a Silesian industrial city and it is uninteresting, the only interesting city in Silesia is Gliwice.. but all at all Silesian industrial region is generally dull and boring in comparison with cities like Krakow, Tri-city or Wrocław.

Yeap, Gliwice seems to be the most interesting in Upper Silesia: skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=40378436&postcount=87

Certainly it is not only interesting city :-) Upper Silesia is the most underestimated tourist region in Poland... I suppose it is for "off the beaten track" tourism.

PS. begin of autumn is good time for mountain trekking. In Upper Silesia: beskid-zywiecki.hekko.pl or not so far away in Tatra mountains.

If you count Bielsko-Biała into Upper Silesia, than it's also a beautiful spot to visit and a good base for mountain trips or a journey further into the mountains along Żywiec (where they make the famous beer : p )...

I suggest Bialowieza (200km from Warsaw), Krakow + Auschwitz & Wieliczka and maybe Tatra Mountains (about 150km from Krakow). If you need transportation let me know at kacper@bbb-adventure.com I can organise car with driver for 40EUR/day + 0,2EUR/km netto :)

Rgrds

What has happened to Poland, then? It used to be so cheap, its just like England now. Forty pounds a day plus .2 Euros per kilometer. I think I will stay at home!

I know Michal. LOL These prices are scary. It's the dollar, it's worth nothing now. When we were young we felt like the dollar was a lot of money when we went to Poland, now it won't even be enough for chewing gum!!! I'm leaving Wednesday. I will be flying into Warsaw.

don't want to scare u :)

Generally 40eur/day + 0.2 per km is reasonable price in Poland if u want or need to travel by car :)

public transport is of course cheaper, especially communication inside cities (about 10pln/day ~2,5eur) but also intercity trains (Warsaw-Krakow about 100pln~25eur 2nd class) - so you will see some difference with US or UK

Rgrds