Itinerary for trip to Poland - comments/tips?

I'm going to Poland on my own. Here's my provisional itinerary - nothing booked yet.

14 Sept

1257 London St Pancras to Brussels 1603

1725 Brussels to Koln 1945

Koln 2228 to Warsaw 1055 (couchette)

15 Sept

1115 Warsaw to Gizycko 1702

three nights hotel (not yet chosen)

18 Sept

0838 to Ostroda 1121

three nights Promenade Hotel

21 Sept

0902 to Gdynia 1133

1232 to Hel 1408

1632 Hel to Gdansk 1838

Two nights Baltic Hostel opposite station

23 Sept

Gdansk 1107 to Poznan 1532

2105 to Koln 0614 (couchette)

24 Sept

Koln 0714 to Brussels 0935

0935 Brussels to Den Haag 1325

two nights

26 Sept

1830 Flight Amsterdam to London Gatwick 1840

I plan to buy a 3-day pass on PKP for 130zl (£32) to cover me for 15th, 18th and 21st, then buy a single ticket Gdansk-Poznan for 49zl (£12).

Any tips/improvements gratefully received.

Helena

take a camera

Yes I have one, but I am going to have to buy some extra memory cards for it!

rechargeable batteries and international power plug adapters..

and how about visiting Krakow and Auschwitz?

you might like to take the ferry from hel to sopot (stopping of for a swift half at the language pub or enjoying the atmosphere of monte cassino) before getting the train back to gdansk

train journey one direction to hel is probably ample

Hi Svenski!

Don't think I want to carry recharger with me, I'll buy Polish batteries and throw them away (need to travel light as no man to carry my suitcase this time!)

K and A= Been there, done that!

Bubba

I had no idea there were any ferries from Hel! That is very useful to know.

Found this: ztm.gda.pl/ferry.html

I love water! Any more ferries I don't know about?

ztm.gda.pl/ferry.html -Linia F2


so did i :)

I was also unable to find out if I can go up the canal from Ostroda to Eblag and back in a day. Any idea where the timetable is?

Now it looks like this, tx to Bubba!

0902 to Gdynia 1133

1232 to Hel 1408

1530 ferry Hel to Gdansk 1720

enjoy your trip Helena, especially your time afloat :)

The ferry seems to take a very long time. It looks such a short distance on the map.

Am I right in thinking you can see plenty of interesting things from the ferry, like liner-ships, sail-boats, shipyards, buildings, etc?

Hey, I just found this!

youtube.com/watch?v=ixS00ufRpMQ

Yup. It's quite possible you will see all of those, plus the beautiful beach that runs from Gdansk all the way to Gdynia.

I dont know the exact route but imagine the ferry will follow the shoreline from Gdansk to Sopot and then go out at 45ish degrees over to Hel.

Although maybe it follows the coast all the way round and thats why the journey seems to take so long

Regarding Warsaw and things to do, a friend of mine called Martyna made this answer on yahoo answers





There you go a quick tour round Poland...you don't need to go now and you can go and sit in cherry's bar on Marina road in Hastings, that's if it's still there lol

Thanks! A wonderful film of Gizycko. I'm not spending any time in Warsaw.

By the way, there's no Cherry's bar and no Marina Road here.

Well there used to be on the seafront, but I spelt it wrong and it was cherries bar. If you go along the seafront Grand Parade, into Marina where cherries bar was, and then the road leads into Grosvenor Crescent, but this was in 1997, so it may not be there any more. Read about cherries bar here it was a right den of iniquity :)

Eleven years is a long time.

Depends on the map scale. The ferries motor along at about 10 knots which is why it takes that long. You'll land in Gdansk along the river near the gate to Dlugi Targ (Long Street on most maps in English( and it's a short walk to your hotel. I live here so if you need help finding your way around just email me.

Sorry about the punctuation. It's a Romanian keyboard.

Hey Scottie! Thanks for your offer to pick your brains about Gdansk. I'm hoping to stay at the hostel by the station. It looks great. I'd rather stay there than at the Holiday Inn, even if it cost the same. As I'm arriving by train I want to dump my suitcase ASAP and get myself off to Hel. Those ferries look wonderful to me ~ I'll definitely go one way by ferry and one way by train. I love all forms of transport and as I cannot walk very far it's an ideal way for me to sightsee. I'll no doubt be using trams and naturally want to see the Old Town. If there's any place that I should not miss do let me know. My pleasures are simple: architecture, music, meeting people, just looking at scenery/landscape/towns in general.

I'd happily treat you to lunch if you're free on Sept 21 or 22 and you can tell me about life for the Brits in Polska.

The hostel by the train station has a good reputation. There's also a boat on the river that's really nice and rooms are 60 zl a night. My friend's family stayed there three weeks ago and really liked it. I don't know if it will be there in September but I'll go tomorrow and get their web site for you.

Don't miss the Old Town here. The architecture has a strong Hanseatic influence and is different from other Polish Old Towns. Plenty of music and people here.

I should be free on 21 September. I start my new contract on 22 September and don't know yet when I'll have to be at the school.

I can't tell you about life in Poland, just in Gdansk, and I'm an American!

And which school are you working at in Gdansk Scottie, if I can be so bold as to ask?

Be sure to see ul. Mariacka whilst you're in town Helena. In the evening when the sun is going down and the lights are starting to come on. Magical.

Thanks Scot and Logan.

The hostel is in an old railway building. I worked on the UK railways for 20 years and still feel a great love for it (three years ago I published a book about railway workers).

Would love to be sleeping within earshot of the trains. But sleeping in a boat sounds good too. Hmmm....

Well if you are around on 21st it would still be nice to have someone to meet up with even if just for an hour.

Helena

Logan, I work in Bell.

New itinerary! And this is fixed, as I have booked and paid for my train and air tickets now!

September 2008

14th Boyfriend drives me to Ebbsfleet 1145-1245

14 Ebbsfleet– Brussels 1315-1603
14 Brussels – Koln 1725-1945
14 Koln – Warszawa Centralna 2228-1055
15 Warszawa C – Bialystok 1120-1349
15 Bialystok – Elk 1410-1558
15 Elk – Gizycko 1612-1702
15-16-17 Overnight x 3 Hotel Mazury, Gizycko
16 Boat excursion to Mikolajki 0900-1800
18 Thu Train Gizycko – Ostroda 1037-1325
18-19-20 Hotel Promenada x 3
21 Sun Ferry Ostroda – Elblag 0800-1900
21 Train Elblag – Gdansk 1925-2053
21 Overnight (x 3) Gdansk
22 Mon Train Gdansk – Hel 0953-1212
22 Ferry Hel – Sopot 1300-1430
22 Ferry Sopot – Gdansk 1615-1800
22 Overnight (2nd night) at Gdansk
Day in Gdansk
23 Overnight (3rd night) at Gdansk
24 Train Gdansk – Poznan 1107-1532
24 Tues Train overnight Poznan – Utrecht 2105-0956
Train Utrecht – Den Haag 1015-1055
25-26 Overnight x 2
27 Train Den Haag – Amsterdam Schiphol 1703-1739
27 Plane Amsterdam Schiphol – Gatwick 1830-1840
27 Sat Train Gatwick – Eastbourne 1919-2013

Stay at boyfriend's and get driven home to Hastings next day.

Everyone has some good suggestions. Disposable batteries are the best bet. We took over 1,000 photos. We stayed in Sopot at Hotel Irena, and rented an apt. in Gdansk for a weekend. You should try to squeeze in the castle at Malbork if you can. That is sort of between Ostrada and Gdansk. You can stay there, as well. If you don't want to go to the Concentration Camp at Auschwitz you can go to the one at Stutthof. It's about an hour or two from Gdansk. Best by car . I heard the bus is long. Ostrada is very nice. If you need any other tips on that area specifically, feel free to ask. Good luck. you will love it.

Hi Dunkles

I've had my fill of concentration camps on previous visits, thanks!

I grew up not ever meeting anyone with my surname (except my parents, or course). THen I saw the roll of names at Auscwitz and there were loads of Wojtczaks. I took a photo of it.

Helena

Oh well the first part of the itinerary is down the drain: no Eurostar! Have to go Dover-Calais-Lille-Brussels! A spot of bad luck, there.

not a bad crossing i did it last week and will do again in a weeks time when i head back to krakow takes about an hour hour and half dependant on sea conditions ... :)

Didn't you fancy flying? Plenty of low-cost fares to Poland these days...

I guess the train is fun though... I tyravelled around Poland by train the first time I visted.

Londonchick

Cos of the Tunnel fire, I DID in fact end up flying to Warsaw. And I flew back from Amsterdam. See other thread on flying vs trains.