DO AMERICANS/CANADIANS TRAVEL TO POLAND????

I just read an American article online stating that only 331,000 Americans travelled to Poland last year. Poland is actually in the top 10 European destinations. There's a ton of Polish Americans and Canadians. Are they not spreading the word? Is Poland not advertising itself to America? Poland is just as nice as France and more picturesque than England. And it's a lot cheaper. Maybe there's an ant-Poalnd propaganda in America? Discuss.

I plan to travel to Poland. (I just think it's a beautiful place.) :)
I'm American, and am a traveler by heart.

But you probably have Polish ancestry. I'm talking about a typical American. But I've heard bad stories about ignorant hick Americans travelling to Europe. Maybe we could do without them lol.

There are no adds in the papers or on TV promoting Poland as a tourist destination at this time. I think, it is up to polish travel agencies to do that. Americans will go and visit places, which are heavily advertised.

Sometimes nicer.


* sharp intake of breath *

One problem may be the kind of places American tourists feel they ought to visit on a European holiday. These will include places their ancestors came from, which will more likely than not not include Poland (this probably goes for every European country - think about it for a moment), and may include specific destinations such as Auschwitz, which could leave the wrong kind of impression of Poland.

I'd recommend visiting every country, with the possible exception of Liechtenstein (just because it's too small).

It's Tuesday, so this must be Belgium.

Not that probably any Americans will watch it, but there is an advert for Poland and Warsaw at the moment flying around BBC World TV.


Hmmm, I find this hard to believe although Poland has it's outstanding spaces of special interest like the mountains and the forests, it just cannot compete say on the level of countryside, as a lot of Poland's lands are flat glacier formed features, which in most places can be repetitively boring.

Another area that Poland cannot compete on is the coast, as England say maybe apart from the Nordic countries has some of the most spectacular coasts in Europe; Cornwall, the Norfolk coast, the south coast, and the Cumbrian coast all are far better than the Baltic coast, with its chilly winds and freezing water.

I think your answer may be biased there ukpolska. Here in N.America nobody travels to the UK for the beaches. And it's a widely known fact that England has horrible weather. I say Polands weather on the whole is better. I was just there last summer. I just think London and Paris are multicultural world class cities. They've been promoted as that. And you see people go into debt time and time again just because the TV says it's a trendy place to go to. Any toothless hick in the USA can name France for example as a possible travel destination. F**k the French hehehehe

Maybe but I still stand by it :)


Have to agree here, but my whole point on this was not the weather, it was that you said that Poland is more "picturesque than England", which I just cannot agree with. And after living here in Poland for eight years as I have, I think I am qualified to make a distinction between the two.

Don't get me wrong I love Poland and I love the countryside in parts, but I get a little bored of the flat featureless lands of the centre and north.


Only foreigners go to London today, personally after living and working there for thirteen years I hate the place now :)


Yeah and some "toothless hicks" in the US think that Poland is part of France lol
"F**k the French" Nah! France has some the most fantastic places in Europe and I lived there for two years next to a Brandy distillery near Tours, hmmm!! OK maybe I am a bit biased here lol Oh sweet alcoholic memories :)

I respect your opinions but somewhat disagree. I think traditional English architecture is boring, dare I say. The ugly, uninspired architecture of industrial cities you see in Canada and America is a result of their British influence as they were the dominant host cultures in both countries. Canadian cities still look very British inspired. You can't certainly compare that to colourful Polish towns and villages. It's not all like that but what country is perfect? Now I don't know where you are from in Poland and when you visited last but I liked it there very much when I visited Sląsk last year. Polish homes have more colour. My girlfriend's from Ecuador and says she hates how all the homes and buildings look alike in Canada. It's a very British thing. As for the landscape itself. What country doesn't have flat or low lying areas? We have a lot to offer. Mountains and highlands in the south and all the beautiful lakes in the Mazury region. And let's not forget the Baltic. Does England have poppy fields?

As for the French, well they're too arrogant so I'm in no hurry to give them my tourist dollars lol. Why did you leave France by the way? And I once knew an American girl who thought Italy was in France.

this statement shows your ignorance of the evolution of English architecture and discredits anything further you may have to say on the matter.

As I said I have lived here for eight years and you coming here with rose tinted glasses........ah damit....what's the point!!

Bubba, it's my opinion. Take it or leave it :)
UKPolska, sorry I just thought for a sec that you were a Pole living in England.

Have you been to France? I've been several times and find the French to be quite hospitable and not at all arrogant, aside from that the food is quite nice too.


I suppose you know a lot about English architecture? You may want to look at this link, hope is clears a few misunderstandings you may have about our buildings and history of them.

britainexpress.com/architecture/

As for Poland, having visited a couple of times, I can say it's a lovely country, but having travelled around the Czech Rep. I would say it's a nicer country, it's all about preference really.

everbody is entitled to an opinion. but holding an opinion doesn't make it informed or correct. i'll leave it. but thanks for the offer :)

Well then.... you heard it here first. Czechs are better all of a sudden. Let me guess, you stayed mostly around the Prague area? Go join a Czech forum.

Anyways, I don't like British weather and don't like for the most part the architecture of tha country. Visit Poland.

i'll agree with you on that

there are some wonderful things to see and do in poland

but poland by no means holds the best that europe has to offer

if peoples' expectations are built too high, they will only be disappointed

So what country has the best to offer? It's all subjective really.

I didn't say that.


No, I travelled around Western Bohemia and visited many cities in the Czech Rep, that's why I said Czech Rep and not Prague.


But I like it here, btw, who the fcuk are you?


I have, 3 times, I may visit again, I may not.

of course it's all subjective and down to individual preference.

what would be the top 10 criteria you would use to judge one country more favourably than another

for me, weather is high on the list, closely followed by food. im a vegetarian so i look at the extent and availability of my choice. so whilst spain for example comes high on weather it falls down on food.

poland scores midrange on both - the summer is great but im not too fond of the winter. i tend not to eat a lot of polish food but at least there will be a vegetarian choice when i do

what are your criteria?

This is a very knobworthy comment that Americans and Canadians have no self concept of architectural design and quite frankly is bull.

Architecture develops and evolves due to different social and economic influences, which is evident all over Poland. In the north and west, you have a clear German influence on the architecture. Many Polish buildings were constructed in a similar fashion due to the communist doctrine of the time and slowly these are being changed by redesigning them, but many are still fashioned in the same grey boring style.

Polish weather on the other hand, is brilliant. But for England: Ireland and Wales are wetter. Scotland is colder and wetter. Scandinavia is colder. In the winter (when most people aren't going on holiday to Europe anyway) much of Central Europe is colder. England's weather isn't great (although I'm happy with it), in part of Essex close to London there is actually so little rainfall it could almost be semi-desert (maybe). Hmmm. Better off visiting a meteorological website for this kind of stuff.

I'd like a holiday in Spitsbergen - for the weather.

If you want nice food, Poland is pretty good. I've not dined out much in Poland, but what I have tried is to my taste. Almost as good as parts of southern Europe.

Knobworthy? Hehehe- ok. Are you suggesting that NYC or Toronto are beautiful? Sure, they have some interesting architecture but it's mostly dull. I'm familiar with the commy blocks built in Poland but they've done a 180. This is why I'd love to live there. More picturesque! I think the architecture in Warsaw is pretty daring. A lot of cool designs. Also, slowly but surely there is a beautification process going on :) You sound like a typical Polak. Always focussing on the negative not the positive. You don't hear Parisians advertising their ghettos do you?

For architecture there are nicer places than Poland but it all depends on what you like. For food there are better places than anything in Europe but again it depends on what you like. The weather is not the greatest in the world either. All of these things depend on what you are used to and what you like.

,Ha ha ha ha, remember though that the Brits on here defend their country to the hilt and do gang up on people who have any negative criticisms about it. Or maybe they feel that they are constantly being attacked?

Anyone reading this thread can see that taste is an opinion and opinions are like bums, everyone has one.
Americans have always traveled here, when I first came here 6 years ago, the tourist were mainly Polish Americans. Americans do not travel much anyway, something like 80% do not have passports, so any Americans you meet you should give them a break for being different.

Rychlik
I live in Toronto and I am originally from Poland. You seem like a person who visited Poland and cannot get over the fact that it is not a gray country anymore. There has been a lot of improvement in Poland when it comes to architecture but comparing any country to another, or putting down British architecture or French, is a bit silly if you ask me.

What is the point of your thread if you disagree with people, especially the ones who know what they are talking about.
Are you Polish?

Have fun in Poland.

Miranda,
Yes I'm Polish. I was born there. I wasn't putting down French architecture. The Poles borrowed a lot from that country in terms of style. I was merely stating that England is not as pretty as Poland. And what is everyones problem? This is a Polish forum. I should be allowed to say things like this :) Why does every Polak think so low of themselves. Have a winners attitude I say.

But we're straying from the topic at hand.

Hmmmm I think the first big mistake here is to think that there is one particular English style of architecture, or to further develop that point, think that there is any one type of national architecture.

Go to England and I'm sure you will see (in parts) medieval, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Baroque, Georgian, psuedo gothic, fin de siecle, Edwardian, modern and post modern architecture (amongst others). Go to France and you will see different types of architecture. Go to America, the same. Almost every country has different styles of architecture that encompass their national and cultural development.

It's like me saying that Hungarian architecture was rubbish because when I was in Budapest all I saw was communist flat blocks. But hell, the world lives on generalisations.

first of all I am not a Polack and I don't think low of myself. I am just being realistic about Poland if you know what I mean.


What ? Are we playing cards here? Do we know each other? LOL

PS. most people who post here live in Poland or visited Poland many times, just so you know:)

No country is a paradise. Stop complaining. Polish people do nothing but complain. Sorry it's true.

I am not complaining and I am not Polish. Improve your reading skills.

Are you an idiot?? You wrote on here that you were from Poland!!!