Opinion on which cities in Poland to spend the most days in.

Hey everyone, I was just looking for some opinions on how to split up my time. I'll be in Poland in Oct. from the 4th and have to leave the morning of the 11th to London and catch my flight back to the states. I've decided to go to Warsaw, Gdansk, and Poznan. How would you split your time up? Thanks!

Tom

You only have six full days, far too little for three cities. Cut Gdansk, and spend four days in Warsaw and two in Poznan. That way you won't waste too much time on travel. The train from Warsaw to Poznan takes only about three hours. If you must add a third city, pick Wrocław, which is only two and a half hours away from Poznan by train. Or take a day trip from Warsaw to Kazimierz Dolny. If you go to Gdansk, you will spend a lot more time on travel.

It's certainly too little for those three cities with the Gdansk - Warsaw railway in its current state. But frankly two days is enough to see most of what Warsaw has to offer, three days is ideal and four days is almost overkill.


Yes, but it's also sic hours from Warsaw by train. Personally, I'd suggest Lublin as a third city. Out one morning and then back the next evening, it's only two and a quarter hours each way.

I read about the trains and travel times, decided to just fly instead and make it easy, plus save all the time. Fairly cheap too, compared to the US. I actually arrive in Warsaw the afternoon of the 3rd, so I have the whole day on the 4th. Also, I don't expect to see everything this first trip. Just trying to get familiar with the country and how travel works.

If you can, do fly because trains in Poland are very slow (usually some 50 km/hour); the only fairly fast link is Warsaw-Krakow. Travelling around Poland is rather time consuming.

It doesn't really save you much time. Airports are at least 30 minutes from the city centre and you need to be at the airport 90 minutes before the flight (last week I flew to Amsterdam from Warsaw and spent 45 minutes queuing just to drop my bag off (had already checked in online and had boarding pass printed), then 20 minutes to get past security; and remember that gates in Warsaw close 20 minutes before the flight (usually so the bus has enough time to get from the terminal to the plane).

Harry: true what you are saying but trains are so slow and so unconvenient (when changes) ....

The train from Warsaw to Poznan is (assuming you are going city centre to city centre) takes about as long as a flight but is far less hassle: you go to the station and get straight on the train, sit down for two and a half hours, get off the train and you're there; if you want to take a stroll or have a sit down meal, you can.

Flying you have to: get to the airport (28 minutes on bus 175 or 25 minutes in a taxi, unless it's rush hour, in which case double those times) 90 minutes before your plane; stand in a queue to drop off your bag; stand in a queue to have your boarding pass checked; stand in a queue for security; open your bag, take off your belt, empty your pockets and take off your shoes; get frisked by a man who wants to put his hand in your pants even after you've removed all the metal other than the rivets and buttons in your jeans; hang around; stand in a queue at the gate to have your boarding pass checked; get on a bus; get on the plane; sit there for 40 minutes; get off off the plane; get on another bus; wait for your bag; and then get another taxi or bus to the city centre.

I'm surprised.
Really thought there would be loads to do and see in Warsaw.


Hmm, very interesting. Always thought Lublin was a lot further away that.

Thanks for the opinions! Gives me something to think about, figured flying would be easier for me than changing trains since I only know English.

I would also consider PolskiBus. I went with them to £ódż this week, it took barely two hours to £ódż Kaliska, and I paid 12 PLN one-way.

My wife and have not long returned from a wonderful month in Poland. For transport we used buses over trains as we found them cheaper and easier to use when carrying large suitcases. If I was to recommend 6 days in Poland consider Crakow it's a beautiful city and has plenty to keep you occupied. You can also do day trips from there to places like Zakopane, Auschwitz or Wieliczka to name a few. But in the end it's your choice on where you want to spend your time. We found the whole country beautiful.

Yes, they certainly are cheap and on some routes (e.g. Warsaw to Gdansk) are quicker than the train. However, the bus stations can be a fair way outside the city centre and a bit hard to find (yesterday my Mrs got a bus to Gdansk and had to go to metro Mlociny, where-ever that is). So somebody who thinks that changing trains is too much trouble probably won't be up for bus travel.


You won't need to change trains if you're going from Poznan / Gdansk / Lublin to Warsaw or vice versa. You can even get direct trains from Poznan to Gdansk (several a day), Lublin to Gdansk etc, but all internal flights go to or from Warsaw only.

I looked into trains. I might just do that instead, I'm up for an adventure. How about bag space though? I'll have a fairly large suitcase since I'll be in Europe for a month, is space adequate on the intercity trains? Specifically the ones from Warsaw to Gdansk , Gdansk to Poznan? Can't really find any answer anywhere. Thanks again for the help, I greatly appreciate it.

The space is fine but it's all in luggage racks which are above the seats.

Again, with only seven days, these three cities are not a good idea. The train trips from Warsaw to Gdańsk and from Gdańsk to Poznan are going to consume a lot of time. Best to cut Gdańsk and spend more time in the other two, with maybe a day trip from Warsaw to Kazimierz Dolny or £ódź.

If you're hellbent on seeing Gdańsk, too, take a night train and get a sleeping berth for both trips. Otherwise you're going to waste the better part of two days on travel alone. Flying won't save enough time to make it worth the hassle.

Actually, the train from Poznan to Gdansk is only three hours and twenty minutes (I was also surprised).


Gdansk - Warsaw and Wroclaw- Warsaw are probably the only domestic flights worth thinking about in Poland.

Gdansk to Wroclaw/Krakow too, I suppose.

Having said that, some connections do make sense - you can do Poznan-Warsaw-Rzeszow in a reasonable time when flying, for instance.

I thought that those flights had stopped fairly recently, no?

eurolot.com/timetable/GDN.html

Looks pretty healthy - plenty of flights to those two, plus to Lublin!

It surprises me that there's such little demand on such corridors like Poznan-Rzeszow that even a daily flight using an ATR-42 or similar isn't viable.

Thanks for the tips and insight guys. I got back from my trip a few weeks ago. Poland was fantastic. I ended up doing Krakow, Warsaw , Gdansk/Sopot/Gdynia. Ended up taking Polskibus from Warsaw to Gdansk, 5 hours. Easy to find, clean, comfortable, plus they had wi-fi on board. You don't even see that in the US.