Warsaw is a difficult city to adjust to (coming from Canada and having lived in South Africa) Prague?

So I have been here a couple of months and to be honest the weather has gotten to me - the continuous rain and grey, I can't stand it. I think the major flaw is just the social environment which I am missing in Toronto (specifically english speaking environment, and my drinks with friends etc) and the more "British" way of life. I miss the more modern amenities and luxuries.

Anyway I think the Polish people seem pleasant and I can only wish for this country to improve in many factors of life - quality of life especially.

I may be Czech, but I see huge differences between both capitals (Prague and Warsaw). Understandably Prague wasn't destroyed, but I am referring to infrastructure which is so much more ahead there then here. I can literally see that Prague is richer - even the residential apartments are bigger then here, with more traditional high-ceiling apartments available there. I can't believe how small and crammed the flats look here.

Anyway I think the various hams and breads are excellent here, as expected.

Otherwise I caanot wait to go back to the more modern world. Not to say that I wouldn't live in Paris, London or Milan.

You don't like weather in Poland?
Come to Denmark and you will miss it :D

Except it isn't.

Average salary in Prague is about 32,000CZK, which is about 5200PLN. In Warsaw, it's 6000PLN.


What isn't modern in Warsaw? As for luxuries, you must be looking in the wrong places.


No, it really isn't. I've been to Prague, and the infrastructure is pretty poor in many respects.

Baffling post to me. We found prague to be very nice to look at. People and business had kess money and they make less. The place is tiny as a country and while there we were wondering why it hasn't been upgraded given the tiny scale of the job but that was soon explained to us when they were frightened to make deals which got done in warsaw and the dude looked bored at the size of them and was yawning but down south they were considered large. We were told they had a higher standard of living but saw no evidence at all in fact the reverse. It looked old but warsaw was modetn. You can't find drinking buddies in poland, lol, what is wrong with you I am still on the waiting list for a new liver after last visit. They have every luxury which we take advantage of because it is at least half the price of here in sydney. Are you sure you have the right place?

@delphiandomine

Actually the average salary in Prague has risen to about 37 074 Czk, with country-wide salaries at 28 000 Czk. Its funny becasue there are more Poles working in companies in Czech, versus the other way round. Obviously this states enough. Prague has 3 metro lines, trams, busses so the infrastructure system there is brilliant, and it is one of the cleanest metro systems in Europe.

Anyway Warsaw has alot of catching up to do, which I am sure it is trying to anyway so.

Indded, Warsaw has only two metro lines, but do you suggest that Warsaw has no trams and buses whatsoever?

@ziemowit.

I know there are buses and trams here - of course I do, as I have taken them. My intentions were to just bring up my opinion, seeing that I am Czech. Having lived in Prague and experienced everything there, I wanted to compare it to Warsaw from my eyes since most Czechs do not make the journey here, perhaps Krakow and that's it. Seeing that Poland and Czech are usually compared in the same sentence in various articles and statistics / data as released by established organiztions such as IMF, NATO, etc - I was just interested to point out the differences betwen both capitals, which are pretty distinct and obvious. I am very aware that Warsaw is relatively new and prety much rebuild, I do wish they did not re-build with so many grey buildings though - its an eyesore to look at. Obviously Prague has had more luck, plus it has always had a rich and diverse economy, amazing architecture of neo-gothic and baroque, etc etc.

My intentions are not to create heated arguments on a Polish forum, as obciously I will be one-sided. :-) When I am in czech and meet up with czechs, you can imagine what most say about Poland.

You're first lesson Czech should've been Poles don't like criticism from foreigners, only Poles are allowed criticise Poland :D :D :D

I agree with you for what it's worth, Warsaw's a bit of a kip. Krakow & Gdansk are my fav Polish cities, more history & culture

Interesting debate - I spend lots of time in both (in fact I'm now in Prague airport trying to rebook a flight to Warsaw.

Infrastructure I would say is about the same - Prague has 3 metro lines but they are only good for going too and from the suburbs - if you want to travel around the center its almost always quicker to walk since the junctions are in illogical places. Both cities have made huge progress in reducing traffic problems in the last few years - I would say Prague slightly better especially given the hills and river to deal with. Prague airport is definitely better than Warsaw.

On wealth then I would have thought the median income in Prague is higher than Warsaw. Probably Warsaw could have a higher mean income since bigger market means more upside for the best paid people. It is very difficult to recruit in Prague which means almost everyone has a job whereas I think Warsaw still has quite a big "elite bezrobotny".

Restaurants - Warsaw by a mile
Pubs - Prague by a mile
Museums and culture - Warsaw is getting better but Prague still easily on top
Shopping - Warsaw has far more choice
Architecture and beauty - no contest !
Fun - probably Warsaw
Doing business - Warsaw has much more going on and is definitely on the up while Prague is standing still

@smurf

I think its good to hear an outsiders' point of view as well though, taking into account that Czech is a neighbouring country and all. I am not here to criticize though as the continual building of skyscrapers evidently shows Warsaw moving forward. I was just saying that aesthetically its more dull and grey than Prague, and doesnt offer the same luxury amenities as say Prague does.

Anyway I will always stick up for Prague and Czech Republic. We have just so much more than just Prague - there is Karlsbad and its well known international Film Festival, Kutna Hora and its spectacular church made of human bones, 2000+ chateaus, castles in Czech in total. For the size it is - it is a VERY impressive country.

Yea, I like Czech, religion is treated with the destain it deserves, awesome beer and there's no Jaroslaw Kaczynski

@cms

Ruzyne Letiste has been renovated a couple of times and tthey have extended it a couple of times too. I agree immensely that is a much improved airport, both from the functional and space perspective but also Prague Airport sees more traffic than Warsaw - that is a fact. Prague is more of an international hub than Warsaw, both for travellers and foreign investors. If you ask an outsider which capital city is well known in Central Europe, Prague will be up there along with Budapest.

I don't know the specifics of the Warsaw economy, but as similar to Prague - a large share is service based and made up of BPO Outsourcing / Shared Service Centres, no? Also IT / telecom / software development...

Also lets not forget that the Czechoslovakian economy was TOP 10 industrialized in the world before al the **** hit the storm so...

With respect to this:


I tend do disagree with you. Prague has an awesome food scene - but its not happening by Staro Metske Namesti - you have to go out..Vynohrady ha some good spots...Hradcany has great spots with AMAZING views of Vltava and Charle Bridge...

Wrt to restaunnts in Warsaw, I would say nothing special. There is a good variety of Asian etc which I was very surprised at but I havent come across any decent local Polish restaurant.

Shopping - as in fashion? The fashion is HORRIBLE here, typical Eastern Europe. One Italian girl told me that in Prague they are dressed so much better, But is is a known fact that Czechs dont really care about fashion. Its the same here. I refuse to buy one item of **** clothing here. I only buy from Italian and French boutiques online or when I travel.

"I may be Czech..."

Aren't you sure? Just kidding!

Coming from The Czech Republic then, I assume you don't have a language barrier (albeit Czech and Polish are not mutually intelligible). Or are you using some variety of English?:-)

I'm from the States and have only been to Szczecin. Wasn't there long enough unfortunately to form any meaningful opinion either of the city or its inhabitants, but my overall impression was generally positive.

I really can't agree with that any more. A couple of years ago it was indeed Prague by a mile but now the new wave of craft beers has crashed over Warsaw, I reckon that, unless you are really and only after Czech pilsner, Warsaw has better pubs than Prague.

@lyzko

LOL - I am believe you me. :-)

Warsaw - 11.1 million at Okęcie, 2.5 million at Modlin
Prague - 12 million at Ruzyně

Do try harder if you're going to criticise Warsaw.


Being a tourist destination is meaningless - in fact, it's one of the problems Prague has. Warsaw is the undisputed financial services capital of the CEE countries, and Prague is going nowhere. Take away the tourists, and the city would have major problems.


According to communist statistics, which were later proven to be mostly nonsense.


Depends if you're spending 30PLN or 300PLN.


I find that very, very hard to believe. Czechs dress like Germans, for a start.

I'm curious as to what your agenda is. Prague doesn't convincingly beat Warsaw in any area except in how the city actually looks, and even then, large parts of Prague are pretty horrific once you get away from the centre.

More to the point, Prague is stagnating (like the rest of CZ) badly. Slovakia isn't far away from overtaking them, which shows just badly the Czech Republic has done over the last 23 years.


Wrocław will host the European Film Awards this year, and the New Horizons film festival is very well known. The Czech Republic has nothing comparable to the Forum Muzyki in Wrocław as well.

What is this "Czech Republic" you speak of?

I only know Czechia

@delphiandomine

Calm down please. If it has come down ot this, do I have to go and dig outr some evidence too? Like seriously. You are evidently showing your proud Polish colours. Although I am not sure you have so much to be proud of seriously.

According to Wiki - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Europe so yeah Prague has much higher traffis as expected.

I didn't come here to criticize Warsaw so no need to break down everything I say and try provide some "facts". It is evident that you are a proud Polish and have to come to defend someone's opinion about the city. The universe does not resolve around Warsaw and Poland, you know.

Take a chill pill please. Everyone has the right to their own opinions.

"Czechia" hasn't been formally adopted by the UN yet, so it is still 'Czech Republic".

Anyway, for the Poles and the Czechs such a name is nothing new: Czechy and Česko. Mluvite cesky, nothanks?


He is a (flying) Scotsman living in Poland

I prefer Czechia, personally. Good decision

Neither does it revolve around Prague and Česko.

Czech-Canadian, how hard (or easy) was it to learn Polish? You never quite answered my question before:-)

Apropos your ancestral home, I visited Praha and like most, fell immediately under her spell, particularly the Haradzin, Vaclav Nemesti and the Karlovy Most. Praha and Budapest probably are the most unspoiled beautiful European capital cities!

CR is very nice. I guess it feels like a tourist spot to me, out of the way and safe. It could be generic and anywhere be it not for the obvious architecture. Poland feels like more of a country, it feels more exposed and not at all generic. It feels like more than just your cappuccino could arrive in the next 5 minutes. Anyway, I would expect the CR to become one of the most modern countries around on world scale before poland simply due to size.

As an American, Praha seemed to me a more "western" Central European city than Szczecin. Then again, Szczecin, though a larger city by any standards, seemed relatively provincial and compared to Czech Republic, had more of an Eastern European feel to it.

I've never visited Kraków or Warsaw however, true cosmopolitan areas I'm told, and so I reserve any final judgements up to this point:-)

Calm down? You're the one that seems to be making deliberately wrong statements. I just wonder what your agenda is...


Exactly it doesn't, as I've already shown you how Okęcie and Modlin have more traffic combined than Prague.


It's rather evident that you've come here to troll, but whatever.

Anyone that's actually been to both cities without any agenda can see that they're pretty much equal. Some things are better in Prague, some things are better in Warsaw. For instance, Prague has 3 metro lines, but no train connection to the airport. Warsaw has a 20 minute connection from the centre to the airport by train and tickets are half the price of the bus from Hlavni Nadrazi to Prague Airport.

But seriously, trying to claim that Polish people dress worse than Czechs is just laughable to anyone that's actually visited both countries :D

More Americans live and work in the Czech Republic than in Poland, I believe:-)

By what standard is Szczecin a larger city than Prague?

That's another thing about poland, it's large enough to have distinct feels and differences. Szczecin, gdansk, 10 other examples. All different. CR just feels smaller and like I said more generic with less differences. One of the things good about szczecin for example is you can live on a property in the country but be in centre in 10 or 15 minutes. Also it's a great base for driving out by car to much of europe.

I tried to warn ya Czech, this place will f!ckin eat you up if you dare to criticise Poland

I can't see what there is to worry about for him its just opinions. Prague is definately cool so can't lose.