Holidaying with a 9 and 8 year old in Southern Poland August 2014

My husband and I are keen to have our annual holiday in Poland this August (around 19 Aug to 2 Sept). We would fly into Krakow and rent a car, and the idea is to travel around and see as many of the sights in Southern Poland and enjoy the countryside. I would like to may be have a couple of days in Krakow, and then perhaps stay in 2 other places - preferably next to a lake, where the children can relax and swim. Does anyone have any ideas of an itinerary or suggestions of where would be good to stay? I have been looking now for months on the internet, but I seem to be no further forward with ideas. I would be so grateful for any information/ideas that you can give. Many thanks!!

3 that spring to mind instantly with Krakow are Wieliczka (massive salt mine), Oswiecim (Auschwitz) and if you don't mind driving a couple of hours, Kasprowy Wierch in Zakopane.

Admittedly Auschwitz/Birkenau might be a little bit too heavy for 8-9 year olds but my little brother wasn't much older when he went and managed to understand the terrible things that had happened there and the lessons to be learnt from it.

Zakopane is just a gorgeous place all year round and if you fancy going for a wander then catch the kolejka linowa na Kasprowy Wierch and soak in the summer sun and enjoy the sights!

The salt mines are absolutely epic in my opinion, whatever I type on here really doesn't do them justice. I've never seen the like before, structures that have been carved into the mines.

Hope that helps :)

Auschwitz?U must be ridicules all they want is staying near some lake and having fun out of trip by countryside

When in fact what Serranax said was


They want to see some sights in Southern Poland, I've listed 3. I've not recommended places for them to stay because I can't think of any. Instead of acting like a douche why don't you help Serranax out and actually offer advice on places to see and things to do.

All suggestions and comments are very welcome - that will allow me to get out my map and decide on the best itinerary for us. To be honest though, we have had exactly the same discussion at home. My children have both studied the 2nd world war at school (not in all its graphic detail obviously) and I think it is important that they understand what has happened. I would take them to Auschwitz, but on the other hand my husband won't hear of it, so we have agreed that this is a trip we will definitely do with them when they are older.

Although everyone should know what happened in the Nazi camps I think your husband is right. An eight-year-old could be very disturbed. As a compromise you could visit Jewish Kraków. Wieliczka is a must-see if you are in the area. It's one of those gob-smacking places that you'll never forget. Lake Solina in Bieszczady is an option if you like driving.

Only you know your children, but the official site for Auschwitz recommends a minimum age of 14. To understand what you see, explanations have to be pretty blunt. I'd honestly steer clear on this occasion.

On the other hand, as the children have studied some history, you can see places like the Polish Air Museum, to the north of the city centre (includes some planes from the personal collection of Goebbels), the Royal Wawel Complex, the rynek - known as Adolf Hitler Plaz while under Nazi control during WW2. The former Jewish quarter (Kazimierz) is across the bridge from the former ghetto in Podgorze, where you will find Ghetto Heroes Square and the Mueum of the Occupation (Schindler Factory).

There again, there's the tethered balloon, boat trips on the vistula, the fire-breathing dragon (on the river bank, below Wawel), the puppet theatre, the city engineering museum and a raft of other things designed for or appealing to, younger visitors.

There are a couple of water parks around Krakow, a white water canoeing centre out by Tyniec and the rivers and lakes .... well, the Poles love to be in and on the water, so where you find water you often find canoeing, rafting, sailing, windsurfing, swimming, paddling, etc, etc. One place you could look at is Zywiec, where we have seen small holiday villages with dawn till dusk activities, but if you take a look here you'll see more :

1904loghouse.com/about-krakow-on-the-water/
1904loghouse.com/about-splashing-about-in-southern-poland/
1904loghouse.com/about-krakow-for-kids/

I hope all this is useful. Krakow is a wonderful city to visit but I'm really pleased you will be exploring further - the hills and lakes are beautiful.

He's right: they are way too young. I don't think that they'd even be let in; I know that the museum recommends against visits by kids under the age of 14 but I'm not sure at what age they simply will not let kids in.

In Krakow you could take them to: parkwodny.pl

Once you are done with Krakow you could move on to Bialka Tat en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82ka_Tatrza%C5%84ska
there are many things to do there for kids and there is a nice big lake 10-15 mins away. You can pop over to Slovakia, visit Zakopane there is a natural thermal pool in Bialka

Bania is a pleasant hotel to stay in for kids: hotelbania.rtrk.p enjoy

This is the Hotel we would normally stay in when we visit Bialka: podkotelnica.pl/en/hotel

Here is a link to info about the lake closeby alternativepoland.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=58

I visited Poland with my children last year in August too, they were 8 and 10. One place we really enjoyed and I recommend is Zakopane. It is about 2 hours drive but worth it. The scenery is beautiful. You have to take a ride on a wooden "tratwa" down the river Dunaj, take a cable car up to Kasprowy Wierch and to Gubalowka. Then stroll down the Krupowki street, where you can buy everything under the sun. You can also go on this site and see what's going in Zakopane and other Polish cities: oognet.pl/content/details/124. Do not go to Oswiecim with your children! It is a very depressing and sad place. This is a vacation to enjoy, going there will only leave your children sad and depressed and you want to show the beautiful and positive side of Poland for them. There are also natural warm water pools in Zakopane, where you can spend the day. And the food is great everywhere you go. They even had corn on the cob in Krupowki. So after checking out sites in Krakow, the Wieliczka's salt mines, head down to Zakopane. The air is better and lots to do.