Multi-country Itinerary

Dave , I know you've been to Berlin often . Have you visited Wannsee ?

Hi, steven. Yes, twice -- once to see the site of the Wannsee Conference (first trip) and once just to hang out in the area.

Just FYI, I spent about 20 hours in the WWII museum in Gdansk and about 8 hours in the Rising Museum in Warsaw. Warsaw's excellent POLIN (Museum of the History of the Polish Jews) was another full-day affair.

I was in Sarajevo this past May and stayed at Hotel Aziza. Good breakfast, clean, quiet and close to everything. Loved Sarajevo, did day tours to the war sites, a day trip to Serbia and enjoyed the Olympic bobsled graffiti. We spent one night in Mostar right by the beautiful bridge and finished with several days in Dubrovnik at the Royal Neptune hotel on the beach. Easy to take a 15 minute bus into the old city and much more relaxed on the water.

Like mentioned in another post I'm surprised that Peenemünde is not in focus of WWII interested travelers:
https://museum-peenemuende.de/?lang=en
The island of Usedom is half Polish half German and only 250 km north of Berlin.

Way too much travel, I suggest eliminating Berlin ( come back when you can spend more time there).

Going to Poland and skipping Krakow is silly. It is the gem of the country. It wasn't bombed into the stone age like Warsaw and much of the countries cities.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to go to Amsterdam from Berlin (how?) for just 1 night. Why not fly home directly from Berlin and add that extra day to Berlin?

A couple of places to note when in Warsaw that are in close proximity to each other: the monument to the Victory at Monte Cassino; the Polish tomb for the unknown soldier; the square that whose name was Adolf Hitler Platz during the occupation, where he gave speeches. Theres the Treblinka memorial within range of Warsaw, and nothing is more important for a person to see than Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Perhaps you can consider the Amsterdam stop on the way there, instead of the end. Flying into Gdansk, you might have options for flights connecting in Amsterdam (Delta & partners I think).

Going to Poland and skipping Krakow is silly. It is the gem of the country.

I gotta agree. Especially if you guys love military history. So easy to hop on a high speed train from Warsaw to Krakow for a few days. In and around Krakow you can see:

Wawel Royal Castle -- including the tombs of Polish military heroes like Józef Piłsudski, Jan Sobieski, and Władysław Jagiełło

The National Museum - my favourite exhibition is called 'Arms and Uniforms in Poland', with authentic pieces dating from from 12th to 20th centuries, including beautifully crafted armor, swords, firearms, cavalry regalia, and original Napoleonic military uniforms.

Polish Aviation Museum - including Hermann Göring's private WWI airplane collection

Schloss von Pless at Pszczyna - where Kaiser Wilhelm II had his HQ for the eastern front during WWI

Eagle's Nest Castle Trail - a string of 25 medieval castles and fortresses, built by King Casimir the Great of Poland in the 14th century, as a bulwark against the encroaching Kingdom of Bohemia

No advice, just happy to see you and the Teen are traveling again. Looking forward to another wonderful trip report.

Dave, your next “The Teen and I” journey sounds wonderful! If interested will you have time to visit the Amsterdam Residence Museum? We thought it was very well done. I believe it’s reopening this month after renovations. Prior to visiting we took a Jewish Walking Tour with historian Naomi Koopmans. It was a great introduction to the WWll history. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjx8uP474b8AhXEAjQIHfQQDrQQFnoECBMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.verzetsmuseum.org%2Fen%2Fexpositions-and-activities&usg=AOvVaw1OhMsOBNCI2tc8-7yck_3e

We were in Bosnia in 2018. We had a local guide for Mostar & Stolac. Both guides were children during the Yugoslav war. Life altering experience for us. Something you never forget. I will look forward to hearing about the travel company that is escorting you there. How fortunate that “the teen” will be exposed to this part of history. Wish we would have had time to visit Sarajevo. We enjoyed our two nights in Dubrovnik. We did an early morning guided tour to avoid the crowds.

Especially looking forward to your Poland report. Still on my radar! Every time I read Carlos’ recommendations I get excited. Enjoy your planning!

I get it, even the visiting the relative part and especially the Bosnia & Herzegovina part. I love BiH and would go back for any excuse.

You can get some better use of the time if you Start with Berlin/Amsterdam/Poland then to Bosnia and Herzegovina, then home…..no back tracking.

Look for direct flights to Sarajevo from one of Berlin/Amsterdam/Poland and use that to arrange your schedule.

As backups to Sarajevo you can land in Dubrovnik or Podgorica if the flights work better.

If you need a travel agency for BiH and the surrounding companies, I know the best. PM if interested.

acraven -- Thanks for the time reference. If it were just me, I would move much more slowly. I could easily do 2 weeks in Warsaw alone.

Beth -- Thanks for the hotel recommendation. Sounds like you had a great trip! Which war sites did you day trip to? Srebrenica?

Mignon -- I actually looked up that museum when you suggested it in another thread. Looks great, though a little outside the time constraints of this trip. It's on my list for a future trip. Some of my off-the-beaten-path Berlin finds from a recent trip: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/off-the-beaten-path-in-berlin

periscope -- Thanks for the suggestion on the Soviet War Memorial at Pankow. I took the U2 to Pankow for some aimless wandering in fall 2021. I found Schloss Schönhausen, a former palace that served as the seat of government for East Germany’s first and only President. It was later turned into a guest house for foreign diplomats visiting the DDR and was the place where Gorbachev stayed when he participated in the DDRs 40th anniversary celebration. It was a nifty find for this Cold War history enthusiast. Now I have reason to head that way again. I saw the Glienicke Bridge in May 2016; it was a cool place to see.

Geo--

Way too much travel

True that. But 20 year olds tend to want to travel differently than we old guys.

I suggest eliminating Berlin ( come back when you can spend more time
there).

I'm up to 54 nights there. All in the same B&B. I've grown super close to the owner, who sent me a personal Christmas greeting a few days ago via e-mail. The teen took a liking to her, too, When I mentioned eliminating Berlin early in the planning, the teen said, "Ah, I wanna see Sabine!" Sometimes the relationships in a place and the connections to a place supercede the "correct" travel decision?

Going to Poland and skipping Krakow is silly. It is the gem of the
country. It wasn't bombed into the stone age like Warsaw and much of
the countries cities.

I spent 4 nights in Krakow a few years ago. Loved it. Got kissed by a drunk man on the main square at 4 am. The WWII history -- including being bombed into the stone age -- makes Warsaw exponentially more interesting to the teen than Krakow, even with Auschwitz. And the teen craves an experience in a Muslim area/country -- expressing a strong preference for such an experience over Auschwitz and Krakow when the options were presented to him 🙂!

Dutch -- Agree. But... (1) the teen is very, very family oriented and super excited about seeing his first cousin who is moving soon to Amsterdam and (2) we will likely be traveling on Delta Sky Miles, and re-positioning to Amsterdam the day before departure works out for us. There is a Berlin to US flight on Delta, but it gets us home at 11 pm, whereas a flight out of AMS gets us home a good bit earlier.

stan -- Thanks for the recommended sites

Carlos -- Thanks for selling Krakow. We'll see if it's enough to sway the teen.

Katheryne -- Thanks! I'm looking forward to the trip... and writing the trip report. I really enjoy writing trip reports!

Janis -- I would LOVE to visit the Amsterdam Resistance Museum. Thanks for the suggestion on the tour guide, too. I'll see what time allows as I piece together flights. Thanks for your thoughts on Bosnia, too. Did you stay in Stolac? I was planning to use it as a 4-night base as part of a 25-day BiH trip this fall that got canceled due to airline strike and parent health issues. How did you like it?

Mister E--

Thanks for your experienced insight. Will take a look at the axis of the trip. Again... traveling on Sky Miles impacts options. The redemption charts are not favorable for connecting flights on partner airlines.

Very good itinerary.

Good that it includes going to Olsztyn, the first town of note that the Russians took in 1914 once they crossed the German border. Be prepared for a long ride going from Gdansk to Olsztyn.

When you get to Finckenstein Palace, you'll be in the historical site where the Poles gave a reception and ball to Napoleon whom they saw as their liberators, and site of the meeting of Napoleon and Maria Walewska.

Dave, for the side trip to BiH forget your travel miles and see if you can find a discount airline from Amsterdam or Berlin or Poland to Sarajevo ot Podgorica or Dubrovnik. If you get lucky it could be a $100 flight. When I go from Budapest it's usually under $100 but the discount airlines sometimes don't publish flights more than 3 or 4 months out and fly a few days of the week.

Dave this sounds like a hectic but interesting trip. Is there anything in Poland about their victory over the Soviets in the war of 1920 and the Miracle of Warsaw I think it was called? That would be interesting. Also in Sarajevo are you two planning to check out where Franz Ferdinand was assasinated? Following his fatal route in town would be poignant.

Dave, our tour group stayed one night in Mostar at Hotel Almira. Great location, comfortable. We had a view that highlighted the beautiful mosques. The night was magical. Our group had dinner at Restaurant Šadrvan. Great food, nice atmosphere. We did a day tour to Stolac. We walked the town with our amazing guide. As you walk you pass buildings with bullet holes in the facade. It was horrific. He also took us to Radimlja Necropolis. He told us he left his teaching position due to his disagreement with segregation. He also described the years of hiding during the war. They were fortunate to survive. More info: https://funkytours.com/10-reasons-why-stolac-should-be-your-next-travel-destination/
Edited to add: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjH0rXH4Yn8AhWBAjQIHSKnBXsQFnoECBEQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fradimlja.ba%2Fen%2Fgrob-moshe-danona%2F&usg=AOvVaw231G0KrK2MGq8CO9y28SrT

This depends on how you end up prioritizing seeing the sites due to the teen's keen interest in military/warfare history.

If you do decide to get a rental car, you have the option in Warsaw to get out to the Modlin fortifications, that set of complex fortresses started in the 18th century, which the Russians worked to expand and further fortify in the post-Napoleonic era as Warsaw was awarded to Russia as a settlement of the Polish-Saxon question. When the Germans closed in on Warsaw in Sept of 1939, these fortifications played a role in holding up their advance.

Bottom line.....I would suggest Modlin if you could manage it time-wise.

Fred! Always great to read your comments.

Mister E... Yes, my thought is to fly in/out of Amsterdam on miles and then use discount air carriers to connect some of the cities.

Rob! Also good to hear from you. Battle of Warsaw aka Miracle on the Vistula. I found a small memorial. It appears that a museum was being built at one time, but it's not clear to me if it ever opened. I'm hoping to visit Józef Piłsudski's old manor house that has been turned into a museum -- given that he led the charge against the Soviets, I would expect his museum would have info on it. If interested, I found Unvanquished: Joseph Pilsudski, Resurrected Poland, and the Struggle for Eastern Europe by Peter Hetherington to be an excellent book. Also... we definitely plan to visit the Latin Bridge where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot. It would be interesting to follow the path of his journey that day. A good book on the Archduke: The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World by Greg King and Sue Woolmans, which humanizes Franz Ferdinand.

Janis -- Thanks for the additional information. Funky Tours is the company I plan to use.

Fred -- I will see if there is a way to work Modlin in to the trip!