Fine tuning a 36 day adventure to Poland !

What a lovely trip!

I am sure you COULD do different lengths of time, but I think you have done a good job of giving yourself a leisurely stroll through Poland. I don’t see any need to change anything - UNLESS you wanted to head north toward Gdansk to start your trip, then fly to Krakow and head back up to Warsaw (keeping all your Warsaw time together). It gives you a flight but saves some train backtracking. But your trip is fine as is.

You might look at the difference in cost of 1st class and 2nd class on the trains. Usually the price difference isn’t a lot and 1st might be worth it.

I am sorry you have had to put the trip off but hopefully all works out this time!

Thanks so much for your advice. You made a great point about starting in Gdansk. When I checked airfare, I kept it simple, arriving and departing out of Warsaw, I will now check rates with your idea.
Also, I will make sure to check the rates on travel class with the trains, as you suggested.
Thanks for taking the time to write.

Well if you haven’t already bought airfare in and out of Warsaw, take a look at flying in to Gdansk and out of Krakow (or vice versa). It might not cost more than a roundtrip.

I will start working on that Sunday. !

I spent about the same amount of time in Warsaw and Gdansk and loved both for that length, finding plenty to keep me busy in town and with day trips from Gdansk.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/3-weeks-4-capitals-solo-in-warsaw-and-the-baltics

If you're in Warsaw on a Sunday in the summer, you might enjoy a day in Lazienki Park and plan your time to catch their free Chopin concert.

I loved my time (4 days as I recall) in Wroclaw. With 5 days, you might like a day trip to the wooden churches of Jawor and Świdnica, where I spent the better part of a day, beyond just the church.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1054/

I would reconsider spending 3 days in Torun. It's very small and can easily done in a day, two max. If you take a day or two from Torun, you could add it/them to Krakow, Warsaw or Gdansk. I don't know about Poznan, as we didn't visit there, but you will find plenty to keep you busy for 5 days in Wroclaw. Your division of days between KRK, GDN, and WAW looks very good, but adding a day or two to any of them would work well, too. We were in Poland in July. Here's our trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/five-weeks-in-poland

Thanks so much advising me how small torun is. I will reduce a day there, and add it to another town

If you are a fan of Great escape movie by Steve McQueen, you might be interested in a day trip to Zagan from Wroclaw to visit Stalag Luft 3 POW Camp and the museum. This trip can be done by train from Wroclaw. Note that the site is huge and you'd need to walk a fair amount. This is a good website for details: https://www.seat61.com/places-of-interest/the-great-escape-from-stalag-luft-3.htm

Toruń is indeed small and the old town doesn't take much time to explore. You can also walk along the river and go on a boat cruise and along the big bridge. There is a viewpoint across the river (near the main train station) for beautiful views of Toruń old town. It's especially nice during sunset. The TI can give you details on this viewpoint.

Thanks for also confirming how small Torun is, I will reduce time there by a day.
I will probably add it to Wroclaw, and do the Steve McQueen adventure !

Warsaw old town is small. We are just leaving Warsaw today. Spent 5 days in the city and found a lot of nooks and crannies, but 1/2 day in the old town was enough for us. We are in your age group. Go across the river to see Praga.
I don’t see any eastern time allotted. Zamosc is wonderful. Lublin has a very interesting history. Maybe you’ll need 2 months?!

I have no suggestion for any alterations to your plans but I would question the suggestions to fly into Gdansk from the US. I'm not sure if there are any direct flights from the US, I found direct flights extremely limited from the UK so can only assume it would be even harder from the US unless you're intending to take connecting flights so it may be the case that you're tied to Warsaw.

I also echo the advice regarding first class train travel. The price difference is almost negligible but the experience is generally much better particularly if you opt for the newer high speed trains.

Other than that I wish you well for what looks like a fantastic trip. I hope you enjoy every moment in that wonderful country.

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to write. My flight originates from Atlanta, with no direct flights to Poland, my connector will probably be from Amsterdam. After doing more research, there are not good options coming to or leaving from Gdansk (a 50 minute layover to catch an international flight is virtually impossible ? ) So, the most logical option would be to get a connector that flies into Krakow, and on the way back, a connector flying from Warsaw. The vacation starts in mid April and ends in mid May, making the first week or two a little cold. So, I figured best to start in the south of Poland and work myself up north, with Krakow being a little warmer than Gdansk and Warsaw.

My flight originates from Atlanta, with no direct flights to Poland, my connector will probably be from Amsterdam. After doing more research, there are not good options coming to or leaving from Gdansk (a 50 minute layover to catch an international flight is virtually impossible ?

Where are you looking at flights? Last April I flew into Gdansk from Los Angeles and two weeks later out of Krakow on KLM - reasonable layovers in Amsterdam both ways. A brief look shows multiple options for flights with good connection times next spring - look at Delta/KLM.

I've just returned from a 21-day trip to Poland. We did the open-jaw/multi-city, flying into Warsaw and leaving from Krakow. There was little to no price difference. I would spend more time in Krakow and Wroclaw. There are a number of delightful day trips in Wroclaw. Be sure to schedule at least one of the Churches of Peace.

Do you have any Polish ancestry? If so, hire a driver to take you to the villages. We visited three skansens or outdoor ethnographic villages this past time. That makes five we have visited. We sometimes hired an Uber/Bolt driver to do this or hired a knowledgeable driver for the day. We hired English-speaking guides at the skansens.

BTW- besides hiring drivers or one Viator tour in Wroclaw, we did it ourselves using trains and buses. It worked out great and we don't speak ANY Polish except for five nice words.

If you can send me a private message, I can perhaps advise you more as I don't frequently check this site.