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Krakow and Warsaw--How Many Days?

I am in the tentative stages of planning a trip for late May 2015, and while I've been toying with a few (several towns in Germany OR Paris then train to Bruges & Brussels OR Barcelona & Madrid, etc) ideas I'm really entranced by the thought of Poland. I am interested in seeing the usual museums, castles, cultural sites and also plan to visit the Salt Mines and Auschwitz, and I'm thinking perhaps 4 full days in each city--is that enough to do them justice? I'd take the train between cities, and plan to visit Budapest first for a few days, flying to Warsaw.

Posted by
359 posts

I have not been to warsaw but krakow is really amazing. 4 full days is good.

Posted by
16893 posts

Yes, four days each is enough to see each city. When I visited Warsaw many years ago, I only spend two nights and one full day, but it's more tourist-friendly now.

Posted by
1541 posts

Certainly four days each would do them justice. We did nine in Warsaw and seven in Krakow. That is really too much for doing average tourism things (we had other activities to attend to).

We did several day trips from Krakow including Zakopane and the Dunajec River Raft. Well worth it, but a very long day.

Posted by
2599 posts

Thanks, Ray--I have since reconsidered Budapest (I was just there this August and loved it so much but think I should see other countries first before returning so quickly), and I don't think I'd like the overnight train experience. Now it's looking like Prague first, fly to Warsaw (non-stop), train to Krakow and then home. The other countries I mentioned are just on my "next trip" list for now.

Posted by
15560 posts

If you go to Prague, consider a day trip, by local bus, to Terezin.

Posted by
2599 posts

Sedlec Ossuary and Terezin are on my list! Now that I've booked the main part I can focus on working out itineraries and research, always an enjoyable bit of the process.

Posted by
14482 posts

Hi,

I would say five full days for Warsaw and at least 4 full days for Krakow. If you're lucky enough to have a week for both, that's even better.

Posted by
5471 posts

I spent 4 nights in Krakow and 2 nights in Warsaw. I would have liked another day in each of those places.

Posted by
96 posts

Timely post for me! My wife and I are tentatively planning on 3 nights in each city (after visiting Vienna and Prague) so it seems that's a decent amount of time.

Posted by
2599 posts

I've ended up with the following: fly to Krakow, train to Warsaw, fly on LOT to Prague and home from there, 4 nights each city and arriving in early afternoon each one. My initial reading about the sights in each city and day trips I'd like to take leads me to think this should be enough, with time for unexpected discoveries and wandering. I travel alone and tend to cover a lot of ground quickly.

Posted by
10 posts

Our group did 5 in each city. There is a lot to do and see in Warsaw. In Krakow the day trips take time away from seeing the city (Salt Mines, Black Madonna & Auschwitz). Takes time to go to each place and then the tours are about 3 hours. 2- 3 days in Krakow is enough if all you are doing is the city. Go to Auschwitz first because it is a sad time in history. You want to have happy memories when you leave Poland.
We took the plane to Budapest. Cost was really not that much more and less stress. Used first flight of the day & arrived there around 10:30 AM. You can schedule tours of the Parliament on line before leaving US. Also the Opera House. Would not do tour of Opera House unless not seeing a venue there. Our best decision for Budapest was to spend the day at Gerlick Baths near green Bridge before flying back to US next day
Have fun it was one of my favorite trips

Posted by
227 posts

This past November we did 4 days in Warsaw and 5 in Kraków - if you want to see DaVinci's Lady with Ermine at Wawel Castle be advised they only let in 500 people a day...either buy tickets on line or get in line by 9:15 am - first viewing is at 10:00 and it's a little walk away from tickets then a walk thru a part of the castle. It's in a very small room so only a few are let in at a time but they do not hurry you. It's pretty busy as the painting has been away for several years and just returned last year. If you can get Andrew Durman to take you to Auschwitz don't hesitate. Rick recommends him and he was wonderful. He takes you to Birkenau first and spends a lot of time with you after that he takes you to Auschwitz....about the time everyone is leaving for Birkenau. We avoided the crowds at each place. He picked us up about 9am and returned us to our jotel about 5:30. It was around $120 for both of us. He has a Mercedes for 2-3 people or a van if more in your family. He is a wonderful gentleman - lived in Chicago for a while so his English is great. He will be glad to take you anywhere in Poland - we had him drive us to Wroclaw as the train and bus were 5 hours! He picked us up and took us to a wonderful castle (in the middle of nowhere) along the way then dropped us at our hotel - it was a very nice day that would have, otherwise, been miserable on a train or bus. Enjoy Poland - it is a wonderful country - try to see Krakow and Warsaw while they are still a fantastic bargain and not as touristy as Prague and Budapest have become. We have been to both twice and could not believe the change in 5 years. Though, Budapest is still my favorite.

Posted by
11613 posts

I spent three days each in Warsaw and Krakow, should have spent at least 4. If you plan carefully, 4 days should be adequate.

You can easily create your itinerary from/to Krakow/Warszawa by Poland Just Now site. There are plenty of bus and train connections between cities. You can also rent a car.