Poland ++

What are your plans for Poland? How long have you got?

Berlin, or other less traveled parts of east Germany? Or ferry across to Sweden?

I've always wanted to go to L'Viv, Ukraine - have put it in my plans a few times but it has never worked out. You can train there from Krakow. You could continue on from L'Viv to Kiev and fly out or return say to Warsaw.

Or add on Lithuania.

We are touring all of Poland. We can add 5 to 7 days.

I am planning a Krakow to Berlin itinerary myself. Not sure where you are going in Poland, but Goerlitz-Dresden-Berlin makes sense if you are visiting the southwestern portion of Poland.

Goerlitz, Dresden and Berlin are all great. The only problem is that 5 - 7 days would be a bit short (in my view) for hitting all of them. Berlin has a vast number of museums (many of them very large) and time-consuming historic sights.

What time of year is the trip? That might be a consideration.

L'viv (aka as Lemberg, Lwów and Lvov) is also on my list. Easy to reach from Kraków (one change in Przemysl), taking 5 to 6,5 hrs.

• Vilnius (Lithuania)
• Riga (Latvia)
• Tallin (Estonia)

(PS. You can fly to Lviv directly from Warsaw as well, depending on how you organize your trip itinerary)

My recommendation is exactly the same as that suggested by tomfromleiden...geographically easy and doable, historically interesting and revealing, Take the train, see that interesting countryside from Krakow to Lviv/Lemberg, all part of the Habsburg Empire prior to 1914.

Another vote for Lviv. I really regret not visiting while I lived in Poland. Several friends have gone and all have loved it. If you can, take the bus back. My friend called it the Contraband Express - older Ukrainian women trying to smuggle cigarettes and such across the border. I saw on your other post that you're already planning to visit Gdansk, Krakow and Warsaw. This will give you a chance to see another part of the country. Lublin is a great town to spend a few days in, and is close to Zamosc, Sandomierz and Kazimierz Dolny. Or, for something completely different - head to the Bialowieza Forest. It's the last of Europe's primeval forest and home to the last of the European bison, as well as where the famous Zubrowka vodka comes from. My summer language school took us on a weekend trip there and it was amazing. If you want to get off the beaten path, so to speak, that could be a good option.

Lemberg: from its Austrian days after the First Partition of Poland of 1772, when it was the capital of the artificial Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria;
Lwów: from its more recent Polish days between 1918 and 1939, when it became part of the Soviet Union as a result of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Treaty;
Lvov: which is the Russian variety, used until the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, when it found itself in independent Ukraine;
Lviv: as is the present name for the city and will be for the foreseeable future.
There must have been inhabitants of the city which have had four different nationalities without ever having moved. Some places have too much history.