Poland - 8 Nights

Fwiw I'm planning a trip now to Poland and am planning on skipping Warsaw . I'm planning on Gdansk 3 ish nights stop in Torun , Wroclaw 2 nights then Krakow 7 ish nights before taking the train to Vienna and flying out of there. I like the Rough Guide to Poland. It'll be my 3rd visit to Poland. It's a lovely country with lovely people. I'd recommend flying in one city and flying out another because it's not a tiny country.

I am heading to Poland later this year but combining it with Budapest. I had originally looked at Poland only with similar itinerary.
Like you, I am fast paced traveler and can cover a lot in a short time. My original idea was 2 days (3 nights) in Gdansk, 2 days (3 nights) in Wroclaw, and 4 days in Krakow (including 1 day dedicated to Auschwitz).

I also looked at the Baltic itinerary you are considering, but for that one I would need more days. With Helsinki, you will need more than 8 days I think. It's actually top of list for my next trip.

I think the Poland itinerary that you noted with 4 krakow, 2 wroclaw and 2 gdansk is initially similar to what seems to make the most sense for us. Maybe 4 nights krakow and 2 in the other places and time the trains to where we need more time. Trying to understand if we need to squeeze in Warsaw. We are more looking to see cool and interesting places more than big cities. Like we really enjoyed the two days we spent in Ljubljana recently.

If we are somewhat flexible on dates, would it be worth trying to make sure we're in Gdansk for the St. Dominic's Fair.

For the Baltic option, I think it would need to be either Vilnius or Helsinki with eight nights, but not both.

On a visit to Poland some years ago I really enjoyed a couple days in the mountain resort town of Zakopane. It’s about a two hour bus ride from Krakow, as I recall, and is something quite different from the other cities you mention. A good place to go in August as I expect it would be lively with Polish vacationers with good hiking and such. I think Warsaw is worth a visit, depending where you fly into or out of. I spent one night there and would have liked more time. Other than Krakow, a must see, I haven’t been to the other places suggested. I would like to get up to Gdansk sometime. This fall I’m doing something very like the Baltic trip you’re also considering, with a couple days in each of the three capitals, but not Helsinki as insufficient time for that.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/four-cities-in-poland-2019

Still tossing things around and are open to more suggestions. Still thinking something like arrive AM Friday in Krakow, stay 3 nights there, head to Wroclaw for 2 nights and then to Gdansk for 3 nights and have a 2pm flight home from there. Not sure if better with 4 nights in Krakow and 2 in Gdansk. In that case, we'd probably take an early morning train to Wroclaw to maximize time there and then again and early morning train to Gdansk. That basically would give us 4 full days in Krakow and 2 mostly full days (arrive by noon) in both Wroclaw and Gdansk.

Really depends on what you want to do. Solidarity center? Salt mines? Malbork castle?

In Krakow, Auschwitz for sure, Salt Mines likely. In Gdansk, Malbork Castle and if we have time, maybe visit Sopot. Otherwise, just mostly wandering around taking in the main sites and eating some good food.

I'm looking at the calendar and we could potentially add a 9th night arriving Friday afternoon instead. Would we then do Krakow (4), Wroclaw (2) and Gdansk (3) and be much less rushed that way? How much better would it be having that 9th night?

Should we consider dedicating a night or 2 to Warsaw? From what I've heard, it sounds like there is more history/museums/nightlife there, even though there's a nice Old Town there, not sure it'll be worth it. If we did, where do we take the night(s) away from? There's only so much we can see in this timeframe so we have to miss some things.

What do you want to see in Wroclaw? If you wanted to see Warsaw you could take out Wroclaw? 8 or 9 nights isn't much for 3-4 cities plus train rides and checking in and out of hotels, IMO.

Wroclaw seems like a pretty/quaint city to wander around and see local sites and have some good food/drink. We recently spent a couple of days in Ljubljana that we liked and my impression is that Wroclaw might be a bit similar in vibe. We are open to replacing Wroclaw with Warsaw if that might make more sense for what we are looking for, but initially, I don't think so.

I think your current itinerary is good as is without Warsaw. From what you described about your interests, feels like a smaller town such as Wroclaw may be more appealing than Warsaw. And you would add significant travel time.
I think you should finalize your dates and get tickets to Auschwitz directly through the museum. English tours do sell out especially during summer. I'm traveling in September and I just got my ticket.

I looked at Auschwitz tickets and there were plenty for August, but I will buy as soon as I book air.

One other question about Gdansk regarding St. Dominic's Fair. Our dates are flexible. Should we avtivetly avoid St. Dominic's Fair or would we want to go? I presume the Old Town will be packed and much harder to sit at resturants and cafes during the fair, but is going to the festival worth that invconvienience?

We had a topic discussion here about traveling during special events.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/do-you-look-for-special-events

As I mentioned earlier, I am planning on missing Warsaw for now. I've been to Poland twice for 2 ish weeks both times, and I just don't adore big cities unless they have a lot that I want to see in them, but do prefer the quieter smaller cities. That's why I'm planning on Wroclaw, and skipping Warsaw (unless some year I can snag Chopin competition tickets but I understand they're very hard to get).

Yes, we generally prefer smaller cities as well. I'm getting pretty comfortable with Krakow 4, Wroclaw 2, Gdansk 3, but still tossing it around a bit before booking flights.

We have been in all those cities plus Warsaw. Your last response’s itinerary is fine. At first we did not like Warsaw, very large city with a small old town section. By the time we left it was growing on us. We were there for 5 nights.
But missing it won’t hinder your Polish Experience.

Yes, I think we are pertty much settled on Krakow 4, Wroclaw 2, Gdansk 3. Can't see everything, but I think we have enough time to cover that without being particularly rushed.

Enjoy! It's my favorite country after my own.

Airfare booked, yay! Thanks for the help here.

@davidl - You'll be there before me (I arrive in September) so let us know how it goes!
Have a great trip.

Yay! Please share about your trip after you return. Enjoy!

I'll definitely come back here and share my trip.

One of the question in the meantime. With the three cities we are going to and that we are going at a fairly peak travel time, what other than trains and Auschwitz need to be booked in advance?

Among places you are visiting, we only have Krakow in common. For me, the tricky part is figuring out what is open and closed each day to decide what to visit when.
Seems like some museums as well as several rooms of Wawel Castle in Krakow are closed on Mondays.
I'm not planning on Oskar Schindler Factory, but I hear you need advance ticket.
And the underground museum in Krakow is closed on Tuesdays and a few other days. https://bilety.mhk.pl/rezerwacja/termin.html?idl=20&idg=0&idw=4&d=3

I'll definitely come back here and share my trip.

Yay! I'm another one going later this year and looking forward to reading about your trip.

Check to be sure your accommodations have AC. I understand that there is a heat wave going on now.

Yes, good point with A/C. We are staying at Apartmenty Braka 6 in Krakow and Wyndham Old Town in Wroclaw, both with A/C, but we have an apartment in Gdansk (that I can cancel) that I really like without A/C. I figured being up north on the sea, we very likely won't need A/C but is that a bad risk to take?

Changed Wroclaw hotel to Aparthotel New Lux. Looks very nice!
Rest is on auto pilot at this point.