Safety in Poland

Kay,

I can't provide any comments on the specific aspect of middle eastern people in Poland, but just a general observation.

I was in Poland in September, and found the people there to be most wonderful, friendly and helpful during my visit. Which places in Poland are you planning to visit? You may find that especially in the larger cities, the people are more used to seeing tourists from a variety of countries around the world.

If you do decide to visit Poland, it would be great if you could provide an update after you return, as I'd be interested to know what your experiences were like.

Kay we asked about this when we were there. As locals explained to me, Poland was and is not a destination with a lot of immigration issues, or immigrants, period. It was a place to emigrate from, not to. So there are not large groups of ethnic foreigners, competing for jobs or clashes over culture. Nothing like has been seen in Germany for example. If anything, they will be mostly curious over foreign visitors. I will say that while many young people speak at least some English, in small towns and shops a few words of Polish greetings and thanks will get you a warm welcome.

I was in Poland two years ago, and in Krakow happened to be in the main square during a Gay Rights parade. The marchers had a police escort but there was no sign of any animosity or problem.

As for ethnicity, I have no direct experience. I found the people I met to be kind but not particularly outgoing. I spoke no Polish beyond the basic polite phrases, which were well received even though conversation often quickly moved to hand-signals and drawn diagrams.

I hope you let us know how your visit goes.

We visited Poland several yrs ago, and we're going back in May. Our experiences were very positive. The people there seem to really like Americans, and are quite hospitable.

During 2 wks there, the only problem that I had was with a debit card charge (dumb of me to use a debit card). The waiter really really seem to have had a problem. The owner refunded the amount with many apologizes.

I agree with Ken's comment that the people of Poland were incredibly friendly and helpful, proud of their businesses, and therefore very focused on customer service. I saw people of all races in Warsaw and Krakow on all of our tours, in restaurants, etc so people of different ethnicities are traveling there. We did a tour with a couple from India and chatted- it seemed like they were having a good time. Though I understand that was two people out of many and it is possible they didn't feel comfortable sharing negative experiences with a stranger.

Unfortunately, the narrow minded live in every country. But this did not seem to be the norm on my trip, at least not in the big cities.

I was there last May, 2014 and felt so much safer than in the other European countries. I got the feeling that the Poles were not eager to have foreigners assimilate. Even our taxi drivers were all native Poles, which was a real contrast to other European cities. I am looking to return next year.

We have been in several countries in Europe, and I found Poland to be one of the friendliest. I think that having tourists in their country is still a bit new to them, and they are so appreciative to them that they go out of the way to be helpful.

As someone else mentioned, you will not see a lot of racial diversity there as you might see in other European countries.

As far as safety, I never had any concerns while we were there. As with any country you travel to, you need to be smart and be aware of your surroundings.