September 3 weeks in Poland. Where to go?

We spent two weeks in Poland last July, loved it. In Warsaw we stayed at the Palace Hotel. It was an easy walk to the olde town and near the bus station, lovely, old world style hotel. We also visited Krakow, Wroclaw, and Gdańsk. We would go back to any one of those cities again. Warsaw has the Warsaw Uprising Museum which is a don’t miss. If you have any specific questions, pm me.

I spent more than a week in Warsaw last year. I'm very interested in 20th century history, especially WWII and the Cold War, so I went to just about every related site in Warsaw--gleaned from guidebooks, the "In Your Pocket" guide and other sources. And I read every line of English-language explanation and watched every minute of English-subtitled video available everywhere I went. As you might imagine, there was a bit of overlap in the information provided, but that didn't bother me at all.

I also like art and went to quite a few art museums, and I made a side-trip to Treblinka. If you're all about history but don't care about art, 5 or 6 days might be enough. Warsaw is a perfectly pleasant place, but there are many other interesting places to see in Poland, so I wouldn't suggest overly padding the Warsaw time at the expense of other possibilities.

I spent a week and a half some years ago in Gdansk (day trip to Malbork castle), Torun, Wroclaw, and Krakow (day trip to Auschwitz). I'd recommend visiting all of them if you have time. Trans are cheap - you can certainly drive if you want but the trains will get you pretty much anywhere you want to go, too.

In Warsaw, the main drag goes by a few names (Nowy Swiat is the only one I remember), but is often called the Royal Way. It goes from the Old Town area to the embassy district - a few miles. It is a great walking street with shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, the University, etc., all the way down. It would be OK to stay anywhere along that road or within a few blocks of it, as you can walk to the Old Town along this fine street. In the embassy zone (south of Jerozolim Street) there are some big hotels (like the Sheraton) that are actually pretty affordable.

go to the InYourPocket website and download their guides for Warsaw and Krakow and you'll find a lot of good info.

We really loved Poland. We were there 16 nights last summer and did it all by train and bus, mostly train. Gdańsk was my favorite city. If you rent a car, I would look into going to Gdańsk by train, then driving to Krakow, stopping along the way. Turn in car at Krakow and take train back to Warsaw. That will save you some driving. Trains are nice in Poland and not expensive.

We shortchanged Warsaw. You have to cut something. We figured we would be back some day.

I personally would not want to spend more that 3-4 nights in Warsaw, if on a 3 week trip. Warsaw is a great, modern, and vibrant town, but I find the charm of Poland to be outside of the main two cities, just as much as Warsaw and Krakow. For example, here's a roughly 3 week "Best of Poland" itinerary I put together recently, just to give a bit of an idea:

Fly in to Warsaw

-Warsaw (4 nights): day trip to Kazimierz Dolny

-Torun (2 nights)

-Malbork (2 nights): day trip through the Masurian lakes district to the Grunwald Battlefield/Museum.

-Gdansk (3 nights): day trip to Gdynia

-Gniezno "Birthplace of Poland" (2 nights): day trip to the Iron Age fortified settlement of Biskupin

-Wroclaw (3 nights): day trip to the Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica

-Zakopane (2 nights): explore Tatra mountains

-Kraków (4 nights): day trip to Pszczyna Castle + Jasna Góra Monastery

Fly out of Kraków

I would agree with Carlos about flying into one city and out of another. We spent a week each in Gdansk, Warsaw and Krakow. I would recommend the train to each of these cities - it's just so easy. For our fourth week, we spent the time "in the country" driving past Wroclaw, staying in Struga (Palac Struga) and buying Polish pottery in Bolselawiec. For three weeks, I would skip the country (driving is a bit stressful, especially compared to the trains) and just move between Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk. While in Gdansk, we enjoyed day trips to the beach in Sopot and the castle in Malbork.

Thanks for all the information. Gives me a plan to get started.