Small town road trip question

Great that you are motorised.

In that case you're set to explore the lower Vistula area...intriguing, geographically revealing, and simply fascinating . There were towns that escaped the destruction in 1944, one such town was Gniew (Mewe). Another town worth seeing even though damaged in 1944 is Kwidzyn, the former West Prussian town of Marienwerder.

How ever you fit this in time-wise, I would heartily suggest Torun and Chelmno, both of which are on the Vistula.

In 2003 I did the day trip to Malbork from Gdansk...very much recommended given its historical significance in the world wars.

Thanks for the feedback.

It's going to be a tough decision whether to focus on the southeast or the northwest :)

Thanks!

You're welcome. It is indeed a tough decision.

Both directions are well worth seeing, either towards Gdansk and the lower Vistula or in the direction of Krakow going towards Lublin. Between the two I have seen more of the lower Vistula and researched that area much more, geographically and historically.

Here is my unknowledgeable two cents, worth what you are paying. I looked at getting to these towns near Krakow and these seemed harder to get to by public transportation. Which is why I didn’t make it to most of them. I am sure some of them in the north are, as well, but Malbork and Torun are easy by train (have done those) and I have read here about getting to Gniezno by train. So for that reason alone, I would choose the south.

If you decide to visit Torun, you could stop between Warsaw and Gdansk and spend a night.

When I was visiting Torun in July of 2005, that did include a day trip, not by train but by bus, didn't dawn on me to consider the rail connections. From the Torun's center walked over to the bus depot, 30-40 mins.

At that bus depot numerous lines stopped to go out to the small towns. Sociologically, very interesting as we were the only visitors, the Mrs, the MIL and I. Everyone else Polish as can be expected.

We took the bus to Chelmno ca. one hour ride. Had lunch in a nice restaurant, the waitress spoke German, not really surprising since that restaurant had German guests too. It wasn't surprising seeing them there either, license plates, etc since the town Chelmno on the Vistula was the former Kulm in Kulmerland in West Prussia.

Bydgoszcz and Torun were both manageable by public transportation in 2018, and worthwhile.