Poland-Is it safe and worth the trip?

Let me try to answer your questions one by one:

1) Yes!

2) English fluency is less common than in the West, but enough people speak it that you should not encounter any serious problems.

3) Most of the areas of interest to tourists in both Warsaw and Krakow are relatively compact. You should not need a guide, only a good guidebook.

4) The crime level is similar to most of Europe, although Poland seems to suffer from the highest per-capital level of grafitti that I have ever seen.

If you are experienced travelers, Poland is a piece of cake. Krakow is one of my favorite places in all of Europe. Best of all its still very affordable as Poland hasn't switched to the Euro yet. When I visited last summer I felt very safe, and there was a very heavy police presence in the city center. Police were on foot, bike, horseback, and even helicopters overhead. I even noticed some officers hiding in the bushes in the plantry park which surrounds the city center. Thus, they seem to be on top of any sort of tourist related crimes.

To echo the other two posters, Poland is one of gems
of Europe. We particularly love Krakow. There are
police everywhere who are ready to help and give
directions as needed although the handful I spoke with had limited English. We felt extremely safe there even late night, but had just left southern Italy, Naples area, where the opposite feeling was the norm.

If possible you might also consider seeing Wroclaw. I spent 3 days there and it was very nice. I had no trouble with the language and felt very safe even at night.

I guess this is a negative reply: On my last trip to Europe, 2007, I met several people who had problems with safety in Poland. The story that concerned me the most was the one concerning stolen credit cards. The credit card company wouldn't send replacement cards to Poland but required the customer to go the nearest city outside Poland (he chose Berlin) to get the replacement cards.

I would check with my credit card company to see if that is true. If it is, you have an idea about the safety.

I was in Poland in 2006 with a group tour from the cruise ship. Of course, with so many people, I felt entirely safe.

Yes, Poland is definitely worth a visit.

We spent 5 weeks in Poland in 2006 and loved it. The food is wonderful and cheap ( try Rick's suggestion about "Milk Bars"-- we did and soon looked for them in every town and found good food for almost nothing!), the people are helpful and friendly and the country varies from lowland plain leading to sea all the way to magnificent mountains (Tatras) in the south.

Lynda my sons friend has been to Poland twice, he loves it, says it is beautiful and loves the people. He has travelled a bit so its not like he has nothing to compare it to.

I have never heard of Poland being any less safe then any europeon country , there is pickpockets in Rome and Paris galore, but I've never been a victum. You won't be either if you just keep you wits about you , ESPECIALLY anywhere crowded, remember it is impossilbe to pick pocket you with out coming close to your body, be aware and don't let anyone( but hubby lol) near you in a crowd.

Have fun and enjoy some borsht for me( I love it!!) and perogies, and cabbage rolls, and sauerkraut and potatoe pancakes and sour cream with everything,, sorry, got carried away, had a Polish granny and she was an excellant cook and a wonderful kind person. If she is anything like the "average" Polish person you will have a wonderful time.

Pickpocketting is a big problem all over Europe, maybe less in Germany.
In Western Europe majority who comit crime are actually from Eastern Europe, as fas as I know.
Anywhere you go you should be aware of crime.

Yes!
I had the opportunity to study and live in Poland for 2 months and it was amazing. I might be a little biased since I'm of Polish heritage (my parents were born there) and speak the language fluently, but I really think that Poland is a wonderful country full of history and charm.

Most of the young people speak English, or understand enough to help you out. Please feel free to PM if you would like more info.

Places in Poland visited:
Warsaw, Krakow, Zakopane, Wroclaw, Karpacz, Oswiecim (Aushwitz), Gorzow Wlkp, Wielizcka

=erica=

Poland is definitely worth the visit.
You won't have a problem with the language. Many young people speak English. And Poland is safe.
You won't need a guide. If you feel that you need none you can always call a travel agent and hire one.