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rural villages

I am a photographer and I am hoping to visit rural poland to document the rural viilages. Could you kindly suggest some places where life is lived still in the traditional way? I sis better to go by train or car? Do thetrains stop at these rural villages ?

Posted by
1158 posts

I can suggest you Romania. Maybe Northern part of it is your best choice.
It's better to use a car , it's much easier to access those areas since the train might not stop to every village, but be prepared for "rough" roads.

Posted by
12040 posts

"is lived still in the traditional way?" What do you mean by "traditional way"? Horse-drawn carts? Water sources from wells? Outhouses that drain into public water sources? Fields fertilized with raw livestock feces? If it's pre-industrial farming you want to see, Poland probably isn't the best country. I remember a few horse drawn carts on a driving trip from Katowice to Bialystok, but most of what I saw looked fairly modern. There were plenty of old-style houses, but just as common were modern structures and left over monstrosities from the communist period.

The bus ride between Krakow and Ostwiecim (Auschwitz) takes you through some nice looking villages at least.

Kosovo might give you a better look at "traditional ways", but they're retained there mainly because of the grinding poverty and lack of investment capital, not because of any conscious choice.

If you REALLY want to see pre-modern living done as legitimate choice, not as a necessity of circumstances, visit the Amish country of Pennsylvania.