Hello, I am looking for a reliable tour guide agency which can provide someone who can accommodate my upcoming trip to Poland. I will need a tour-guide/interpreter/driver-with-vehicle for 3 or 4 days, starting roughly 19-Jan-2012. First day, visit Szubin, Poland. Second through Third or Fourth days, drive from Szubin to ?winouj?cie, Poland, stopping at several small towns along the way to take photos. (I can provide a full list of the town names.) If time permits, I'd also like to briefly see the train station in Szczecin. I am a happily married, 59-year-old US citizen and speak only English. I am traveling alone for this trip. The reason for this trip is to visit the main POW camp, Oflag 64, which held my father (a U.S. Army officer) throughout 1944. In Jan, 1945, my father, still a POW, was a forced participant in the "Long, Cold March" from Szubin to northwest Poland and further. Can anyone suggest a way for me to determine who is a good, reliable candidate for this custom tour guide job? I realize that the weather in central Poland that time of year can be harsh. I am prepared to dress warmly. But mostly because of the threat of snow, I don't yet feel comfortable simply renting a car on my own. I will be traveling to Poland from Munich, Germany and will need to return to Munich upon leaving Poland. Can you suggest the best means of transportation? All trains, all airlines, or what mix? Can you suggest the best large city near Szubin that I should travel to as the last stage - i.e. prior to traveling on to Szubin? Poznan? Warsaw? Bydgoszcz? Eager to hear back.
Thanks for you time. Bill
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15582 posts
These are pretty specific questions for a true off-the-beaten-path trip. You will get a much better response from the Trip Adviser forums, if you haven't been over there yet.
Posted by
San Francisco
14507 posts
Hi, Offizierlager 64. I have done bits and pieces of your proposed itnerary, was in Poland on three trips, 2001, 2003 2005 all in the summer. My information may be a bit dated. But, instead of departing from Munich, I left from Berlin all three times. I had to transfer at Poznan (Posen) on the way to Torun (Thorn). Is it possible to change your departure to central Poland from Munich to Berlin? In 2003 I changed trains twice (first was at Angermünde). Szczecin (Stettin), not much at this station, was the second transfer site to Gdansk (Danzig). I suggest taking all trains,.. they don't go as fast as in Germany, but they are punctual and clean. Since you'll be traveling along and towards the Baltic, don't be surprised if the train seems to take all day, which was the feeling I had from Szczecin to Gdansk. If you have any extra time and are still in the area, I suggest Gdansk, former capital of West Prussia. From the list above...Warsaw definitely.
Posted by
OP
Knoxville, TN, USA
4 posts
Hello, I just received contact information for one possible tour guide agency which claims to be able to help me for this trip. Can anyone offer opinions on Furnel Travel International? www.furnel.pl Are they reliable? Thanks, Bill