Friends and I recently completed the Best of Poland tour. The tour was a perfect perfect blend of cultural moments combined with historical sites. We will be recommending the tour to family and friends. Here are a few random tour tidbits that some may find useful.
- World War II Museum (Gdańsk): Arrive the day before the tour begins or purchase tickets in advance if you wish to visit the World War II museum. Many people on our tour had planned to visit the museum during their free time on the 2nd day. However, tickets were sold out & they were unable to visit the museum. My friends and I went to the World War II museum on Day 1 before the orientation meeting. The Tuesday tickets were free. We arrived at the World War II museum 30 minutes before opening and we were able to get tickets, go to the restroom, and retrieve our headsets before opening. It was crowded and we heard tickets sold out later that day. Plan on waiting in a line if you arrive after 10am opening. We stayed 4 hours at the museum and only saw the first half of the museum.
- Restaurant (Gdańsk): We ate at Pierogarnia Stary Młyn. Highly recommend it for a first meal in Poland. The pierogis were delicious & the decor sets the mood.
- Day 2 free afternoon: We had 3 hours of free time before going to the European Solidarity Center after the walking tour. We met at the hotel at 3pm.
- Laundry (Warsaw): Some tour members went to the laundromat before dinner on Day 4. It involves a short 10 min. walk. Wash took 45 minutes to complete (despite it saying 30 minutes) & it took another 20 minutes or so to dry.
- Łazienki Park (Warsaw) We were glad we went to the Sunday concert on Day 6 to experience a local activity. You don't have to stay for the entire concert.
- Dinner Day 7 (Krakow): We made 7:30pm dinner reservations at Klezmer Hois per the advice of fellow travelers on this forum. I'm very glad we did. The restaurant/hotel/bookstore specializes in Jewish cuisine & has klezmer music performances every evening at 8pm. Reservations are a must. Search Klezmer Hois in the forum to learn more about it.
- Pierogi Making Class (Krakow): Tour highlight for us. Expect the experience to end anytime 5pm onwards.
- Communism Tour (Krakow): We arranged ahead of time to do a tour with Crazy Guides on Day 9 at 1:15pm. Loved it. You visit Nowa Huta in a small vintage car. We did the standard tour (2.5 hours), but requested to go to the bomb shelter instead of visiting the posted standard tour's residential unit & church (those were mostly seen in the morning with RS tour). The guided tour was a perfect compliment to the historical walking tour in the morning. It was a fun experience & a chance to learn more about communist life. I was worried ahead of time that it would be a repeat of information. It was not.
- Auschwitz (day trip from Krakow): We stayed one night post tour to visit Auschwitz. We did it on our own by purchasing the tickets online 90 days in advance. Our timing was perfect. We had breakfast at the hotel, walked to the bus station around 7:45am, and took the 8:40am local bus to Auschwitz & the tour began at 10:45am (11:00am would give you more wiggle room with transportation). The timing allowed us to arrive at the bus station 30 minutes before departure & to arrive 30 minutes before the guided tour began. For less confusion at the bus station, I recommend buying the bus tickets online ahead of time. I bought them while still in the USA a couple weeks ahead of time. We returned to Krakow on the 3:30pm bus. Note: If I were to do it again, I would have done the one day study tour of Auschwitz (6 hrs) instead of the general tour (3.5 hrs). I am a history teacher & the crowds on the general tour made it difficult to hear & ask questions at times. Others found the general tour sufficient.
Finally, thanks to all the previous forum posts that included detailed information about the tour. They were super helpful!
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
7315 posts
I believe Pierogarnia Stary Młyn is a chain/franchised. We found it in a few cities. It is good!
Posted by
Arlington TX
777 posts
Thanks so much for your TR. I keep debating whether to do this tour or just do Krakow on my own. The WWll museum really does sound impressive though. What about Warsaw did you most enjoy or value?
Posted by
OP
Upstate NY
7 posts
julesm - Yeah, I think Pierogarnia Stary Młyn is a chain. We stumbled upon it while walking around the city. It was the first time I tried sweet pierogis. They were delicious.
Posted by
OP
Upstate NY
7 posts
lyndash - Every city on the tour had its own feel and part of that had to do with partition of Poland in the late 1700s -1800s. Gdańsk was taken over by Prussia, Warsaw was taken over by Russia, and Kraków was taken over by the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The empires had an influence on each of cities and those influences were noticeable. Each city was unique and had its own charms.
Kraków is a beautiful city that remained mostly untouched during World War II. They say it's the cultural heart of Poland and you can explore its medieval streets. Whereas Warsaw, the brains of Poland, has been mostly rebuilt due to war damage. Evidence of the war and its impact are everywhere. We spent our free afternoon in Warsaw exploring the rebuilt old town and discovering how the war impacted its citizens. Personally, Warsaw highlights were going to the Chopin concert in the Park (the candlelight Chopin concert was a close 2nd) and the Ukrainian Dinner hosted by the B&B. The B&B in Warsaw was my favorite hotel of the tour with its history and character.
If you are interested World War II era, I would recommend you visit Warsaw and/or Gdańsk. There were lots of museums and sites related to World War II in those cities. With that said, there is the Schindler's Factory in Krakow.
There's so much to see in Poland.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1657 posts
For less confusion at the bus station, I recommend buying the bus tickets online ahead of time. I bought them while still in the USA a couple weeks ahead of time.
Since getting to Auschwitz using public transportation comes up all the time, perhaps you could share the link for bus tickets?
Also, in Warsaw did you stay at the Chopin Boutique B&B?
Posted by
TX, USA
5454 posts
I loved reading your tidbits! I have eaten at a couple of different Pierogarnia Stary Młyn locations (Gdansk and Wroclaw) and love it also. And it makes my heart happy that you loved your night at Klezmer Hois. I spent a week there one year and it’s special. (And not right for everyone). I probably need to go back for the Nowa Huta tour!
Posted by
OP
Upstate NY
7 posts
markcw - I used Lajkonikbus for transportation to Auschwitz. The destination is Oświęcim. I used 2 devices to buy my tickets. One to purchase the tickets and the other to translate (There is the option to change the language, but not all fields changed). . Here’s the link to their site: https://www.lajkonikbus.pl/lajkonikbus-kup-bilet.html
Yes, we stayed at the Chopin B&B in Warsaw.
Posted by
Southeast US
4265 posts
Enjoyable trip report. Thanks for sharing. I love Poland and hope to make it back in a few years for an extended tour. The Crazy Guides Communism Tour is a favorite travel activity I have done. My guide was a college student studying in China who was home for the summer. She was great!