You booked your trip to Poland and you will definitely not be disappointed! This seemingly under the radar country became one of my favourites countries to visit in Europe, after travelling there for a couple of months as there are so many beautiful places to visit in Poland!
Here I’ll show you my favourite places to visit as well as a suggested Poland itinerary from the south to the north of the country.
NOTE: This blog contains affiliate links to pages selling products and/or services, I may get a small commission if you make a purchase through these links at no extra cost for you. There’s no sponsored content on this blog.
Things to know about Poland
Although Poland is part of the EU, they don’t use the Euro and use the Zloty instead. The country is pretty safe and well organised, you can easily move around by train or bus and all the transportation I took was pretty efficient and on time.
I was able to communicate easily in English pretty much everywhere I went but as I always recommend, it’s great to learn two key words when you visit any country:
Hello: I was using mostly “Czesc” which is what everyone was telling me when I was hiking in the mountains. Dzien Dobry (good morning) is also a good one to know.
Thanks: Dzieki
Poland is still pretty affordable to visit if you’re looking for low cost destinations in Europe.
Arriving to Poland
Thanks to low cost carriers, you can find plenty of options to travel to Poland, I personally took a bus from Budapest to Krakow and after two months in Poland I took another bus from Warsaw to Berlin.
If you’re flying, I’d recommend to fly to Krakow and depart from Warsaw so you can maximise your trip to Poland and have more places to visit in your itinerary.
I’ll list them following the same route I did so you can get an idea on how your itinerary in Poland could look like:
Visit Krakow
The Historic Centre of Krakow is a stunning Unesco World Heritage Site! The 13th-century merchants’ town has Europe’s largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches. I was lucky to arrive on the final day of the annual pierogi festival (typical Polish dumplings) and tried some unusual fillings!
Wavel Castle is the biggest attraction in town which is one of the most historically and culturally significant sites in the country. It consist of many buildings built over many years. The current castle was built in the 14th-century, and expanded over the next hundreds of years. In 1978 Wawel Castle was on the first batch of World Heritage Sites as part of the historic centre of Krakow.
Wandering along the river and the old town makes Krakow a wonderful destination even for a short weekend escapade.
I stayed at the Atlantis Hostel which was pretty decent.
Not far from Krakow you could visit the Concentration Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau which is one of the most horrific places left from the Holocaust. I personally didn’t go as I have mixed feelings about being a tourist in certain places but I still mention it here as it’s important to keep the awareness of the dark past of humanity on a day and age that seems to be forgetting too quickly of the mistakes and atrocities made during the last century.
Go hiking in Zakopane (or skiing!)
This was for me without a doubt one of the best places to visit in Poland as I loved hiking in the Tetra Mountains! In summer time you can hike and in winter you can ski, it’s a perfect destination for mountain lovers!
I went from Krakow to Zakopane by bus which takes just over two hours.
I recommend you to stay at least 3 days to go for some stunning hikes but if you can, you will not regret staying longer. Be prepared for changing temperatures as even that I went in August, there were some points were I had to layer up as I was feeling cold at times. Some other times I was in short sleeves and shorts so just be aware of that.
A great place to stay in Zakopane is the Good Bye Lenin Hostel, it’s a beautiful mountain cabin just steps away from the national park, with a cosy common area where it’s perfect to meet other backpackers by the fireplace.
There are plenty of hikes, some will be right along the border with Slovakia so you will actually be crossing from one country to the other over and over.
Perhaps the most famous hike in Zakopane is Orla Perc which is considered the most dangerous hike in the Tatra mountains. At least that’s everything I heard before heading to this chained trail full of vertical ups and downs. Orla Perc (Eagle’s Path) was “built” in the early 1900’s and apparently +100 people have died (I have no idea under what conditions). I found it exciting at times but not really dangerous, surely not a route for a beginner though as I did see some people scared and creating queues as they froze in the “scary” sections. If you do this hike, try to go as early as possible to try to beat the crowds.
Go dwarf hunting in Wroclaw
Wroclaw is a city of dwarfs!🧙♂️🧙♀️
Even if you don’t look for them they will cross your path! There are about 350 of them, all with their own character and many times related to their surroundings! Love it!
But why!????
Long story short:
This all started in the early 2000’s to commemorate the Orange Alternative which was a Polish anti-communist underground movement. Its main purpose was to offer a wider group of citizens an alternative way of opposition against the authoritarian regime by means of a peaceful protest that used absurd and nonsensical elements.
By doing this, members of the Orange Alternative could not be arrested by the police for opposition to the regime without the authorities becoming a laughing stock. Initially they painted ridiculous graffiti of dwarves on paint spots covering up anti-government slogans on city walls.
Wroclaw is your typical Polish town rebuilt after WWII and has a colourful a super beautiful old town.
I stayed at the Amnezja Hostel which was continuing the same line of nice hostels in Poland that I experienced previously.
Wroclaw should definitely be in your Poland itinerary as it was one of my favourite places to visit in the country.
Visit Poznan (or not)
Continuing this great trip to Poland, I took a train from Wroclaw to Poznan. Admittedly, and almost unfairly, this was not one of my favourite places to visit in Poland but I don’t really know why as it has a colourful town centre with a lively old market square, several museums and the Citadel Park which is nice for a walk. In a way it was similar to Wroclaw but without the gnomes!
So, I’d keep this one as an optional stop in your Poland itinerary.
In Poznan I stayed at the Blooms Boutique Hostel which was a kind of cool and centrally located building.
Explore Warsaw
I spent a month in the Polish capital and had a great time over there. I met lots of friendly people and visited some unusual sights on top of the most common destinations.
As I arrived by train from Poznan, the first impression I got from Warsaw was the huge tower nearby.
That’s the Palace of Culture and Science, built in 1955, a gift from Stalin’s Soviet Union to the people of Poland. At 237m is the highest structure in Poland and 5th in Europe. Because of its origins, the building is controversial and there have been numerous calls for its demolition.
Did you know that almost 90% of the city was destroyed by the Nazis even when they knew the war was lost? They did it in reprisal against the Warsaw Uprising, an underground resistance operation to liberate Warsaw.
Some really good museums to learn more about the history of Poland, the suffering and destruction it experienced are the POLIN Museum and the Warsaw Rising Museum.
Other more unusual museums I visited that I thoroughly enjoyed were the Neon Museum (since my visit I keep spotting Neon signs wherever I go!); the Pinball Museum where you can play some really old Pinball and arcade games; and the Invisible Exhibition where you’re “forced” to use all your senses except your sight. It was a truly memorable and touching experience for me.
The rooftop gardens in the Copernicus centre, the old town and walking along the Vistula River were also some of my favourite places to visit in Warsaw.
As with most capitals, you will find plenty of places to stay in Warsaw to suit your budget.
Visit the beautiful town of Gdansk
From the Polish capital I took a train to the north and instantly felt in love with the city of Gdansk.
Located by the Baltic Sea, the city has plenty of history, having been Polish, Prussian, German and has even been an independent free city on a couple of occasions. Gdansk played an important role in bringing an end to communist rule in Poland in the 1980s. The amber capital of the world was also severely destroyed during WWII and most of what you will see in when you visit Gdansk was rebuilt.
The city is a pretty during the day as during the evening when all the building get slightly tenuous illumination which makes walking along the Motlawa river and the old town quite romantic.
From Gdansk I made some day trips to Gdynia and Sopot which are also nice to visit if you have time to go.
In Gdansk at stayed in two places, the Water Lane Island Hostel, which is just a new building but has a nice spa and the Universus Hostel which is a cool building from the outside but a fairly basic hostel which is still good if you travel low cost.
From the Tatra Mountains in the south, to the Baltic Sea in the north, I had an incredible couple of months travelling in Poland! Such a beautiful country, friendly people, good food, and lots learned about its history. Definitely a top destination that surprised me for good.
Do you think there are other great places to visit in Poland that I missed? Drop your comments below as I’m reading you!
Happy adventures!
