March trip to Warsaw and Krakow - advice on hotel/car, please?
Feb 15th, 2006, 08:31 AM
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March trip to Warsaw and Krakow - advice on hotel/car, please?
We are travelling to Warsaw arriving March 1, then on March 2 to Krakow and flight back from Warsaw on March 5 (whew!). Would welcome advice on: 1)What is it like renting a car? (want to visit Sochachew, perhaps Treblinka, then Piotrkow, then Krakow including Birkenau)...as an American, will I be comfortable/safe driving around? or should I hire a car/guide? 2)Which hotels in Kazimierz do people recommend? Eden is full, but what about Ester, Astoria, Karmel or Kazimierz? 3)If my flight from Warsaw is March 5 at noon, should I go back from Krakow Sat. night March 4 and stay over in Warsaw, or is it practical to make the drive from Krakow to Warsaw airport Sunday am in time for the flight? Your help is very much appreciated
Feb 15th, 2006, 01:31 PM
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Hi
we've driven in Poland to Krakow from slovakia through the Tatras. Visited Auschwitz with our car. Just have a good roadmap. The names of the villages are the same as on the roadmap. Easy driving with no real problems. It's about the same as driving in a different state. We have been doing it for years. Enjoy your trip.
we've driven in Poland to Krakow from slovakia through the Tatras. Visited Auschwitz with our car. Just have a good roadmap. The names of the villages are the same as on the roadmap. Easy driving with no real problems. It's about the same as driving in a different state. We have been doing it for years. Enjoy your trip.
Feb 15th, 2006, 02:15 PM
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In October, we stayed close to the main square in a comfortable, clean & spacious pension called Globtroter.The owner, Jack is very hospitable & can drive you around to the sights of interest.Kazimierz is within 20 min.walking distance. We had brunch at Hotel Ester & it looked quite modern & renovated. We just found the prices higher in Kazimierz perhaps because it's so touristy.I think you'd be happier closer to the activity around the main square. As per Auschwitz, when you get to the main entrance to pay, ask for a private tour by Christina. She was excellent & came highly recommended.She will also drive you to Birkenau which is a must.Don't forget to see the salt mine.It's amazing. Enjoy.
Feb 15th, 2006, 03:43 PM
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XPolack: Word of advice...(I'm sure Aeiger would agree)I have driven through the handsome Tatras into Poland several times, and the one time I did it in winter (and your dates are sure as hell w-i-n-t--e-r)..it became quite hairy on the mountain pass roads between Stary Smokovec-Tatranska and Zakopane. Be very wary of going that way in winter...(unless you relish 180-degree skids!) I would suggest to instead take the westernmost pass (E-77) from Ruzemberok to Krakow...it's a much gentler, lower elevation pass...there will probably be plenty enough snow there...but do avoid Sedlo Prislop, the pass from Tatrasnka-Stary Smokovec district, into Zakopane. Potentially treacherous in March.
Oh, Syl, when giving people directions or advice on visiting the K-camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka.."enjoy" is rather unfitting...I have in the past played around with "what to say" and came up with "I hope you have a meaningful experience"..and Xpolack, try to vist Treblinka (about 75 miles northeast of Warsaw, in the late afternoon when most visitors have left...it becomes an extraordinarily "meaningful experience" at that hour.
Stu T.
Oh, Syl, when giving people directions or advice on visiting the K-camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka.."enjoy" is rather unfitting...I have in the past played around with "what to say" and came up with "I hope you have a meaningful experience"..and Xpolack, try to vist Treblinka (about 75 miles northeast of Warsaw, in the late afternoon when most visitors have left...it becomes an extraordinarily "meaningful experience" at that hour.
Stu T.
Feb 16th, 2006, 01:19 PM
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Tower is right about the weather in March. We visited in September and the Tatras on the way back from Krakow had turned more wintery. we stayed in Stary Smokovec going to Poland. In Warsaw, we were there in Sept. also, rained several days. Check the weather March may be rainy there also.
Yes, you don't enjoy the sites of the camps. May I also suggest a walking tour of the site of the Ghetto Uprising. Almost all of the Wall is gone except for fragments. We walked to various sites that had markers where the major parts of the Uprising took place, including the spot where the last of the Jewish fighters surrended. Warsaw may not look like Krakow, but it is certainly worth several days.
Yes, you don't enjoy the sites of the camps. May I also suggest a walking tour of the site of the Ghetto Uprising. Almost all of the Wall is gone except for fragments. We walked to various sites that had markers where the major parts of the Uprising took place, including the spot where the last of the Jewish fighters surrended. Warsaw may not look like Krakow, but it is certainly worth several days.
Feb 16th, 2006, 02:15 PM
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Aeiger: Can you imagine how beautiful Stary Smokovec looked covered with snow? We stayed at the venerable Grand and hiked several trails. But the driving became scary...yes, we did a 180 skid and were delayed at the border shack for nearly an hour at 5-degrees C.
Xpolack, I agree that the ghetto walk in Warsaw is quite dramatic, especially the mound that denotes where #18 Mila Street (apartment bldg) once stood. Suggest you may want to read Leon Uris's book (Mila 18)before going.
By the way Aeiger, I named the lead character in my most recent historical (c.1904)novel "Mordecai Anieloff" in honor of the hero of the uprising, "Mordecai Anieliwicz". I was in Warsaw for the 50th anniversary of the April 19,1943 uprising...very emotional experience.
Stu T.
Xpolack, I agree that the ghetto walk in Warsaw is quite dramatic, especially the mound that denotes where #18 Mila Street (apartment bldg) once stood. Suggest you may want to read Leon Uris's book (Mila 18)before going.
By the way Aeiger, I named the lead character in my most recent historical (c.1904)novel "Mordecai Anieloff" in honor of the hero of the uprising, "Mordecai Anieliwicz". I was in Warsaw for the 50th anniversary of the April 19,1943 uprising...very emotional experience.
Stu T.
Feb 17th, 2006, 07:59 PM
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Hi
Tower, we stayed at the Grand also, it really is. There's a restaurant with music down the road from the hotel. Really good turkey I think. After 2 pitchers of wine, i was glad the hotel was close by. Sorry to get off the subject.
Tower, we stayed at the Grand also, it really is. There's a restaurant with music down the road from the hotel. Really good turkey I think. After 2 pitchers of wine, i was glad the hotel was close by. Sorry to get off the subject.
Feb 17th, 2006, 10:52 PM
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we stayed at hotel polonia, just across a lovely park from the walls. great location, old world , but modernized bathrooms, and nice staff.
(also.. good price!)
it is a 4.5 hour drive from warsaw to krakow.
(also.. good price!)
it is a 4.5 hour drive from warsaw to krakow.
Feb 20th, 2006, 06:52 PM
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Xpolack: you would be much better off leaving the car in Krakow and taking the morning train from Krakow to Warsaw. It takes 2.5 hours vs. 4-5 hours of driving and especially in the morning there WILL BE traffic back-ups getting into Warsaw and WAW airport is right off the main artery that everyone uses to get to work in the city. All the best,
Yolanta
Yolanta
Feb 27th, 2006, 02:15 PM
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Great advice from sights_soul ... if you spending your last days in Krakow then want to drive to Warsaw - you definitly want to drop off you car in Krakow then just take a train or a bus back to Warsaw for your flight back... Old City in Krakow does not allow cars - only local deliveries - both Warsaw and Krakow are huge pain to park in ... so you be doing yourself a great favor but loosing your rental early (even if it costs extra - you still be saving $$ on wasted gas and parking). As for Hotels in Warsaw - it depands on your budget - but Bristol is very nice and 5min walk from "old" city ... if you prefrance is near train station (with not much to see there other then traffic) then Marriot is a nice pick with easy access to the Central Train Station - and closer to the airport then anything around old city. There is a bunch of public transportation options that will take you to both airport and old city from the central train station area - and there is always a taxi... So depands what is your prefrance and where you see yourself spending most of your time...
As for car renting ... first check out the weather since lately there have been some good amounts of snow all over Poland. Roads in Poland don't get cleaned up to quickly and when they do many times become skating rings ... so again not sure if you be comfortable driving when weather is bad, but you also definitly do not want to have any tight schedules when you are driving in such conditions. So maybe best to leave driving to someone else - or look into train/bus connections between cities you would like to visit. Your tight schedule would probably more doable in April, May when snow/ice is no longer and issue - and vacations for many did not start yet... but now - not sure - for what it sounds like your first time/or have not been there for a while - I would either get a car with a driver/guide (which maybe expensive) or use trains/busses then local transport / taxies to get around...
Hope this helps.
As for car renting ... first check out the weather since lately there have been some good amounts of snow all over Poland. Roads in Poland don't get cleaned up to quickly and when they do many times become skating rings ... so again not sure if you be comfortable driving when weather is bad, but you also definitly do not want to have any tight schedules when you are driving in such conditions. So maybe best to leave driving to someone else - or look into train/bus connections between cities you would like to visit. Your tight schedule would probably more doable in April, May when snow/ice is no longer and issue - and vacations for many did not start yet... but now - not sure - for what it sounds like your first time/or have not been there for a while - I would either get a car with a driver/guide (which maybe expensive) or use trains/busses then local transport / taxies to get around...
Hope this helps.
