Independent travel is pretty easy, so don't worry there. for train travel in Germany, dbahn.de is what you want. You can also check schedules for other countries too.

In general, I find that fewer destination is better though. If you've been travelling on multi-day tours, they can usually move faster than independent travellers can just because they have a bus that can go whenever they want, can make people get on the road at 7am, etc.

When you are planning your own travel, consider that every time you move, you will lose about a half day from your sightseeing - travel time, checking in and out of hotels, getting familiar with the public transport system and/or lay out of the city or town. So your 2 days in Krakow is probably only a day and a half, maybe less depending on train schedules.

So for a 12 day trip, I would do at most 2 countries rather than 3. So Poland and Germany or Germany and the Netherlands. For me, 3 countries would be too much.

I cannot say much about Poland, although I assume you will get along fine.

For the German leg of your trip:

The itinerary is certainly doable. Given your timeframe of 12 days total, three days in Berlin are reasonable.

The train from Berlin to Cologne takes 4:20 and is very comfortable. Have a meal in the restaurant car, it is surprisingly good and helps killing the time.

In Cologne, you may visit the magnificent cathedral (be sure to see the shrine of the Three Magi and the treasury), one or two romanesque churches (Groß Sankt Martin is very convenient), the ancient Roman palace under the City Hall (praetorium) with the 2000-year-old sewer (walkable), the Jewish mikwe, the Roman-Germanic museum, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum of medieval art and/or the Museum Ludwig for contemporary art and maybe the chocolate museum. Have a rustic meal and a beer in one of the microbreweries (Früh or Sion).

The train ride from Cologne to Düsseldorf takes just 23 minutes. In Düsseldorf, walk down the Königsalle (very elegant shoppping street) and the riverwalk (lively scenery, architecture). Visit the K20 and/or K21 (20th/21st century) art museums. I would also recommend the trip to the Neanderthal Museum, a state-of-the-art museum of a few bones and the history of mankind, with the site of the Neanderthal Man and a park with ice-age animals.

You see, you have picked attractive destinations. Although Hamburg and Dresden are interesting cities, travelwise your itinerary is a perfect choice. And you will be surprised how many attractions you will find in Düsseldorf and Cologne.

Stasut, sound ambitious.

If your budget is $3500, take away about $1200 for air – presuming you are flying transatlantic – leaves you with a little less that $200 per day, right?

That does not seem enough for a single accommodation, train fare, food, drinks, and incidentals including admissions to museums or other sights.

Maybe you could visit fewer cities. In any case, good luck…

I love to travel by myself. However, I would highly suggest cutting a lot of travel out. As lateday suggested having a $3500 budget for 12 days will not take you very far. I would price out all of the traveling (trains/planes/taxi's) then add in your must see museums and sights. After that see how much you have leftover for accommodations and food.

I haven't been to Warsaw, but English is widely spoken in central Krakow at hotels and restaurants. I know a little Polish and it did come in handy with a taxi driver in Krakow, and in some other cities in Poland, even at the train station for signs. But Krakow is a pretty major tourist spot now for lots of British people so they are used to it (and lots of them were drunk as far as I could see).

You already made a clever itinerary by yourself. The trains are very fast, so you will not lose much time for travelling. If you get your online tickets three months in advance, you may get them surprisingly cheap (e.g. 29€ for the train from Berlin to Cologne - www.bahn.de). 200$ per day for accomodation, transport, food and drink is plenty for the destinations you have picked. Germany is one of the least expensive countries in Europe.

I can't speak to Poland nor the budget but when I travel alone in Germany it is extremely inexpensive and easy. I love just wandering around and eating wherever. Have to admit I love wurst and beer. I would enjoy your itinerary. Buy a day ticket for transportation in Berlin and you can wander on foot and horseback (riding-not an actual horse) wherever your heart's desire. Go early to the Reichstag and avoid the long lines. Have a great trip! CJ

You won't have any problem communicating in English in Warsaw or Krakow.

Krakow deserves more than 2 days - it's a wonderful city with much to do.

I think you're doing a bit too much in 12 days and I don't think you've accounted for traveling between cities. Concentrate on Warsaw, Krakow, and Berlin. You'll have about 3.5 days in each city.

Day 1 - Arrive Warsaw (when I flew to Warsaw I arrived mid afternoon so I did not count that as a sightseeing day)
Day 2 - Warsaw
Day 3 - Warsaw
Day 4 - Krakow
Day 5 - Krakow
Day 6 - Travel to Berlin (you may want to fly as trains from Krakow take a long time, 8.5 hours seems to be the shortest run)
Day 7 - Berlin
Day 8 - Berlin
Day 9 - Berlin
Day 10 - 1/2 day - travel to Cologne
Day 11 - Cologne
Day 12 - Return home

Thanks everyone so much for the help and advise. I really appreciate it. As I do more research I am sure to ask for more suggestions and advice.

Thank you for your advice. I didn't really think about my travel time between cities. I want to take my time and see everything but take advantage of the opportunity. I will look into the plane from from Krakow. On the train how do you handle your luggage. Is there a safe storage area or does the luggage need to be small enough to keep beside you?

Polish trains are often (but not always) compartment trains so your luggage must go on the overhead rack as there is no other place. The racks easily fit a 21" (that's what I use) and probably a 24". The Warsaw to Krakow run is very popular and you may be in a full compartment but most others will be business people who do not have luggage so you can take most of the room on the racks. There are 2 racks that fit suitcases and 2 other racks (just below the large rack) for coats, small bags, etc.

If you're on a train that has coach seating you will also have an overhead rack but there should be storage at the end of each car for luggage.

You're only traveling for 12 days - how much luggage were you thinking of taking. You should only need a 21" and a small day pack or other carry on.

Get first class tickets with a seat reservation on the Warsaw to Krakow train. Polish trains are very cheap. You can get the tickets when you get to Warsaw (stop at the train station on the way in from the airport - do not wait until you're ready to leave Warsaw to get the tickets as the lines may be long - I waited about 30 minutes to buy tickets).

Thank you Adrienne. I wasn't sure what about handling the luggage. I had read posts about watching your luggage like a hawk because people would steal it off the racks. I would only have one piece and my carry on. I don't need more than that for only 12 days.

What is the major difference between a 1st Class ticket and a lower cost ticket on European trains?

I took your advice and looked up an estimated cost on a flight from Krakow to Berlin. You were correct that the savings is not significant enough to warrant such a long train ride.

<< What is the major difference between a 1st Class ticket and a lower cost ticket on European trains? >>

It depends on the country. Usually there is more seat room in 1st class. You can decide when you buy the tickets depending on price but tickets in Poland are so cheap you can go 1st class. The trains are very old (I'm guessing 30 years old, approx.) and not as nice as newer trains. I looked at seat61.com for a picture but none of the pictures on that site for Poland showed what the trains I took looked like.

It's only a 3 hour ride so if there is a big price difference then buy a 2nd class ticket. But definitely spend the money for a seat reservation since that is a crowded route.

One note of advice - use the rest rooms in the station before you get on the train.

Here's a link to my trip report (which I still have to finish) if you want to read about things to do in Krakow. I haven't done the Warsaw part yet.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/five-polish-towns-plus-frankfurt-september-2011-a-trip-report.cfm?43

I also did a TR for the previous year when I visited Krakow for 3 days and did different things.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/czech-republic-krakow-and-a-day-in-frankfurt-a-solo-budget-trip-report.cfm?95

Just giving my experience with the train from Krakow to Warsaw: got tickets for 1st class, they did not have racks, everyone (6 of us) in the tiny compartment had their luggage stuffed in there. No room to move legs. Bring hand sanitizer for the restroom. Also, bought my ticket ahead of time through the Rail Europe website.

Bought this phrasebook, used it to learn some basics: http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/europe/central-europe-phrasebook-3

Krakow is nice but found the people I encountered (bartenders, shopkeepers, servers, etc) to be unfriendly; customer service anywhere is practically non-existent. Bad service at most places we went to (this was my experience). Be careful with taxis, we literally got taken for a ride a couple times, good thing it's pretty cheap there.

Took this free walking tour, mostly young people join, but guide is informative: http://freewalkingtour.com/

You will have to try a zapiekanka from Plac Nowy and the kielbasas from the purple van at Hala Targowa. See blog post, scroll down to Krakow portion:
http://tastytrix.blogspot.ca/2011/06/street-meats-of-krakow-prague-tale-of.html

Are you planning on going to Auschwitz?

Thanks. As you can tell I have never used the train system before except in Munich for one trip.

The links will definitely help. I will start researching.

Yes, I would like to go to Auschwitz. I have read that there are inexpensive minibuses that are the best option. Do you have an opinion?

I am considering cutting Warsaw and using that time in Amsterdam. I really want 2 full days in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Krakow.

I had the exact opposite experience to jomagpie with the people in Poland. I thought the only other country with friendlier people was Ireland. The Polish people treat tourists very nicely and are helpful, warm, and welcoming.

I've never seen compartment type trains that did not have racks above the seats.

Taxis from train stations will try to overcharge. In Krakow, you can walk from the train station to the center city in 10 to 15 minutes. If you're staying near Rynek Glowny you won't need a cab.

If you fly you can take a cab or private car to the airport for about $20+. Contact this gentleman for an airport transfer.

http://www.tour-service.pl/

Although you might encounter a few awkward moments, you should be able to manage this trip quite nicely as an independent solo traveler, and any difficult moments you do experience will end up being great stories.

I agree with some of the others that your plan is a bit too ambitious. I've been to all of the places you mention (as a solo independent traveller) except Cologne and Dusseldorf, and think your idea of cutting Warsaw makes sense. (But if you have any interest in Warsaw, and don't expect to be in that area again, then give it 2 days and cut something else.)

> I want to take my time and see everything but take advantage of the opportunity.

In that case, you might want to rethink your plans yet again: IMHO, Krakow deserves a minimum of 2 full days (more would be better), Berlin at least 4 if not 5 full days, and Amsterdam 3 to 5 days.

Whatever you decide, you'll see some wonderful things. Good luck and enjoy!

We did a tour of Auschwitz and Wieliczka Salt Mine with Krakow Tours (http://www.krakowtours.co.uk/auschwitz.html#combined). It was a very long day but glad we took it. Price was reasonable. Just a note, the "tour" is really someone driving you to the places and then waiting for you as you see it on your own. The only place our guide actually walked around with the group was Auschwitz II, and even that was for only about 10-15mins.

@adrienne - I'm not arguing with you but there definitely were no above-racks in our 1st class compartment. It was quite awkward with us strangers practically resting our legs on each other or on each others luggage. Luckily my bf and I had the seats next to the doors, so we were able to stretch out that way once in a while.

As for the friendliness of the people, well, I really found most of them full with bad attitude. Bf and I didn't go into places demanding or acting like we owned the place, we went in and acted like normal, civilised people. Bf speaks a little Polish so he would try with that first but got bad attitude all the same. We met up with a friend in Krakow who speaks perfect Polish and even she got nasty attitude from the locals. I found the locals in Budapest way friendlier and more willing to help out than in Krakow & Warsaw. Again, this was our experience. *shrugs*

You never can tell about friendliness, I guess. I took a first class train from Germany to Wroclaw and then Krakow, and it did have compartments with some overhead racks. My 21 inch fit up there, not sure if a larger one would.

IN any case, I've been to Krakow twice and everyone was friendly and nice that I can recall, people in hotel and restaurants. I don't remember any attitude at all. I was mainly in the city center (where you'd expect more attitude because they might get tired of tourists), and also a bit in the Kazimierz area.

I haven't been to Poland, so I can't speak to the relative friendliness of people there, but when we went to Czech Republic last summer, we noticed that "service with a smile" is not really the norm. People were perfectly hospitable in shops and restaurants, but not "Hi, how are you? Thank-you for coming. Have a nice day." friendly like in most places in the US or even western Europe. If this is also the case in Poland, I could see how people could misinterperate the lack of outward high-level friendliness as unfriendliness or bad service.

Not the case at all, november_moon. The Czech and Polish people are very different in their approaches. I too had the same experience as you in the Czech Republic where people were not smiling. They were not unfriendly, simply a bit aloof. The Polish people I met were smiling and friendly and eager to be helpful. Two very different cultures.

I appreciate all the feedback. It has been very helpful. I am excited about the opportunity. I have been reading different blogs and traveling sites to make an informed decision.