We are a couple in mid 60’s and our interests are mainly seeing different places and not adventure.



We are traveling to Poland for 10 days in Mid May, and like to minimize overnight packing and unpacking. So we would like to optimize the trip with two overnight stops max. After reading some posts, we think we have to choose ftom Krakow, Gdansk and Warsaw. Filghts to all three are available from US. Krakow is one we settled on, but we would like to hear your opinion on picking one of Warsaw ot Gadnask. Which ever we pick, the other one we have to settle for just a day triphhbg gng h m B verr. We are right now strongly tending towards picking Gdnask for 4 or 5 days with day trip to Warsaw and then flu to Krakow for rest of the trip. Please give your suggestions. Thanks!

Day trip to from Gdańsk to Warsaw is not really practical given that the fastest train takes about 3 hours one way.
It is better to take the train between Gdańsk and Kraków.

We were in Krakow for 3 nights in 2023. The way our transportation arrangments worked out, we ended up having almost 4 full days. It's a fascinating city. In retrospect, we were sorry that we did't spend 4 nights as we missed some things. If you are planning to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, it will take the better part of a day given the time it takes to get there and back and the actual time spent on the guided tour which takes about 3 hours.

We spent a little over a week in Poland last October, staying in Gdansk, Warsaw and Krakow (in that sequence). We relied on trains, but none of these cities is a viable day trip. Our favourites were Gdansk and Krakow, but I think you could squeeze in all three with 10 days.
ps- we did not visit any former concentration camps.

Of the three Warsaw is easy to miss out on (actually Warsaw would be 10th of the cities worth seeing in the country)

Krakow: the old town


the salt mine


the post W.W.II planned community of Nova Huta

Another vote for Gdansk and Krakow. We were in Warsaw for our daughter's athletic tournament; we toured the uprising museum (and ate Polish food, of course), and overall were glad we didn't make Warsaw its own specific holiday.

Yes, not very much to see in Warsaw. We were there for 3 nights last May, mainly to meet an old friend and colleague of DH’s.

We loved Krakow where we spent 5 full days, but I could easily have used another one. We did a half day each to Auschwitz and the salt mines and a couple of walking tours in Krakow itself.

Unfortunately we didn’t go to Gadansk, we had already spent 6 days in Budapest and needed to get back to work!

As others have said, Krakow is a delight. I'm glad I saw Warsaw -- I thought it easily worth several days, though it isn't in the same league as Krakow. I skipped Gdansk, but think I would enjoy it.

We had more nights than you and split them into 5 Krakow, 3 Warsaw and 3 Gdansk, training between the three. Warsaw lacks old world charm because of WWII, but it does have some worthwhile sights, such as the Warsaw Rising Museum.

After Warsaw, we got off the train in Marbork and put our luggage in the station lockers. We then walked to Malbork Castle, a very large Teutonic castle complex where you can easily spend a half day touring. From there, it is a short train ride to Gdansk. You could do Malbork easily as a day trip from Gdansk, if you elect to limit yourself to Krakow and Gdansk.

We really enjoyed both Krakow and Gdansk, although I would allow more time to Krakow.

I love Poland and have been to all those and liked them all. I really liked Warsaw and hope to go back, I don't get the dislike of it. There is plenty to do, but I suppose that depends on your interests. I am very interested in history (WWII and Solidarity movement), as well as classical music. There is more to do than the uprising museum. First, there is the Chopin museum which is superb. If you don't care about classical music, obviously that has no interest, though.I guess it isn't as quaint and charming as smaller towns, though.

For history museums, there is the museum of the history of Polish Jews (POLIN), the Museum of Polish History, the Museum of Communism, the Museum of Warsaw, the Museum Lazienki, as well as the Warsaw Uprising museum. Those are just the ones I went to. There are others for niche interests. Of course there is the Old Town quarter with its square and other important buildings. Now, yes, it is reconstructed due to war damage, but it's important historically and is on the UNESCO list of Heritage sites as one of the best reconstructed sites in the world.

https://www.lazienki-krolewskie.pl/en
https://visitworldheritage.com/en/eu...6-299314d87cca

Warsaw and Krakow are doable by train as a duo as that trip isn't so long. In fact, that's what I did, I flew into Warsaw and then went to Krakow. I was in Gdansk another time but it isn't convenient to combine with them, so I went to Poznan after Gdansk, then to Berlin. That was a good combo, also.I really liked Poznan, being smaller, but it has been having a lot of reconstruction in its main center in recent years, don't know if that's done or not.

Wonderful hotel I stayed at in Warsaw. It's easy to get around by bus/tram, metro etc

https://www.poloniapalace.com/

That it's a reconstruction never bothered me. If anything, I thought it a stunning labor of love. I'm not sure why it puts some people off.

A good way of thinking about it, kia.

Just to add to Christina's list of historic sites in Warsaw, one can tour the Żabińska Villa at the Warsaw Zoo, the place were Jan and Antonia Żabińska hid and ultimately saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during the Second World War. (The story is told in Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife, later adapted for film.) We visited the site in 2017, and were shown around by a guide. It is very moving.

On a separate note, and I realize this is getting far away from the Bimal456"s intentions, Wrocław is another fascinating Polish city, and well worth a visit.