Feedback please on my itinerary Poland and Lithuania
 

My other post was all over the place since it was early planning so let me repost the itinerary we have right now. We will be driving so have flexibility but do need to book some hotels. I personally think there is too much in the itinerary but am looking forward to feedback. We have 14 days there, including the day we fly in from London, but not the day we depart. And I convinced my husband to drop Tallinn and Riga from this trip and save for another time.

Fly in to Krakow from London
5.5 days in Krakow. This will include 1 day trip to Wroclaw and 1 day trip to Zakopane. The only 6 hour tickets for Auschwitz-Birkenau are on our *last* day which is also the day we'd depart for Warsaw. (I just sent my husband an email suggesting we spend an extra night in Krakow and drive to Warsaw the next AM but the rest of the itinerary below is under the assumption we'd push through in 1 day)

Warsaw (arriving late the night before): 1.5 days driving to Bialowieza the last 1/2 day

Bialowieza: 1.5 days leaving early the 2nd day to Vilnius

Vilnius: 1.5 ( I don't think this is enough to see Vilnius and go to Trakai)

Drive to Gdansk but looking for suggestions for a stopping point midway to break up the drive.
Stopping point: 0.5 days

Gdansk: 3.5 days


I really don't want to skip Warsaw and the forest but I honestly think we either need to or drop Lithuania and visit some other time (I don't want to drop that either but... ) I honestly had no idea until we started planning how much there was to see in Poland. I may be able to squeeze out another day from my husband so we'd be at 15 days.

The Wieliczka Salt Mines just a few miles south of Krakow are a UNESCO World Heritage Site - not your typical mine tour -whole rooms hewn out of salt including a large chandelier. Something to consider.

I would drop Wroclaw as a day trip. It's feasible, but the city is large enough that it requires a certain amount of time just to orient oneself.

If you also want to visit Riga and Tallinn someday, absolutely skip Lithuania this time and combine Lithuania with Latvia and Estonia on a future trip. Vilnius etc. seems like a long detour just to fit it in. I'd spend the time saved elsewhere in Poland.

Not sure what you mean by "6 hour tickets for Auschwitz-Birkenau." You can arrive before 10am and spend as much time as you like and tour the camps on your own until closing if you like. Or get a guided tour (which is required at high season if you arrive at Auschwitz after 10am or before 3PM). I'm guessing there are a variety of other tours you could pay for of varying lengths, if you don't want to tour without a guide.

You can't do Vilnius in 1.5 days. I tried and failed.
Hey Andrew, I wonder what that Trump kissing Putin mural looks like now?

It would be easier to follow your plan knowing the number of nights instead.

Driving on Polish secondary roads is slow (50kph) and stressful. I would not push.

Like you said, there is a lot to see in Poland, and having a car gives you an opportunity to visit places that others miss.

Are you flying back from Krakow?

We toured SE Poland after our stay in Krakow. If dropping Lithuania, it might be a good addition. We started that trip by staying in Zakopane. I wrote a trip report; click on my name to find it. The URL for the trip pictures is no longer valid, so here are the two relevant albums:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7630668689086/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7630700966746/

Thanks for the responses!

Andrew, we bought the 6 hour tour tickets with a guide. That seemed the most comprehensive option. Cdnyul, we've got 14 days to dole out.

Off to volunteer; will be back later with an update.

I'd skip Lithuania on this trip too. Kaunas (one hour from Vilnius) was also interesting. We spent a couple days on the Baltic sea at Nida for a glimpse of another part of Lithuania. You could probably do a week just in Lithuania easily.

Just returned from 2 weeks in Poland and Lithuania. We were on a group tour for Poland and on our own in Lithuania.
We visited 9 days Poland:Warsaw, Krakow, Zakopane, Wadowice(St. Pope John Paul II home town ), Czestochowa, Auschwitz-Birkenau and 5 days Lithuania: Vilnius with day trip to The Hill of Crosses with stops at Pažaislis Monastery and Siluva.

Warsaw has lots of history. We visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum, Royal Residence Park, and the "Old Town" which was reconstructed after WWII. Didn't have time but the Jewish history Museum looked interesting. All the churches are beautiful and many had daily concerts.

Krakow stay included visit to Auschwitz and a day in Zakopane. Krakow has a beautiful square with lovely churches and lots of shopping. The Sanctuary of Divine Mercy was beautiful.

I thought Vilnius, Lithuania was the most beautiful Old Town with so much to see! We did a day drive to the Hill of Crosses and hired a local guide that provided an amazing insight to the history of Lithuania. Would have liked another day to spend at a Baltic village.

We flew in and out of Warsaw (set up by tour) and few to and from Vilnius where we rented a car for our time there.

Enjoy! Don't eat too many perogies:)
You get a lot for your money in both countries...especially Poland.

Anyone have a favorite day trip from Gdansk? We've already been to Torun and Malbork and have 1 day left. Sopot and Gdynia seem like the thing to do but I'm not sure they will be that interesting vs being seaside towns with lots of people all over the beaches like a Baltic version of Ft. Lauderdale.

I loved Torun and Malbork - glad you already hit those. I didn't really care much for Sopot (your guess is fairly accurate as to what it's like, I'd say). Kind of wish I'd visited Gdynia instead - but who knows if I would have liked that either?