We are arriving into Budapest and departing from Amsterdam from the US. We want to go from Budapest to Krakow but have found that the only way to get there is by going thru Warsaw. We would like to construct an itinerary that makes sense for 3 weeks time - Main places we wanted to see are Krakow, Warsaw and Gdańsk. What is the most efficient way to get around, bus, train or plane, what cities we should add, and how long we need in each place? Any guidance would be appreciated. We are 2 women in our 60’s traveling alone.

Three weeks in Poland, or three weeks total?

Trains are good but unless wanting to take overnight train Budapest - Krakow a very long daytime train ride. Krakow-Warsaw and to Gdansk are easy train rides - anyway for lots about Polish trains and overnight trains and booking your own tickets check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. You want to stay in Poland only - Budapest is well worth a good look - Vienna is only a few hours away and also overnight trains from there to Krakow.

3 weeks in Poland

We will be staying 4 nights in Budapest. Then we figured out there’s a plane to Krakow. We have been told not to miss Warclaw which is almost at the border with Chechnya- question: is there enough to see there for 2 or 3 days or is it just a day trip from Krakow?

I meant to say Wroclaw - also it was recommended we visit Torun and Malbork. Are there enough things to see and do for overnight stays? Also we are interested in good fun restaurants and bars with ambience.

"told not to miss Warclaw which is almost at the border with Chechnya"
Wrocław is about as far from Chechnya as you want to be.

Three weeks in Poland gives you a chance to visit many different regions.

My daughter is going to Gdynia in September mainly to see the street art.

What are your interests?

I meant to say Czechia - auto correct !!

Our interests are varied - architecture, art, we’re foodies as well - on that subject : how is the food? Is there wine? Or just beer and vodka?

Food and wine is not a good reason to visit Poland.

Personally, after three days of Polish cooking, I wish I was in Spain, can't imagine three weeks.

I have never seen or been offered a wine list, the one time time we had a glass of wine, it was of the wrong kind and served at wrong temperature.

Food is a superb reason to visit Poland. Hearty central European cooking, but with a lighter and more inventive touch than most. What the Poles can do with mushrooms and cranberries, others can only dream of.

I thought I liked pierogies until I went to Poland, and then I realized I had never actually had one before..........

And I love Spanish food.

I enjoyed the foods I ate in Poland, too. The wine, not so much -- but IME, one can find decent wines if one looks.

How long to spend in what locations really depends on what YOU want to see and experience. As a general rule of thumb, I'd say 5 full days for Krakow and 2 or 3 for Warsaw; I haven't had the pleasure of visiting other locations in Poland yet. Here's what I recommend: Get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library) and plot your wish list on a calendar. Each time you propose to change locations, pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/ oriented, etc.). You can identify your transportation options using rome2rio.com -- just be sure to click through to the source links, as the main site is not sensitive to seasonal variation.

Hope that helps!

5 days in Krakow - what did you do - a few days were enough for me + day trips to Wieliczka Salt Mines and Auschwitz. A couple days in Warsaw was enough - pretty blah boring city.

Well, a few days + the salt mines + Auschwitz / Birkenau does come out to at 4 or 5 days. And IMO, Krakow is one of the cities that has developed truly new and interesting sites since I was there (1995), like Oskar Schindler's Factory (which I hope to see one day).

I guess you didn't see some of that city's gems, or value experiencing its reminders of the Warsaw Ghetto. But to each his/her own -- IMO, the world would be a pretty blah boring place if everyone had the same interests.


Sandramiani, as you can see, people differ in how much time they think suits a city, or what to do there -- really, you need to do your own research to figure out what you want to see and experience!

We’ve been watching U-tube videos of the cities and also for the Spanish speaking people there is a very good series called “Madrilenos por el Mundo”, which is about interviews with people from Madrid from all walks of life that live in that particular city. We are going to go with the wind and stay longer in places we like. Thank you for all your input.

And in Krakow you could spend a day in Nowa Hutna - the planned pat of Krakow developed under Communist regime - great example of Socialist Town Planning of modern blah tower blocks but I found it neat - plus you have church where Polish Pope got his start.

I am of Polish heritage so my thoughts on Polish food are necessarily biased. We ate pierogies at least every other day growing up, and now I can't go more than a couple of weeks without eating them; it is a good thing that I can practically make them in my sleep. In Krakow, at least, I have found modern takes on the traditional versions (one of them being salmon, not to my liking), but in general you can't really go wrong with pierogies. Other dishes like creamed herring might be more of an acquired taste, but a well-prepared Zapiekanka no one can dislike.

As for Polish wine, I would take a pass. If there's a Georgian or Romanian bottle on the list, do try. And of course there is beer. And kielbasa.

I/we have visited Poland now 5 times totaling a little more than two weeks, to Krakow (+Wrocław), Warsaw, Gdansk (+ Malbork), and Bolesławiec (pottery shopping). Five days for Krakow on our first visit gave us sufficient time to see what we wanted (our second visit was to spend Christmas there, a special itinerary); for our city break to Gdansk we had three full days, including the day trip to Malbork (an impressive castle) and felt that was appropriate. Our Warsaw trip was abbreviated because we were there for a sports tournament, but I could see two full days to get a flavor of the capital.

I hope this is helpful.