Itinerary Advice? Poland with side trip to Lithuania 29 nights
 

Hello everyone!

The 2 of us are going to Poland this spring with a side trip into Lithuania. With 29 nights I'd really appreciate any thoughts on my tentative itinerary, but first a little about how we travel - We like long stays to get to know a place a bit, love history and visiting museums, walk everywhere in cities, and love to bike and hike. On this trip we're flying into Krakow from Italy where we will already have spent 20 nights, and out of Gdansk to Copenhagen for a week. So here's my idea:

8 nights Krakow
-- train to Warsaw
5 nights Warsaw
--11 day car rental leaving Warsaw destination Vilnius
1 night Bialystok
5 nights Vilnius
1 night Kaunas
3 nights Masurian Lakes (visit to Wolf's Lair)
- return car in Gdansk
6 nights Gdansk


I've used Google Maps to get an idea of the driving times between Warsaw and Vilnius and know an overnight in between would work better for us, likewise from Vilnius over to the Masurian Lakes area. Also, perhaps we should spend 4 versus 3 nights in the Masurian Lakes area, my original reason for visiting was to go to Hitler's Wolf's Lair.

Thanks for any input, I appreciate it!

Have you thought of visiting Białowieża Forest? It's Europe's last primeval forest and a World Heritage site. By public transport getting there would take a whole day but since you'll be renting a car, it's much much easier. It's beautiful in spring and there are lots of opportunities for biking, you can even cycle into Belarus visa-free (but you would need to pre-register). Cut one night from Warsaw and make Białystok a stop on route from Białowieża to Vilnius.

With that much time in and around Krakow, you can not only visit the www.wieliczka-saltmine.com (no need to take a "tour", it's a short train ride from Krakow, costs almost nothing, it's a slow local train, then you walk maybe 200-300 yards to the mine), but also Auschwitz (for that you might want to join a tour, at least to get there and back efficiently).

On a brilliant day a trip to Zakopane in the Tatra mountains will be good - a pretty (touristy - it's no secret) mountain town with a gondola that takes you way up, where last June we still found plenty of slippery snow on the paths and an alpine chill despite the sunshine. Wonderful!

www.discoverzakopane.com/zakopane.html

In Warsaw, among other targets, make sure you don't miss the Lazienki Park with lovely royal buildings that are now open to the public, one nicer than the other - https://www.mydestinationwarsaw.com/...the-royal-bath

And the Chopin museum is of interest, even to those who may not be total Chopin fans, because A) it's done very well inside and B) it illustrates a lot about the cultural history of Poland.

Doing a similar trip to yours, after Poland we went not to Lithuania but to Latvia and enjoyed that immensely.

Should be a great trip!

I agree with michelhuebeli that while in Krakow, you might want to consider joining an all-day tour of Auschwitz / Birkenau. It's definitely a powerfully emotional experience, but IMO, well worthwhile.

And while in Krakow, consider making time for the <i>Lady with an Ermine</i>. She is very special.

Enjoy!

@not_this_time - Białowieża Forest is a great suggestion, and I'll definitely look into it, although I don't think I want to shortchange things to do in Warsaw - there's 2 museums that will take up 2 days each I think. Thanks for the suggestion!


@michelhuebeli - Krakow - Yes, with 8 nights we have plenty of days for excursions! Thanks for the tip on how to visit the Wieliczka Salt mine, sounds good. Zakopane - I'd originally planned to spend a few nights but started looking into it more and decided against. My idea to go to Zakopane was for hiking and it didn't seem the best time of year for that kind of trip. Warsaw - Thanks for the advice! I think the Lazienki Park will be a nice green break and I hadn't thought about the Chopin museum. Appreciate it.

@kja - Krakow - Auschwitz - I thought we would do our own transportation (bus) but with an online reservation at Auschwitz and Birkenau on our own. But I'll look into a tour, thanks for your comments on that.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments!

Taking a public bus to Auschwitz might work for you. I must admit to being unusually absorbed in reflection after my day at the camps, and I really wanted to be able to indulge my thoughts without distraction. The people on my tour seemed to have a similar reaction -- the bus was remarkably quiet on the return to Krakow. I would not have wanted to deal with finding a bus, identifying my stop, riding with fellow travelers who were more boisterous or, well, really anything! But that's just me....

@kja - Those are good thoughts, thanks for that insight. Did you find you had enough time on the tour at both sites, and if you don't mind - what tour did you take? There's many choices. Thanks in advance!

I took what was basically a full day tour that I booked through a tourist information desk on Krakow's main square. I'm sorry I don't remember the company, but I was there in 1995, so even if I knew the name of the company, I'm not sure I could comment on what it would be like today. I remember that the tour left early in the morning, returned late in the afternoon, and was not rushed at any point. We were guided through Auschwitz and then given time to ourselves before regrouping for Birkenau, where we were again given time to ourselves, in addition to time spent with a guide. And I thought the guides (I believe there were several -- at least one, and maybe two, on the bus, IIRC, maybe a different guide on site) remarkably informative, and perhaps more importantly, extremely sensitive.

Sorry I can't suggest a particular option. :-(

@kja - Thanks for the tips and good advice! I like the idea of a tour of that type. Appreciate it!