Hello. I'm planning a roughly two and a half week trip to Eastern Europe for the winter or spring of 2017. I want to spend at least a week of that in Prague for certain reasons. Vienna and Budapest are two of the three additional cities. For the third, and this is my dilemma, I am torn between Krakow and Warsaw. I am interested in both: Krakow for medieval Polish history and culture and Warsaw for World War II history and Polish culture as well. I know regardless of which one I end up choosing, I'm going to love it. I'm easy to please like that when it comes to Europe. Anyway, I'd like to ask which one I should go with. Any and all insights and opinions would be highly valued and appreciated. Thank you for your time.

You get both of what you are looking for in both cities.

I loved Warsaw, but Krakow is almost in its original condition from centuries ago and for me it's Krakow.

inyourpocket.com/warsaw

inyourpocket.com/krakow

First of all, say "Central Europe," not "Eastern Europe."

We were in Krakow in September and loved it. We stayed for 7 nights and did a few day trips out to the countryside.

If you're staying in Prague for a week, then that leaves about 10 days for 3 more places: Vienna, Budapest, and Krakow/Warsaw. Which means you won't be able to do justice to any of those places, as they deserve at least 4-5 nights each.

Is there anyway you could select two more places to go after Prague instead of 3? I think you would get more out of your visit.

We adored Budapest and felt so sad that we had to leave. I think we were there for 5-6 nights and it wasn't enough. We probably could have trimmed a night off our stay in Krakow, but we really got to see everything we wanted to see.

From Krakow we took two tours outside the city:
The Wieliczka Salt Mine
Jasna Gora in Czestochowa (incredibly beautiful church and Black Madonna)
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/p...owa-jasna-gora

For us more is usually better, but not always.

In all our trips to Europe, we have done many 3 nights in cities.

Anyways whatever you decide.

You suggested roughly 2 1/2 weeks. If that meant 18 nights, for me I would probably do

1. The 7 nights in Prague.

2. Then 4 nights in Krakow [About a 4 hour train ride from Prague]

3. Then 4 nights in Vienna. [about a 7 1/2 hour train ride from Krakow] and finally

4. The 3 nights in Budapest. [about a 3 hour train ride from Vienna]

inyourpocket.com/Budapest

inyourpocket.com/vienna

Agreed, please refer to your destinations as Central Europe.

Planning for a "winter or spring" visit can mean planning two separate holidays. Depending on your winter travel, the days can be shorter and many attractions have reduced hours or are closed entirely (mostly castles, ruins, and so forth). Similarly, if you are planning your spring holiday over Easter celebrations there may be shortened hours and/or closures.

As we have great interest in WWII history, I can write that you can not go wrong with either city in Poland. Identify what ranks of highest interest to you, and make the trip happen.

I hope this is helpful.

I enjoyed both, but preferred Krakow, which I thought absolutely lovely. The difference for me was that Krakow, a cultural center for centuries, was not damaged during WWII and so retains much of its historic core, while Warsaw was seriously damaged and, apart from a reconstructed section, didn't retain as many of its historic neighborhoods. Warsaw has a few sites that are well worth seeing, but IMO, not as many.

BTW, if you go to Krakow, try to see the <i>Lady with an Ermine</i> -- she is quite special.

Thank you, everyone. These are some great responses. Halfapair and Fourfortravel , I'm sorry, but I've always considered Poland to be in Eastern Europe. If there is a legitimate reason for me to say Central Europe, please tell me. Otherwise, I'm not sure why I should do as you ask.

Halfapair and Fourfortravel, I really appreciate your insights. My confusion over why you wanted me to say Central Europe and not Eastern Europe is still legitimate, but I thank you very much for taking the time to reply. Halfapair, that's actually not a bad idea to consider two cities instead of three after Prague, thank you. If I end up doing that, I'll likely cut out Krakow or Warsaw and either do Vienna and Budapest or Vienna and Dresden. Fourfortravel, very valid point. The problem is at this point, I am booked for the summer of 2017 to go to Israel with relatives and that factor that leads me to want to redo Prague and be there for half of the trip leads me to want to try to get there again less than a year after the first visit. I may just have to sacrifice some things potentially and hope I can go again during the summer another time. Thank you all again.

I visited Warsaw, Kraków and Budapest last December and FWIW, 5 nights was not enough for Budapest. Could have used a solid week and I don't think I would have bored with even more time than that.

I can't say that I preferred Warsaw or Kraków, I liked them both. But I am more interested in modern history than medieval and I think Warsaw has a slight edge in that regard.

<<t I've always considered Poland to be in Eastern Europe. If there is a legitimate reason for me to say Central Europe, please tell me.>>

The legitimate reason is that Poland is in Central Europe, not Eastern Europe. Simple. Eastern Europe is Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey, and places east of Poland. You're using a Cold War concept in which every country inside the Iron Curtain was "East" and those outside it were "West."

If you're interested in WWII history, then you can visit Oswiecim from Krakow, Terezin from Prague, and gain a lot of insight from Budapest. WWII actually STARTED in Gdansk.

Yep, Poland in Central.

Krakow is worth 3 to 5 days, Warsaw is worth passing through.

A lot of people regard Poland as Eastern Europe and given there is hardly anything east of there within what is called Europe (Ukraine and Belarus), it's not an outlandish term. The reason is that some people, not sure who exactly, want to call it Central for PC reasons. They think "Eastern Europe" is an insult, which is a strange idea IMO since there is nothing pejorative in that term. But I know it is a PC thing because they think that geographic term means inferior and backward. I think Germany is central Europe, for all I know, people think that is Western Europe. Sometimes people divide Europe into solely East and West (no Central) and it definitely is East in that terminology.

There is certainly no rule and if you look at many government officials, organizations and newspapers, they consider Poland Eastern Europe, for example:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...s-policymakers

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...-plans-reveal/

http://businessculture.org/eastern-europe/

http://www.dw.com/en/germany-prepare...rope/a-4042834

IN short, there has been no proclamation from above that POland is not Eastern Europe.

You'll love Krakow, I believe. If yo u have enough time, I suggest adding a smaller Polish city to the mix, such as Wroclaw which is lovely and to the NW of Krakow, not too far, several hours by train as I recall. In fact, I did go there from Prague but I took the train through Germany to the north and then down to Wroclaw.

You could stay in Krakow and do Warsaw as a (long) day-trip. There are tours that meet you at the train station in Warsaw and will show you the city in a day, then put you back on the train for Krakow.

Another vote for Krakow. We were there in April and really enjoyed the city. We did two free walking tours - one of the old town and the other of the Jewish quarter which were very enjoyable; quite knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides. Took a day trip to Auschwitz with a private guide, Adam of Krakow tours, which is something we will never forget. Lovely dinner at Restaurant Starka in the Jewish quarter - arrive early if you have no reservation, they are deservedly popular. Poland is an undiscovered gem (and quite inexpensive on the pocket).

Thank you, Christina. Cold War or not, it has always been in what I consider Eastern Europe, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense why some consider it to be in Central Europe. Thank you all once again. The more I hear about Krakow, the more I am leaning in that direction. I am also intrigued now about Gdansk and Wroclaw. Since I am so easy to please and interested in so much, I'll probably end up dedicating an entire trip to Poland someday, but if I can squeeze in Poland for this trip, I believe Krakow may be what I end up choosing.

Large parts of Russia are also in Europe. Just look at where the Urals are..

Definitely a vote for Krakow particularly for your historical interests. For more hidden unusual places to visit in Krakow try this site for recommendations. https://krakow-bestguide.blogspot.co.uk
You will find some great remnants from WW2 to visit.

I have not been to Warsaw, but we just returned from Krakow and we loved the city. It is beautiful and the people are wonderful. We also toured Auschwitz which is very sobering. We were in Krakow for 4 days and wished we had been able to spend more time there. We stayed at the Hotel Stary which is very close to the City Square and we loved it.