Poland & Ukraine Summer 2017
 

Hello!
After lots of back and forth, we have decided to focus on Poland and Ukraine for 11 days followed by an annual side trip to Greece. I was born in Odessa, Ukraine but have not been since 2004 and have never been to Kiev or anywhere in Poland. My gut and research says that Krakow will be the highlight plus visiting my old city of Odessa is a must. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

July 1-4 - Exploring Krakow with a side trip to the Salt Mines and to Auschwitz
July 5 - morning train to Warsaw and explore the city for 1 day
July 6 - 11am flight to Odessa, arriving 2pm. Beach/relax
July 7-9 - Explore Odessa plus enjoy some down time on the beach
Overnight train to Kiev. Safe? Can we buy all 4 seats to have a private compartment?
July 10-11 - Explore Kiev
July 12 - 1pm flight to Athens, Greece.

Too jam-packed? I am working with only doing non-stop flights (Warsaw-Odessa and Kiev-Athens).

Thanks!

Sergey

I have been to all those places and sounds about right but you need more time in Krakow. We didnt do the salt mines or Auschwitz and needed 3 days just in the city. My wife is also an Odessa native and we were there twice this year. To me, not as much to see there as Kyiv, but you will want to reminisce. You should be able to buy the whole train compartment . We flew and took the bus last times between Kyiv and Odessa.

Are you located in Athens now?

I liked both Gdansk and Torun, though I don't suppose to have time to include them.

We will be coming from NYC but we have an annual side trip to Mykonos at the end of the trip, so have to fly to Athens. I definitely wanted to visit Gdansk as well but we just don't have the time.

Your time in Krakow seems very limited to me. If that’s all you can give it, make sure you think through your priorities in advance. FWIW, I would not combine a day trip to Auschwitz with anything else, except for a very quite evening – it is simply too emotional an experience (or at least it was for me). Try to make time for the <i>Lady with an Ermine</i> -- she is very special.

Haven't been to Kiev, but highly recommend Lviv.

As to travel between Odessa and Kyiv, we were able to find a flight on Ukraine International Airlines for like $35. The overnight train we have done years ago and it was OK then, not sure now. We took a late afternoon "express" train from Kyiv to Odessa in June that took like seven hours and took us along the Moldovan border. I'm not sure what the return trip looks like. We took a night bus from Odessa to Kyiv last January and it was the most horrific frightening ride because the highway is in such a bad state of repair. Thats another cheap option but I would prefer it in daylight.

Hi Sergey
Sounds so fun!
I am Ukrainian as well, visited Odessa for the first time this summer and I was very positively surprised.It is very cool, with long clean beaches loaded with chill out bars and also a lot of free sections. I have written my trip report on Odessa, if you are interested: http://www.travel-monkey.com/why-you...-visit-odessa/

For the overnight train, I can say that it is very okay. It is a long ride, but during the night you won't feel it. Use the official website to book your trip: http://uz.gov.ua/, you can easily choose which seats you want to buy and if you are concerned about safety, just book the whole cabin.

Be sure to book train tickets in advance, though. Odessa has become very popular after the annexation of Crimea and a lot of Ukrainians come here for their summer holidays.
Best of luck,
Lena

I'd love to visit Lviv too and Gdansk..but I just dont have enough time. I think these 4 cities, is already pushing it with time :(