EsmJ25

I've been to the key cities in Poland and loved them. I am considering a return trip, either in the southern area (Karkow to Slovakia) or Gdansk & Lithuania. I'll ask about the former in this post.

I loved Krakow, Zakopane, and the river area on the southern border. The river raft ride was spectacular and well worth repeating! Has anyone gone back and forth across the border? When I was there, the raft left us in Slovakia; 'border crossing' didn't seem to be a problem. Is it if one is driving?

I was on a tour bus the last time. How difficult is it to get around in the countryside if we don't speak Polish? How expensive is a private driver-guide for a couple days?

Is there such a thing as a castles and churches itinerary in the south? I saw castles in the distance a few times, but no one seemed to know anything about them.

GSteed

Please read Fodor's POLAND, 1st Ed. You can operate without Polish..ask questions with a paper and pencil. Drive with a GPS device (English. Today many trucks navigate through Europe this way. Use search to locate castles and churches. Castles are often located on the bends of rivers. Slovakia has many. Inquire at taxi offices for rates of car and driver. Shop more than one.

iris1745

Hi EsmJ25; We drove from Vilnius to Suwalki [visited gravesites] to Warsaw to Torun to Wroclaw to Krakow and had no problems. Sign posting was good. There were no problems at the border from Lithuania into Poland. The main roads were good. We only speak english and only had a problem in Suwalki. But you will manage. Everywhere else, people spoke enough english and the comunicating was easy. ENJOY Iris

flanneruk

I've only driven across the Polish-Slovak border back in the days when Slovakia was a newborn country and no-one ever dreamt they'd both be in the Schengen area (as they now are).

But even then, it was just an ordinary European border: like a toll plaza only with shorter queues and you showed your passport rather than chuck coins into a basket.

There's now no border formalities at all between the two, and as far as the governments are concerned, all that happens is the language changes on the road signs. It won't hurt to check, though, that your hire co will let you cross the border.

tomboy

3 years ago we drove from Svidnik, Slovakia into Tarnow,Poland.
IF there were border guards at the crossing (I don't recall), the crossing was extremely uneventful. Driving was easy, although there was a lot of road construction at the time.
I remember far better the final spend-all-remaining-koruna-for-this-evening-we're-on-zlotys lunch in Svidnik: imagine a can of mixed vegetables on a rib cut pork chop, with a side of cabbage. Mmmmmmmm!