alisonmary

Has anyone used Stay Poland to book their tours in Poland. They are charging $1314 for 7 days of touring and transportation between Warsaw and Krakow. Hotels are separate. I have read mixed reviews but nothing current. Thank you.

cdnyul

Two train tickets from Warsaw to Kraków cost about U$60.

What else do they offer that they feel is worth U$ 1254?

Edit: Are you considering their "Poland's Best in 7 Days ' tour?

Christina

I'll have to admit I am stunned at that price. I presumed it included hotels, and some local guides/ciyt tours, that would be typical for around $200 a day. If it doesn't include hotels.

I'll admit I don't see any tour on their website like that. They have one 7 day tour that includes Warsaw to Krakow but ends up in Wroclaw, so that's one more train ticket. That's $1284 double occupancy but it definitely includes hotels, it says so. That's the Polish Triangle tour. That sounds pretty good, actually, I like those 3 places. There is a 6 day tour that is Warsaw to Krakow, includes train (Spirit of POland) but it's even cheaper and also definitely includes hotels.

Are you designing a personal tour not a group tour for that price? And that's the price for a personal guide and car service or something? I guess we got confused by assuming it was a "tour" and maybe you are just booking private services from them.

cdnyul

"I'll admit I don't see any tour on their website like that."

It is probably this one:
https://www.staypoland.com/tour/235/...est-in-7-days/

It is a total rip off.

Guides to Auschwitz are free, Wieliczka can only be visited with a guide, included in the price of a ticket.
A licensed guide in Krakow cost between 280 and 400 ZL for 4 hours.

Seems to me the Church gets most of the money, and they don't need it.

thursdaysd

Agree - complete rip off. And a guide is unnecessary unless you have some specific interest. I have used a guide for Art Nouveau buildings in a couple of cities, for instance. I did not use a guide for Warsaw or Krakow and certainly not for Zakopane. Plus this seems a bit rushed. Visiting Auschwitz/Birkenau takes most of a day and is very draining, no way would I schedule anything else that day.

alisonmary

It is the 7 day private guided tour, which includes guides, entry fees, transportation to and from airport, and between Krakow and Warsaw. It really does seem overpriced but it saves me time from having to hire and set guides in both cities.

My next question is, is Poland worth seeing for 7 days? Is this too many days? When I mention this trip to people who travel frequently, they ask why Poland???
We haven't been there before so it seemed like a good idea. And Rick Steves says its surprisingly interesting on his video!!

quokka

7 DAYS too long for a country this size? Sorry, you make me laugh. 7 days are barely enough to hit the most major attractions at race speed. And you'll see hardly more than just two cities with this.

I spent a month in Wroclaw alone and never ran out of things to do.

This tour sounds like a complete rip-off to me.

janisj

>>It really does seem overpriced but it saves me time from having to hire and set guides in both cities.<<

Why on earth do you need private guides? If like thursdaysd mentions a guide for a specific interest maybe but otherwise private guides are totally unnecessary.

StCirq

Poland is an entire country, with centuries of history and a vibrant culture and innumerable attractions. How could 7 days possibly be too long?

That tour is a complete waste of money. Private guides are also a waste of money unless you are unwilling to do any research on your own and just want to be led around, or you want a very specific guide as thursdays mentioned.

Leely2

Eight days in Poland was too short a trip for me, and I only saw Warsaw and Krakow.

Poland is pretty easy to see on your own--and it's inexpensive--so no need for a tour unless you really love them for some reason. In any case, this one seems overpriced.

alisonmary

Thank you all for your help. We are not going to use the tour and do it on our own for about about 10 days. We are going to Warsaw, Krakow and Wroclaw. Has anyone been to Slovakia as well? We are considering canceling our transatlantic and just doing land travel, so I am thinking adding on Slovakia because we haven't been there,

Can anyone suggest a really fabulous hotel to stay at in any of the three cities? We always try to stay at one really nice hotel while traveling, the rest I prefer small boutiquey types. Suggestions for those would be great too! Our price range is anything up to $250 for small boutiques and $350 for the special one!

Thank you.

cdnyul

alisonmary

Please don't take this personally, but don't go to Poland.

You will ruin it for the rest of us.

Once the Polish hoteliers find out that some are willing to pay $350 a night that will be it.

Poles are ruthless when it comes to taking advantage of the inexperienced and the gullible.

You found this forum, you appear to know how to to use the internet, would it be so hard to at least get an idea of what type of hotels there are and what prices they charge?

thursdaysd

Yes. I went from Krakow to Zakopane, and then across the border to Stary Smokovec and Levoca. Loved the scenery, but if you are not into scenery and hiking I wouldn't bother. Cannot help with your hotels, I pay much less for mine.

Have no idea what you mean by " canceling our transatlantic and just doing land travel ".

StCirq

<<We are considering canceling our transatlantic and just doing land travel>> Sorry, but I can't begin to figure out what this means. Canceling your transatlantic what?

I've been to Bratislava and loved it. But I didn't, and wouldn't, pay anything close to the equivalent of US$250 a night for a hotel anywhere in that part of the world. And we thought our boutiquey, small hotel in Bratislava was delightful

You seem to be bound and determined to spend lots of money on things you don't need to.

janisj

>>We are considering canceling our transatlantic and just doing land travel,<<

All I can think of . . . maybe you were going to cruise one direction across the Atlantic??? By canceling that and flying both directions, you net about an extra week on-the-ground.

Otherwise, I have no idea

PalenQ

Doing on own will be easy if you book hotels and trains well in advance to get cheapest rates - trains link all main cities - www.seat61.com has tons of info on booking own trains often at a discount - general info European trains also BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Bagbabe53

You ask a lot of questions about hotels, etc. On my other European travel, I found doing searches on TripAdvisor.com really helped because I could read reviews and
descriptions of different types of lodging including agriturismos (farms that take in tourists). I also found listings and reviews on tour guides and groups for places like the Vatican. For some places it helps to have a guide because at some major sights, there are two lines--- one for the general public (waiting hours) and the other for tour groups (MUCH shorter). To be fair, I don't know if this is the case in Poland.

alisonmary

Thank you for your help.

Alison

Cali

We stayed at the Hotel Stary in Krakow and loved it. The location is wonderful and is just adjacent to Old Market Square. We were not expecting to like Poland as much as we did. I now strongly recommend that friends go there. It is also a very inexpensive country to visit. Have a great trip.

Cali

We did not expect to enjoy Poland as much as we did. We loved it!! We stayed at the Stary Hotel in Krakow and it was a wonderful hotel in a great location. It is very close to Old Town Market Square which we enjoyed also. Wish I could remember the hotels in the other cities but I just can't right now. I will post them later if I can find the information. Have a great trip.