Top Poland hotels
The Market Square (Rynek Glowny) Krakow
39 Reviews Krakow is fabulous in any season. I have visited in holiday season, summer, and spring. The Cloth Market is the centerpiece of the historic square...untouched by wars. It's the purest part of Poland...
See All 340 Favorites in Krakow
Memories Warsaw
39 Reviews It had never crossed my mind to visit Poland, even after meeting Ewa, and teaching children who had Polish fathers in Scotland and Sudan. I'd never felt the inclination to visit Eastern Europe at all,...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
St. Mary's Church (Kosciol Mariacki) Krakow
30 Reviews Upon entering the BASILICA OF THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY from the Market Square, you come across the Vestibule (1750-53) in the shape of the Tomb of Jesus. Entering from Mariacki Square (enter here to...
See All 340 Favorites in Krakow
Streets Warsaw
28 Reviews Royal Route is possible the most popular walking part of Warsaw. It starts from Royal Castle, goes to Krakowskie Przedmescie street, later connects Nowi Swiat street and further to Lazenki and...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Wawel Castle Krakow
41 Reviews The originally Gothic WAWEL CASTLE or ZAMEK WAWELSKI, was built by Casimir II the Great and consisted of a number of structures situated around the central courtyard. The Gothic structures were...
See All 340 Favorites in Krakow
Old Town Warsaw
39 Reviews Walking along the streets of the Old Town, you will see another kind of ornament - beautiful decorative shop signs above the doors of the elegant shops or restaurants. Their intricate designs, often...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
The Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) Krakow
13 Reviews this was the first shopping center in Krakow (14th century) Looks like a bazar with stall in both sides selling handcrafts or religious stuff ..its a large corridor with just this.On the upper floor...
See All 340 Favorites in Krakow
Royal Castle Warsaw
6 Reviews The Royal Castle is probably the best known landmark of Warsaw. From the outside it is a simple, huge five-wing early Baroque structure with a tall clock-tower. It's painted in unique colour but......
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
St. Florian's Gate and the Barbican Krakow
15 Reviews The Krakow Barbican, exquisite structure. Matt decided to have a photo shoot for the Krakow 2010 Euromeet here, a beautiful place to do it, as you can see in the photos.. Matt, Ursula and our Polish...
See All 340 Favorites in Krakow
Warsaw Uprising Warsaw
8 Reviews WOW! Warsaw Uprising 1944 Museum is the best set up museum I have ever seen in Poland. It was open in 2004. I've already visited it twice and it's not enough for me :-). Fascinating and very...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Lazienki Park and Chopin's Monument Warsaw
14 Reviews The Lazienki Park abounds in statues. They can be found everywhere: on the terrace of the Palace on the Water, in the Theatre on the Island, and in many other parts of the park too. They are often...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Palace of Culture and Science Warsaw
13 Reviews Unfortunately, there are some politicians who want to destroy the Palace - symbol of the city!!! So, if you have free time, go to Warsaw - it is maybe the last chance to see this marvellous building!...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Sightseeing - All tips in one Warsaw
9 Reviews We stayed three days in capital of Poland. I should say it was enough to see essential, but also better to have more time visiting Warsaw. I think the three day planning was quite full and useful, so...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Barbican Warsaw
5 Reviews 2001: Some fun guys at the wall around Old Town.. available with axe... for the crazy tourists with busy cameras. The area around the Barbicon usually has some entertainers offering a variety of...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Monuments Warsaw
6 Reviews There are many monuments and statues throughout the city, but I rather like the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. The tomb rests under several pillars which are the remnants of an old king's palace which...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Castle Square Warsaw
6 Reviews The most part of the downdown was ruined during WWII. So, all that you can see on a photo is a reconstruction. From gale.blog.pl 's VT page I've just learned that number of old churches in Selesia...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Wilanow Warsaw
5 Reviews King Jan III Sobieski was a hero- he saved Europe from Islam- but a controversial one- he told his wife not to take baths until he`s back from the war so he could have her "all natural"! A walk...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Language Warsaw
3 Reviews Although most younger Poles speak English, there are many Poles, especially among the older generation who don't or don't want to. Even the majority of the police do not speak it. There is no doubt...
See All 232 Favorites in Warsaw
Sponsored Links
The official currency in Poland is zloty (PLN). There are following banknotes: 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 zl and coins: 5, 2 and 1 zl. Zloty is devided into 100 groszy. There are following groszy's coins: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 gr. You can see all the banknotes and coins on the web-wite of Naional Bank of Poland - www.nbp.pl. Schedule of exchange rates are here: www.nbp.pl/kursy/ratesa.html.
As I was taking the bus from Warsaw to Riga I passed thorugh the Great Mansurian lakes there were some great views through the coach window. Just beware the mosquitoes. Located near the Lithuanian border.
Generally it is considered to be a very hard language for foreigners. However, it is becoming more and more popular, and naturally can be mastered by systematic learners.It belongs to the Slavonic languages and as such is fairly similar to Czech or Slovakian.What are the hardest elements of Polish language?- inflections - there are seven cases, two numbers and three genders, which creates a great number of various endings - spelling - there are several pairs posing problems even to native speakers: ch or h, rz or z (with a dot), u or o (with a dash)- pronunciation - clusters of diphtongs such as 'sz' and 'cz' in one word. Everybody trying to learn Polish must have come across such tongue twisters as:W Szczebrzeszynie chrzaszcz brzmi w trzcinie
Polish highlanders (gorale) are a linguistically and culturally distinct group. They are known to be very patriotic and religious, but at the same time proud and rebellious. Ready to defy religious institutions, they sincerely loved Pope John Paul II ( by the way, it was mutual love). They are very agile, which you can easily notice when you watch them dance. Their music can't be compared to anything else: strong and full of longing notes it touches you to the heart. Their hospitality is as well known as their passion for drinking. So don't try to compete with them in this respect: you are bound to lose. For a foreign tourist (perhaps with exception of Eastern Europeans :-)) it will be enough to try 'herbata z pradem' (highlander tea), served everywhere where highlanders live. Its ingredients are: strong hot tea (3/4 of a glass), grain alcohol (95%) - to fill the glass and a heaping...
When going to Poland, try and take low-denomination Zloty notes with you -- and when you get there, try and keep plenty of coins in your pocket -- the kiosks, shops and restaurants are invariably short of change.
Basically, there are two types of public phones in operation now & both take phone cards (karta telefoniczna).There are 'chip' cards and the other type are the ones where you tear off the corner before inserting into the phone.The cards are available in 3 'values' :25 units / 50 units / 100 unitsAt the time of writing (May 2003) the cost of a 25 unit card is approx. 11 zl.Cards can be bought from Post Offices, Kiosks & some shops.The phones that take the 'chip' cards are sort of round in shape & the phones that take the cards where you tear off the corner are square in shape.Cards can be used for internal or international calls.
Do not assume the cab drivers speak English. Have someone at the hotel desk write out your destination(s) in the local language on the back of the hotels card. Write the same thing in English on the front of the card. Use a separate card for each place you want to visit. Show the card to the taxi or bus driver. Make sure you have the name & address of your hotel written in the local language. Keep the cards, they make great momentos.
Winters in Poland may be specific. One thing you may be sure of when comming here is that you will see snow (of course between December and February). At times it may get extreme, but in both ways- this year in January for example we even had +20 C which is extraordinary here. But in winter it's more propable that you will witness temperatures around -20 C (sometimes even -30 around Suwalki or in the mountaines)- that's not typical, but not rare as well.My point is pictured here. When it gets that cold the landscape becomes wonderful! Trees all shine with little ice crystals and make a powrful impression that makes you forget the temperature...
Krakow (and I believe other Polish cities) has a 'green space' around the city wall. These parks are extremely well maintained and a perfect place to relax, picnic in when the hustle and bustle in/around the main square gets to you - my young children loved the fact they could run around and let off steam before the next round of 'boring' stuff! The cleanliness compared to UK. The parks were all so well maintained, with pretty flower arrangements skillfully planted to create images/pictures such as clocks.
Do not assume that eveyone speaks English. Have someone at the hotel desk write out your destination(s) in the local language on the back of the hotels card. Write the same thing in English on the front of the card. Use a separate card for each place you want to visit. Show the card to the taxi or bus driver. Make sure you have the name & address of your hotel written in the local language. Keep the cards, they make great momentos. We were having a tough time trying to understand the directions to buying bus tickets at a vending machine at a bus stop. A bus was coming and a Polish couple (who were also waiting) dug into their wallet and gave us 2 tickets. They refused payment. This entire, wonderful transaction took place without a word being spoken.
Sheraton Krakow Hotel Krakow
7 Reviews and 517 Opinions I had a very pleasant stay at this hotel. I was part of a tour group, but would recommend it to the...
Intercontinental Warszawa Warsaw
4 Reviews and 653 Opinions Intercontinental Warswawa is one of the 5***** hotel in warsaw but it is different from the others...
Mercure Hevelius Gdansk
7 Reviews and 221 Opinions Great view from my 9th floor room. [ half way up ]. The room is just what you expect for 450 zloty...
Reviews and photos of Poland attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Poland sightseeing.
More Cities in Poland
More Regions in Poland
Q: Hello everyone, My name is Gloria from Rome and I'm coming to Poland soon for a pilgrimage following the history of your...
A: Hi Gloria! From Krakow, I'd recommend that you pay a visit to Wadowice, the home town of Pope John Paul 11 - visit the cathedral where he served - then the house where he...
Read 5 Replies
Sponsored Links
