Poland - Next Year

I’m thinking of heading over to Poland next year.
Been wanting to visit Auschwitz for a while now.
Any other recommendations on sites to visit, routes etc ?
What's the best time of year to go ?

Might get the ferry from Hull, or take the tunnel.
Mixture of camping or B&B’s depending on weather.

I’m just looking for an excuse for a long run and can’t be arsed organising visa’s, carnets, insurance etc so thought I would stick to Europe as there’s a whole heap of it I haven’t seen yet.
Probably up to 2 weeks max in total.
Anyone got experience in that part of the world ?
Can the collected wisdom help ?
I’m open to suggestions.

I did a clockwise route rouund Poland back in 2006 and really wish I'd spent more time in Krakow and Warsaw. Even Polish people kept telling me that Warsaw was "a dump" but TBH I was pretty impressed with it. You could easily spend a couple of days in both cities so thats 4 days lost straight away. I don't know if the routes are still going but I caught an overnight ferry to Esberg and another overnight boat from Karlskrona in Sweden to Gdansk. Back to the UK via the tunnel - I think it took me 10 days.

The Wolfs Lair (not far from the Russian border) was worth a trip.

The Wyalitchka Salt Mine (excuse the spelling) was also good and only 20 mins from Krakow IIRC.

When you go to Auschwitz, allow a whole day but be aware that even then you won't see it all. We stayed in a hotel in the town for 2 nights so that we could have a full day there.

Route we took 2009

Calais-Mainz-Garmisch-Berchtesgaden-Bratislava-Krakow-Prague-Colditz-Mainz-Calais

one night stays, two nights in Krakow and Prague

A nice mix with plenty of sightseeing, and a taste of Slovakia thrown in

All B&B's.... none of this camping malarkey

I've never been to Auschwitz but have been to a concentration camp in Alsace.

The "touristy" aspect of Auschwitz is a bit hard to equate with for me. I've no doubt that it must be a deeply humbling experience going round it but the gas chambers were all completely destroyed in 1945 so the one that visitors can now see was actually built by the Soviets in the 1950's (I'm not doubting that it's a detailed replica of the original) but they even have wall tiles with fingernail marks all over them.

A friend of mine did the tour about 5 years ago and wasn't aware that the gas chamer wasn't "original" until I told him when he came home. Apparently the guides aren't quick to point this out.

I'd imagine that there would be enough horrors on display as well as the sombre atmosphere of the camp without the almost "Disneyland" effect of the mock gas chamber.

If you go to Krakow visit the salt mine mentioned above,you wont regret it.Incredible.
We went in the middle of winter and visited Auschwitz,its hard to imagine what went on there.

Ronno said:

.... the gas chambers were all completely destroyed in 1945 so the one that visitors can now see was actually built by the Soviets in the 1950's (I'm not doubting that it's a detailed replica of the original) ....

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The gas chamber at Auschwitz is very small in comparison with the flattened brick buildings at Birkenau - which is about a mile away.

A few of us had a trip around there in 2004.

Ride report is here

Greg

Taff said:

The Wyalitchka Salt Mine (excuse the spelling) was also good and only 20 mins from Krakow IIRC.

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Wieliczka Salt Mine...

srace7 said:

Wieliczka Salt Mine...

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That's the one.

Make sure your camera battery is fully charged though. I missed some cracking photos (take a small tripod because of the low light) because my battery died as soon as I got to the bottom of the biggest wooden staircase I've ever seen.

If I were you, I'd also take some comfortable walking shoes. Don't do it in bike boots. DAMHIK.

Taff said:

The gas chamber at Auschwitz is very small in comparison with the flattened brick buildings at Birkenau - which is about a mile away.

Click to expand...

I've never been but I think I'm right in saying that the "rebuilt" gas chamber is a replica of one of the original ones whereas the demolished ones in the Birkenau complex were huge crematoria (built around 1942) with gas chambers as part of the building (underground). That would be why they are so big in comparison.

Greg Masters said:

A few of us had a trip around there in 2004.

Ride report is here

Greg

Click to expand...

That photo of the GS at the entrance to Auschwitz Birkenau is a remarkable photograph in so many ways

We found it had gone very commercial in 2009, compared to the first trip in 2004...and the first time there were no fences

The guide didn't seem to have time to show us everything... she blamed the hot weather

personally I'd go for the ferry to hamburg then along the top edge of germany, I stayed in Usedom it's a quirky little island use to be the kaiser bathing area.

there's everything from cheap to expensive available, the border is going to be opened there soon to motor traffic. It was only open to foot traffic when I was there, Poland was spot on I did the seaside bit up to gdansk, then accross to wolf lair etc.

really good trip, highly recommend it also if can get up to estonia do it's also good stuff

A timely post, we've just booked our hols for Sept next year. Its either 2 weeks in Croatia or Poland /Slovakia

Poland

Hi

I've been twice, most recently in 2008. First trip in 05 was in late April, and the weather was awful. It poured with rain, which coupled with the poor state of many of the roads made riding a challenge. In 2008 I was there in June which was fabulous, and roads were much improved. I am convinced that every other Pole drives an articulated lorry as there are hordes of them everywhere, which makes for some interesting driving by the locals! I have been to both Krakow and Warsaw and much preferred the former. All of old Warsaw was flattened by the Nazis and rebuilt after the war. Most of the rest of the city is drab communist concrete. Krakow is however almost all original, and beautiful. There is plenty to see and do over a weekend. Auschwitz is about an hour from Krakow and needs at least a day. Auschwitz 1 is the old Polish cavalry barracks first used by the Germans in early 1940 to house/execute political prisoners and minority ethnic groups like the Roma. This is now the main museum, and it attracts hordes of visitors, so is always busy. Auschwitz Birkenau is the camp many people associate with with the extermination of Jews, and the sheer scale is horrifying. However there isn't a great deal to see there, other than the obvious.

I used both Harwich/Hook of Holland and Dover Calais and it didn't make much difference. As I was constrained by time I had to stick to the M-ways, but there is plenty of scope for riding other routes if you have the time. First trip I made Berlin my first stop and arrived in Warsaw the second evening. Later trip I did two overnight stops before arriving in Krakow about midday on day three. The younger Poles speak English so getting food/fuel/lodgings etc wasn't really a problem. Finding my way about was sometimes challenging as my map had names in 'English' while direction/street signs were often in Cyrillic, and satnav coverage was very basic then! I have to say the the Polish language is impenetrable (to me anyway) Even with a phrase book I ended up pointing to phrases!

Would I go again - I most certainly would and next time try and explore the mountains in the South/south west of the country, but not in August apparently because that is when most of Poland goes there!

Mike

Poland

Poland was part of an Eastern Euro trip I did solo in May this year. Rough route was leipzig-Colditz-Karlovy Vary-Kutna Hora-Wroclow-Krakow-Aushwitz-Ostrava-Trencin..... etc etc

I found Polish roads, traffic, and weather interesting!!
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Typical backroad

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Floods everywhere!!

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This was as close as I could get to Aushwitz... floods closed all access roads!!

Very disappointed to miss Aushwitz as was one of my gotta see highlights... I visited the above mentioned Salt Mines and they are incredible, well worth the effort and only 15mins drive outside Krakow.

I stayed a Q-Bus hotel downtown upon recommendation of this site. Mainly because of underground parking as it was pissing rain constantly... Expensive but worth it(I think!!)

Access to Krakow is realistically only via the main southern route that runs East-West & skirts Katowice, it's tolled once you get close to Krakow and a bit rough as full of mad truckers and is mostly single carraigeway... BTW skip Katowice, I rarely say skip anywhere but seriously there is nothing in Katowice I could find of interest!!

In Krakow check out a an Irish Bar called 'Nic Nowego', not typical Oirish dump but cafe bar and run by very decent Irish bloke who rides a Kawasaki 1400... top bloke and great staff!

On leaving Krakow I headed south west to dodge the floods and passed through industrial southern Poland... very grim industrial nothingness.

I passed into Czech and across border on mountain roads at Makov stopping in Trencin... what a great little spot...

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Road into town, Grand Hotel


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Trencin, Main Square

I can't recommend Slovakia enough, it was the total surprise for me...

Overall would I go to Poland again... Definitely but not with the weather I got.. made the start of the trip grimmer than it should have been.

Drop me a PM if anything needed on accommodation etc

Go well,
J

Going to Poland by bike myself this year,regular visitor as my wifes Polish,heres some picts of the salt mines

Another great place to visit is the aviation museum in Krakow,a few hours required here,need to check that the hangars are open as they are not open everyday although u will be able to walk around outside every day

Linky to air museum
http://www.muzeumlotnictwa.pl/indexen.php

Poland from Hull

We did it 2 years ago.
Lef Hull on Sunday evening. Arrived in Holland next morning. Great way to get to Europe. You need Satnav to get from ferry onto the E35?. We got lost for 1.5 hours trying to find our way. Then on straight to Poland. Made it that evening. Crossed border & stayed night in little guest house about 10km inside Poland. Dirt Cheap, but you need German at least.
Outside big cities, there is very little English.
Do not miss Krakov or the neartby salt mines when you are going to Austwitz/Birkenau.
Make sure you do not take a coach to these. Go on your bikes. Allow around 3 -4 hours to do Austwitz very badly.
Go to Birkenau. There you must go with a guide. After being "let go" by the guide, go back in again & do it properly. Once again, around 3 - 4 hours.
The two most moving pilgrimages I have ever been on.

Afterwards, consider heading towards Slovakia & the Tatra Mountains. Breathtaking.

Myke