Still thinking about planning a trip to Poland? My last post gave some itinerary help. Today is about some other logistics to account for as you start putting the wheels in motion. The other two big things to figure out when putting a trip together is transportation and accommodations. Here’s what we did, and learned along the way.
Read morePoland Wrap-up Part I: Make Your Own Poland Itinerary
Poland was an amazing country to visit, and truly one of my favorite trips I’ve taken during my three years living in Europe. But you know what the funny thing is? The trip almost didn’t happen. I have always wanted to visit Poland because when I look at my varied European ancestry, I’m more Polish than anything else. I’ve always wanted to step foot in Poland and connect to my roots on some level. But each year, for some reason the trip seemed daunting to plan, so we kept putting it off. Until Michael just put his foot down and booked round trip airfare to Krakow, knowing that this commitment would motivate us to pull it together.
If you’re interested in going to Poland but are in the same boat, I want to encourage you to put your reservations aside and plan a trip! The hardest part for me was putting together an itinerary that captured the highlights of this large country. Here are some ideas to help give you a head start.
Read moreSimply Sara Eats: in Warsaw
In the "Simply Sara Eats" series, I recount the my favorite food and drink discoveries.
We ate a lot of good food throughout Poland. Krakow stands out in my mind as it was our first destination in Poland, and our first taste of Polish cuisine of the trip. Warsaw though was another force to be reckoned with. We may not have eaten as much native food in the capital, but we took advantage of its international influences. The food here gets the distinction as some of the most memorable of the entire trip, and surprised us in many ways. (If you told me how much hummus I would eat in Warsaw, I would have never believed you! But more on that in a minute...) Without further ado, here’s the best-of list:
Read moreShiny New Warsaw
Bon lundi!
Have you ever hesitantly added a destination on your itinerary with reservations about what the stop would amount to? That's how I felt about adding Warsaw to my trek through Poland. A lot of feedback I read from travelers recounting their trips in Poland seemed to dismiss Warsaw for its modern architecture and towering skyscrapers. Krakow was the decisive favorite, and many advised to skip Warsaw all together.
Though somewhat skeptical about the city, I couldn't ignore the capital on our big tour of the country. And since it was a direct, three-hour train ride from Krakow, we were able to easily cover the 300 kilometer distance and inch our way further north towards Gdańsk.
This week is about what I found in Warsaw. To give you a hint, it had some of the most memorable food of the trip and a museum that surprised me. And looking back at everywhere we went in Poland, it is the place that we left the most stones un-turned and beckons a return trip someday.
This unique building is the InterContinental Hotel, a five-star hotel. Its unusual cut-out bothered Michael with its inefficiency, yet I appreciated the character it added to Warsaw's skyline. (Typical engineer vs English literature degree debates...)
So have you had the experience of traveling somewhere despite negative reviews from others, only to be pleasantly surprised?
Poland: Guest Post by Cynthia of Adventurings
I'd like to introduce you to one of my blogger friends, Cynthia! We first became acquainted by writing about our trips to Poland, and today she's going to share some of the highlights from her grand trip through the country to offer another perspective. Be sure to check out her blog - but I'll let her introduce herself properly:
Ahoj! I'm Cynthia and I blog over at Adventurings about my expat adventures living in the Czech Republic and my travels that have fortunately come with living life abroad.
This year, I was brainstorming with my fiancé and travel partner about where the heck to go for our big summer trip. Just for fun, I threw out there: "What if we took a several week long backpacking trip to Poland? To really see the country and not just a few of its most famous cities." It seemed logical: I have Polish ancestry and would really love to spend more time in the "homeland" but also, the country neighbors the one I've been living in for two years, so it seemed only right to get to know this little pocket of the European continent a little better.
Read moreThe 10 Most Memorable Experiences in Poland
I just got back from a two-week trip traveling throughout Poland. Yup, you read that correctly. Poland. I've gotten many quizzical looks, and even questioning natives asking why I chose Poland for a long vacation. The short answer is I have always wanted to go due to my largely Polish ancestry. That, coupled with my mounting desire to explore more of Eastern Europe after I fell in love with Prague (my only prior experience in the general area), led Michael and I to book a 16-night adventure in this country. These ten moments/places/things left an impact on me and convinced me that Poland is such an underrated destination for tourists. So when are you planning to visit Poland?!
Here are the top ten things (in no particular order) that stood out to me on my trip:
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