I’m going in a few weeks and I have Warsaw down - what else is worth a visit?
Any other advice?
All help gratefully received.
p.s I have already tried lonely planet etc - I just want people personal experiences and advice
This won’t be much advice, but it isn’t going to stop me from giving it to you.
We did a very quick driving trip this summer through Western Poland. We went in by Berlin and drove north to the next German Entry point which I cannot spell, it begins with an S and has a bunch of Z’s. About a 3 hour trip.
It was desperately poor. Like Mexico, without the sun, location or charm. Much like a Pre-World War Two movie setting, only in color.
I would have loved to have gone in deeper to a major city but we were already violating our car rental contract. Poland has a very high auto theft rate. We looked like royalty in our rental opal station wagon compared to the beat up, rusty cars we saw. Everyone stared at us. It was very odd.
If you go, you must send me a post card. 
When I lived in Prague, I went to Krakow for a long weekend by myself once and spent one day just hiking around, just walked all over what seemed like the entire town. I can’t remember everything I saw, but my “Let’s Go” European guide was a lifesaver as far as finding lodging when I got in at 2-3 AM, finding good out of the way places to eat, seeing what sights to see, etc. Krakow was a very nice little town, not too small but not at all metropolitan, very much an old world charm kind of place.
Another day I took a train for the short ride to the nearby town of Oswiecim, better known by the name the Germans once gave to it, Auschwitz. Spent the day (Valentine’s Day, by an odd coincidence) there seeing the Death Camps Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau. A lot of people told have told me before and since that they either couldn’t or wouldn’t visit the camps, but for me it was a very moving experience that I think everyone should bear witness to.
My experience with Poland was very similar to Pravnik’s, except I had an extraordinarily difficult time at Auchwitz (1) and didn’t even make it to Birkenau. I went alone. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone go through that experience alone.
I found the Polish people to be very helpful and friendly, though Polish was completely beyond me (I was only in Poland for two days, so I did OK). A lot of the younger people (under 30) speak English, but the only other language that might help you would be German, and even then, only older people would speak it, and they might not admit it. I nearly had a disaster in the train station in Krakov because they changed the platform for my train and didn’t put any kind of visual marker up for it, only announced it in Polish. Luckily I found someone who spoke English to help me change my ticket, and I had to give up my nice sleeper car and was on a 12-hour train ride to Prague starting at 2 AM. If I were to go back to Poland, I’d go with someone who spoke Polish!
Definitely go to Krakow. It’s much prettier and more fun for tourists than Warsaw. And while you’re in Krakow, there’s always the famous salt mines in Wieliczka to visit, as well as the concentration camp in Auschwitz/Birkenau (Oświęcim/Brzezinka). I think everyone should visit this camp at least once in their lifetime.
If you want to head further south and you enjoy skiing, head on down to Zakopane in the high Tatras.
While there, buy amber & silver jewelry for your sweetie.
Thanks for the advice - I do want to go to Auschwitz, and Krakow is on my provisonal itinery.
This blogger just got back from Poland. There may be some information there that you can use.
http://ninacamic.blogspot.com/archives/2004_12_01_ninacamic_archive.html#110346458508737551
This would be a better place to start. She actually blogged from there.
http://ninacamic.blogspot.com/archives/2004_12_01_ninacamic_archive.html#110244291829341459
This is only second-hand information from a cousin…but the Tatras, in the Carpathian mountains, towards the Slovakian border (which are basically the eastern end of the Alps) are spectacular. However, I suspect that you’ll need skis and many layers should you head there this time of year…
Other than that, what the others said. Cracow is wonderful. As for the visit to Auschwitz - hire a car (or figure out the public transport) and go first thing in the morning. The Poles are only just learning how to deal with mass tourism, and the uncontrolled hoards of tourist buses can make for an unpleasant experience should you get there at peak times.
Apart from Warsaw and Krakow, I also got up to Torun and I’d recommend the city if you’ve got the time. It’s a relatively well-preserved medieval town, the Polish equivalent of say York.
On the subject of visiting Auschwitz, you should certainly allow time to visit Birkenau. As far as I can tell, most tourists only visit the main museum in what was Auschwitz I, but seeing the larger camp is both essential to understanding the scale of the project and, in my experience, far more moving.