Trip to Poland/Polska. (apartment, rent, hotels)

[sweetcruisin]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Warsaw does have one Americanism. It has a square named after Reagan.

haha! Also the roudabout named after George Washington!

[Yac]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Why does everyone say that Warsaw is nothing to see? I have seen hundreds of pictures and it looks nice and interesting.

How about other cities worth seeing, Poznan? Gdansk? Wroclaw? Lublin?

Ask and you shall receive!

Poznan, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Warszawa

It's just a small sample, you can find all the photos you might need (probably much, much more than you might need) here. It's all in Polish I'm afraid, but last time I checked, photos didn't need translation
As for Warsaw - it's not that there's nothing to see there. Apart from the old town, the king's castle and several other recognizable landmarks, there are tons of monuments, parks etc - you could spend a week there and not see them all. Thing is, if you take these out of the picture you get a large, dirty and congested city with unbearable traffic.

[greatboy]

Hello guys! That's my first post here as I've just registered but I'm glad that I found such topic. Well, I'm from Poland and I can tell you a lot about all those destinations you're talking about. Warsaw? Well, I don't live there but I've been there like hundred times. It's not really my favourite city, but it probably may seems interesting for tourists as its got some places worth visiting. A few I can think of are:

Palace of Culture and Science - the tallest building in Poland, but for Americans it'd probably seems to be an average skyscraper;-)
Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Presidential palace - well, that's obvious
Presidential Palace, Warsaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old Town with its Castle Square, Zygmunt's Column and Royal Castle - probable the most popular tourist destinations
Old Town Market Place, Warsaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Castle Square, Warsaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zygmunt's Column - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Castle Square, Warsaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Łazienki Park - I think I can compare it to Central Park in Warsaw because it's the biggest Park in Warsaw, located in Downtown. My favourite place in this city:-)
Royal Baths Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As far as I'm concerned, I prefer Cracow to Warsaw. In august my cousin and her boyfriend, both from Canada, were visiting Poland. We went to Cracow, spend there one night and then moved to Zakopane for a few nights. Cracow is much nicer than Warsaw, I really like the architecture and the whole atmosphere of an Old Town there. And it's a good place to stop by and take some rest before heading south towards the mountains. So if you like hiking, that's the best what you can do. Visit Cracow, then go to Zakopane. Zakopane remembers me of Canadian Banff, it's very comercialized and there are lots of tourists, however if you can take a view from the differend side on it, it's a really nice, small town and you can do many beautiful hikes from there. If you gus have more questions about polish cities, I'd be more than happy to help you.

[Milwaukee City]

Hel, Polska? thoughts great boy?

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by sweetcruisin

haha! Also the roudabout named after George Washington!

There is a bit of Polish history in the American Revolution. Research these names: Pulaski and Kosciuszko.

[Milwaukee City]

Research these names: Pulaski and Kosciuszko.

Oh don't worry, we all in Milwaukee know who they are. We have parks, schools and statues named after them.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Oh don't worry, we all in Milwaukee know who they are. We have parks, schools and statues named after them.

I know. There is a Polish influence in Milwaukee. There is a neighborhood called Kosciuszko Park. I know it because my father is from MKE, born and raised. That was the place where civil rights leader Fr. Jim Groppi led a march through the neighborhood to open up the housing to all people of all colors.
I live in Georgia and I used to live in Savannah,GA. There is a monument down there dedicated to Casimir Pulaski. I went to that monument when I was about 8 or 9. There is a town in Mississippi called Kosciuszko, where Oprah Winfrey was born(interesting because she also lived in Milwaukee as well).
Poland in my view should be interesting. I have friends from Poland and the subject of Poland is actually one of the things I like talking with them about. Blame it on leaving a 10 year-old with encyclopaedias and alot of time on his hands(that was me).

[greatboy]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Hel, Polska? thoughts great boy?

I was there last month:-)

It's a small town located just on the tip of Hel Peninsula - very characteristic part of polish land. It's a vert popular destination for tourist, so if you'd like to go there when it's season (June-August), be prepared to meet this place really overcrowded. For there's only one road through peninsula, there often is a huge traffic line. It's got enough atractions just for a one day visiting.

1. Seals' reserve - it's a place where they take carre of Baltic seals, trying to multiply their population etc. It's open for tourists, so you can watch seals playing in their pools or if you're lucky, watch their feeding time.

2. Lighthouse in Hel - probably the most famous one on the polish coast. Nice view from there:-)

3. Wiejska street - the one where all the tourists eat their fishes;-)

4. Plus there are many military objects, from second world war, that are available (finally, because for many years it was impossible) to see.

5. Such places as harbour, museums, fishermans' houses etc.

Instead of driving through peninsula, you can just take a bike, because there's a nice bike lane to Hel. You'd have a nice view on Puck Bay on the right and Baltic sea on the left. However it'd be about 35 kilometers one way..

[JohnPF]

Nice thread.
I am Polish, living in Chicagoland for close to 30 years. Have been going back numerous times since o... 6 years ago. Poland is a beautiful country, no doubts.
As for your trip, what would you like to see?
I can hook you up with local friends in Warsaw, Gdansk etc., who could show you what usual tourists do not get to see. Two weeks is a streach, you will loose a lot of time commuting. Good plan is a must. Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk for sure. From there you can branch out and possibly visit other places. There are numerous museums to see- and I could get you behind the closed doors in many of them. History, ethnography, art. Amber. That is a whole another subject. Baltic amber played a very important role in this region of Europe history. Since Roman times. Treasured so much, that a small figurine carved in amber was worth a healthy slave. Collecting it is my hobby too. Actually it is just one of many fossil resins occuring throughout the World and I was able to collect it in many places in Canada, USA, Europe, Lebanon etc. But they are all of different plant origin, different geological age. Baltic amber is unique for its appearance, medical properties.
When in Gdansk, visiting the Museum of Amber as well as Museum of Amber Inclusions is very interesting. In Krakow, Muzeum Historii Naturalnej also has spectacular collections. But meeting the scientists responsible for these collections and scientific work on them is a blast! True passionates!
Military passionates in Gdansk area are the buffs to meet and be your guides. Once again, no foregin tourist sees what can be seen there. The guides are full of info, just that the monuments or renowned places are often overstated... Like Zakopane. The vistas are very nice, but hardly compare to US mountain ranges and.... it is all commercialised overly.
Can Poland be seen in just one, two week trip? No.
I have American friends, Indian for example who travel to Poland 4 or more, times a year. They love Sopot, Gdansk.
My Italian friends from Padova were amazed at the seashore in Gdansk/Sopot (well the tri-city). So much free land by the sea, so much greenery- in Italy it would all be turned into commercial development!
Beatutiful country, rich in history that also played a big role in the first, trying years of establishing USA. Well worth of visiting.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by JohnPF

Nice thread.
I am Polish, living in Chicagoland for close to 30 years. Have been going back numerous times since o... 6 years ago. Poland is a beautiful country, no doubts.
As for your trip, what would you like to see?
I can hook you up with local friends in Warsaw, Gdansk etc., who could show you what usual tourists do not get to see. Two weeks is a streach, you will loose a lot of time commuting. Good plan is a must. Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk for sure. From there you can branch out and possibly visit other places. There are numerous museums to see- and I could get you behind the closed doors in many of them. History, ethnography, art. Amber. That is a whole another subject. Baltic amber played a very important role in this region of Europe history. Since Roman times. Treasured so much, that a small figurine carved in amber was worth a healthy slave. Collecting it is my hobby too. Actually it is just one of many fossil resins occuring throughout the World and I was able to collect it in many places in Canada, USA, Europe, Lebanon etc. But they are all of different plant origin, different geological age. Baltic amber is unique for its appearance, medical properties.
When in Gdansk, visiting the Museum of Amber as well as Museum of Amber Inclusions is very interesting. In Krakow, Muzeum Historii Naturalnej also has spectacular collections. But meeting the scientists responsible for these collections and scientific work on them is a blast! True passionates!
Military passionates in Gdansk area are the buffs to meet and be your guides. Once again, no foregin tourist sees what can be seen there. The guides are full of info, just that the monuments or renowned places are often overstated... Like Zakopane. The vistas are very nice, but hardly compare to US mountain ranges and.... it is all commercialised overly.
Can Poland be seen in just one, two week trip? No.
I have American friends, Indian for example who travel to Poland 4 or more, times a year. They love Sopot, Gdansk.
My Italian friends from Padova were amazed at the seashore in Gdansk/Sopot (well the tri-city). So much free land by the sea, so much greenery- in Italy it would all be turned into commercial development!
Beatutiful country, rich in history that also played a big role in the first, trying years of establishing USA. Well worth of visiting.

Zakopane, I know of that place. That is in the Tatra Mountains. I watched a TV program about it and I think there was a wedding that day.