Actually going to Poland

Have a thread about me going to london which didn't happen again but I am 100% going to Poland at the end of November until early December (for 2 weeks) and I am going to Katowice I have a friend that lives there. for a day or two each I'm going to Krakow, Malbork and Gdansk and probably Lodz.

Krakow
St. Marys Church
Trezo restaurant
Starka restaurant
Moaburger
Krakow's Historic Centre
Main Market Square
Cloth Hall
lost souls alley

Lodz poland
The Dorsz fish and chips

Malbork
Lancelot restaurant

Gdansk



that is my list for poland I will also be going to Munich Germany I want to see a christmas market and I wanted to go see Bavaria also. So might as well kill 2 birds with one stone. Germany I will probably stay 2 days and leave on the third. I am also going to Lithuania maybe for some family history stuff but unsure on that. I am going to look in poland and see if they have anything.

My friend is going to drive/take me to Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the places I mentioned in Poland but just day trips to each place.

Czech Republic and Slovakia I'm not sure where to go, probably a border city cause we are just going for 1 day or so.


I did have a question as I do not want to be turned away at the border do I need medical insurance to get into the country? my passport is find and has I think 10 years left on it.

oh also I wish to not be pick pocketed any wallet type devices reccomendations? I found a neck wallet which looks ok but not sure if there is anything better. I don't wear belts and I don't plan on wearing a belt everyday so a money belt I don't think would work for me.

Any other tips?

Weather will be in the 30's so it shouldn't be that cold but I am going to pack cold weather gear just in case. Where I work I have to work outside in anywhere from -60 to 70 so the weather shouldn't affect me too much.

Are the tickets going to be cheaper now of if I wait until say september? I don't need any special documents other than my passport so I think booking something say 2-3 months before I go should be ok. I cannot wait to go and the exchange rate is perfect for a dollar here it's 3.05 zloty

I do plan on bringing $2000 american (6100 polish zloty) for the 2 weeks which should be plenty. I would need to exchange about 2500 zloty of that to euros for Germany and Czech Republic and Slovakia. Mostly though I will be spending more in Germany than Slovakia and Cxech Republic.

a reply to: sandman441

Sounds like a cool trip. I have been to Gdansk and Krakow and they're beautiful places (well, the old towns are, they are surrounded by some pretty brutal 60s era communist architecture!)

Medical insurance? They won't ask for evidence, but it's definitely wise to have some good travel insurance that will cover medical bills. For me as an EU citizen I can get an EHIC card that entitles me to medical treatment but assuming you are American you won't have that benefit!

I do plan on bringing $2000 american (6100 polish zloty) for the 2 weeks which should be plenty. I would need to exchange about 2500 zloty of that to euros for Germany and Czech Republic and Slovakia.

I hope you're not planning on taking cash! No need. ATMs are everywhere and the commission charge is minimal. Just make sure you have a four-digit PIN: I gather some US cards have six-digit PINs which may not work.

BTW the Czech Republic doesn't use the euro. Its currency is the koruna ($1 is about 20 CZK).

I would recommend a money belt. Even if you don't normally wear a belt that doesn't matter. Get one that fastens under your clothing. It will be invisible and secure to keep credit cards, passport etc. obviously you don't want to fiddle around getting money out of that in public so keep a bit of day-to-day cash in your pocket but not so much that you will be screwed if someone lifts it.

originally posted by: Rob48
a reply to: sandman441

Sounds like a cool trip. I have been to Gdansk and Krakow and they're beautiful places (well, the old towns are, they are surrounded by some pretty brutal 60s era communist architecture!)

Medical insurance? They won't ask for evidence, but it's definitely wise to have some good travel insurance that will cover medical bills. For me as an EU citizen I can get an EHIC card that entitles me to medical treatment but assuming you are American you won't have that benefit!

I do plan on bringing $2000 american (6100 polish zloty) for the 2 weeks which should be plenty. I would need to exchange about 2500 zloty of that to euros for Germany and Czech Republic and Slovakia.

I hope you're not planning on taking cash! No need. ATMs are everywhere and the commission charge is minimal. Just make sure you have a four-digit PIN: I gather some US cards have six-digit PINs which may not work.

BTW the Czech Republic doesn't use the euro. Its currency is the koruna ($1 is about 20 CZK).

I would recommend a money belt. Even if you don't normally wear a belt that doesn't matter. Get one that fastens under your clothing. It will be invisible and secure to keep credit cards, passport etc. obviously you don't want to fiddle around getting money out of that in public so keep a bit of day-to-day cash in your pocket but not so much that you will be screwed if someone lifts it.

yeah we definately do not have the medical insurance stuff. I did find a site that I can get insurance for 2 weeks for I think $60 so I might do that just in case. I like to look at different stuff so the soviet era stuff would be cool to look at, Gdansk seemed pretty cool I need to do more research on that, I got a polish travel book and it talked about it a little bit and it had maybe a paragraph about Malbork which seemed really awesome a Teutonic Knight lived in the castle there and you can get a bunch of medievel stuff in the town.

That is good to know I assumed they used euros so that is even better they do not. I was planning on just bringing cash and them american express traveler checks. I have to check it out but if I exchange stuff here I'm thinking I am going to get reamed on the exchange rate cause I think only 1 place does the exchanges now and its bank of america and I don't have an account with them. I will have to look at the ATM and see if my bank will allow me to do that, I do have a 4 digit pin but its a local bank, but if I cant do that with the local bank I can just open up a new account and put in $2000 so I can access it over there.

I could do that, that is my biggest fear is to get pick pocketed what I heard of some people doing is to keep a cheap dummy wallet in their back pocket and when the pick pocket targets you they go for the dummy wallet and nothing else.

yeah I think it will be alot of fun, going to see alot, I might try and stay for 3 weeks but it depends on how much money it will be. If prices go down I can stay for 3 weeks but if they stay where they are at it will be 2 weeks

a reply to: sandman441

Gdansk is an interesting place. If you know about Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement that helped bring down Communism, that is where that all began. A lot of history there (the old town looks really well preserved but actually much of it was flattened by bombs and rebuilt after the war.

As for the cash question: as long as your card has a Visa logo you should be fine. Check with your bank. Traveller's cheques are virtually obsolete: nobody uses them these days and changing them is a huge hassle. Likewise you will get a better exchange rate from an ATM, plus you don't have to plan in advance how much of each currency you need.

I have travelled all round Europe and never take more than a bit of emergency cash with me (take maybe $100 or so and maybe some euros which should be a lot easier and cheaper to buy in the US than zloty etc). Even the small towns seem to have plenty ATMs. (Maybe if you were going to the boonies in Romania or somewhere it would be a different story!)

BTW in case I wasn't clear: Slovakia does use euros but the Czech Republic doesn't. Germany does, of course, and Lithuania doesn't but is due to switch at the start of 2015.

Oh, and medical insurance: no mights, do it! It's a no brainer. Pay $50-$60 or potentially get stuck with a medical bill for tens of thousands if the worst happened.

MY wife is from Gdansk!! We are going next month for 2 weeks with the kids!! My wife and I are going to take a 2 day cruise to Sweden...we're VERY excited!!

Have a great trip in November...I hope this mess in the Ukraine doesn't spoil either of our trips.

Safe travels!!

a reply to: sandman441


I dont know a whole lot about poland. I do know it was communist/part for Russia for a bit. So im hoping to learn alot of history from the towns I go to.




Freedomknight that is awesome. Let me know how the cruise goes I might go to Norway and Sweden for a day if the price is right. Do you have any plans on where to go? Im not too worried about it spilling over. I did want to go to the ukraine also but Im not even if this all gets settled atleast for a few years.

a reply to: sandman441
I would visit Auschwitz. I have been there 2 years ago, but you need 2 days to stay.

originally posted by: hubertus
a reply to: sandman441
I would visit Auschwitz. I have been there 2 years ago, but you need 2 days to stay.

I will have to see, I'm going for 13 nights and 3 of those nights will be spend in germany and the rest of the time will be spent roaming over Poland. I wish I could stay 21 days but I don't think that will happen.

My friend who lives there said he gets the time I am there off, think he said he gets 3 weeks off so that will be cool. He said he would drive me where ever.

I do need to find if I can actually go by train from katowice to munich. The train schedules I have seen didn't have a route but they did say something about a custom quote. The other option is by bus which wouldn't be too bad as it's a 10 hour drive. I think a train you would see so much more but I just need the cheapest option to get there.

So I just booked my trip yesterday with Travelocity I got travel insurance for $100 which is if I get too sick to travel I also believe an act of god I get my money back for the trip. If I get sick or anything I also get money for doctors also.

I did end up paying like $1480 for my tickets which in the scheme of things wasn't that bad. I could have count cheaper flights but they were 32 hours or longer, I know one flight had a 10 hour layover in Houston, the way I am going I have a 2 hour layover in Seattle and then a 4 hour layover in Germany and it's a 25 hour flight. So sometimes its better to pay a little extra for less hassle.

The plan right now is I will be in Katowice Poland for 2 days or so, then go over to Krakow, this is where it gets a little hairy as I planned on staying in Krakow for 2 days and I had a hotel for there and I messed up on the dates so I called travelocity for 2 days the first time the guy couldn't do anything, the second time it was like 2 am in poland and then it was supposed to be resolved today and I got no email from them stating it was taken care of or not. Apparently travelocity could not reach the hotel so they just gave me my money back.

Which works out it was $122 for 2 days and I can save it and just stay with my friend, After Krakow I am going to go to Vienna for 3 days and then after than I am going to be in Munich for 3 or 4 days. Then after that back to Katowice for a week.

I am unsure after that I may go to warsaw for a day or two and then Malbork for a day or two, If I can find a cheap flight I may spend a day in Sweden and Norway.

I ofcourse have a few things planned for poland, austria and munich but if anybody has any other tips or places to see let me know.

So new schedule I am flying into Frankfurt I unfortunately have a 7 hour layover there but from there I fly into Katowice. So the schedule is mostly still the same, 2 days in katowice, 2 days in krakow. Then over to Vienna for a few days and then over to Munich for a few days. But on the way back from Munich we are going to stop in Prague for a day or two.

I called my credit card companies and my Bank and told them I was going to be heading overseas. My American Express I think is worthless there, my discover card is actually really awesome 0% foreign transaction fee it's also a diners club card, a pulse card and a few other cards that I can use too. And my USAA account is 1% for whatever I take out or buy so I am all set for that.

Can't wait I am dreading the 25 hour flight on the way there, but It's about 3 hours from Anchorage to Seattle, and then 10 hours to Frankfurt, and then 3 hours I think it is to Poland. I just have to find out where customs is and I think I go through customs in Seattle but I think before I do that I have to get my bags and check in for my flight?

I am honestly not sure what to do for that.