The 2 essential polish cities (and a little bonus!)

Krakow and Warsaw are generally seen as the two essential stops in Poland. Warsaw is amazing in that it was completely razed to the ground during the war and carefully stitched back together to resemble how it used to looked like. At the same time it is a well developed former eastern bloc capital. The end result is a true delight for people who like architecture as it blends both Soviet style architecture and the polish classic. I suggest starting the day strolling along the river to the old town. And then the second to third day there are enough palaces and museums all over town for you to indulge in. But if you want to “limit” the number of museums you see or have a tendency to rush thru them then actually you may even be able to do 1.5-2 days in Warsaw The reason is that the castle in krakow is actually larger and can in the first place take up half a day already. Krakow old town at first glance looks like Warsaw but it was actually not rebuilt from the ground up. Krakow also is where you do your obligatory full day trip to the concentration camp of auschwitz and the salt mine. So in total it’s actually difficult to do less than 2.5-3 days in krakow . Over the years krakow has become quite a bit of a hub for European tourists. Do not even try to buy tickets for schindlers factory or the concentration camp on spot. Always book in advance All in all krakow and Warsaw is very much filled with visitors but it’s not to the point like atrocious Italy or Spain. This is where the beauty of adding other cities in Poland come in For transit reasons I stopped at Poznan for a day on my way to Berlin. The town itself is small but the city square is much more spacious and less overwhelming (crowd wise) I also went for Gdansk on the northern polish coast. It was a German city before the war and gives the town a strange hybrid flair. As a small town it packs a punch for the tourist. Check out the gothic port city vibe. Visit the solidarity center as this is where the eastern bloc started to unravel during the Cold War. Take a day trip to europes largest castle at Malbork. Go on a side visit to the beach towns nearby in sopot and gdynia. Three days is just good. Poland is a pretty big country and so much more than Warsaw and krakow. My drivers recommended zakopane for skii. I also skipped another German town called wroclaw due to time constraints. For those who prefer deep dives 14 days in Poland is absolutely doable