Have heard from family members who have been that is incredibly pretty. Poles have a reputation for being excellent "restorers" ('restorators'? - those who restore), so that the city center has been meticulously reconstructed to its former glory.

The train station and the town are called Oświęcim.

I have spent a lot of time in Gdansk and it does have a very pretty old section around amber street. The rest of the town is Very industrial. It forms part of Tri city with Gadnyia and Sopot.

Sopot has some nice beaches but that is about it.

As for language Eglish is fine with most service people and all young people. German is also very well spoken as the place fills up with old Germans in the summer.

It's Gdynia. :)

Many people don't know this little fact, but the 1st shot of WWII was fired on Westerplatte where a small Polish garison defended the little inlet for 7 days against all odds. They were bombarded from the sea, air and attacked by some of the best that Wermacht and SS units had. It's located just north of the city and I believe there is a memorial and some of the old buildings left and now serve as a museum.

Anyway, here is a good place to read about the tri-cities and the surrounding areas.

http://guide.trojmiasto.pl/

I'm back...quite a good trip but my polish host was not too well prepared and a bit obsessed with saving money so in the trip to the North I only got a private room in Krynica Morska that didn't even have its own bathroom :td: instead of the 4-star hotel in Gdansk I was thinking about. Gdansk is excellent, but a lot more touristy than I would have thought (seems like quite a few Baltic cruisers pay a visit to it). There's a concentration camp in Sztutowo (around 40 km from Gdansk)...Not as impressive as Oswiecim, but still quite moving.
Stuff is still fairly cheap; the taxi driver preferred to take 20 PLN for the 26 PLN ride to the airport than give change from 100(!!!), and I brought back a year's supply of alcohol (10-12 bottles of all kinds of wodka and krupnik) that cost me just 300 PLN. But petrol is probably as expensive as in the UK and no Polish drinking/eating establishment could beat the 15 CZK I paid for 0.5L of beer in Plzen!

i personally think 2 days in Krakow is not enough. There is a lot to see in the city, and there are several interesting day trips. I'd spend more time there and less in Warsaw.

To put it in perspective -- think of Warsaw = Milan, Krakow = Florence. Although not a perfect comparison, there really is much more for a tourist to see / do / experience in Krakow, which is just a gorgeous little city. Not speaking Polish was not a problem at all for me.

Definitely spend a good amount of time in Krakow, its a beautiful city! Try to hit the Wieliczka salt mine (30mins south), and the Tatra Mountains--Zakopane (2hrs south). I don't have much experience with Warsaw--(I've been to krakow 8 times as opposed to 2 in Warsaw), but I think i prefer Krakow. Best advice is just to hit the town square or the castle and then just explore--randomly going into churches, museums. LOT is definitely a rip-off flying within Poland and train service is more than reasonable and pretty quick. You can get around with English pretty easily--Polish people DO NOT enjoy speaking Russian (USSR subjugation etc.) although a lot of the older generation does know it. Enjoy your time in Poland! :)

PS Krakow is much prettier and better conserved thank Gdansk.

Mauld, As a single male traveler, is WAW a good 2-3 day visit... I was thinking about going last minute during Europe trip in Aug????

I am not mauld :D , but I can give you MHO. WAW is an interesting destination and 2-3 days should cover what you really want to see, but KRK is probably better. Just my 2 groszy. :p

Ever-so-slightly OT, but if you're contemplating a OneWorld RTW, Poland is one of the cheaper (and most convenient) places in the world to buy your xOWEx ticket. Here is the relevant topic.

Haven't been to Warsaw or Krakow since the 70s, but back then the saying in Warsaw was that the best place to see the city was from the top of the Palace of Culture, because it was the only place in the city where you didn't have to see the Palace of Culture.

Rzeszow
 

It looks like I may be visiting Rzeszow on business in the near future. This town is in southeastern Poland close to Ukraine and Slovakia. Does anyone by any chance know anything about that area?

I was born in Krosno, about 70km south of Rzeszow. Can't tell you much about Rzeszow, but I would highly recommend a short trip to Krosno and possibly little deeper into Bieszczady. Krosno (many consider it a Krakow Jr) is a quaint town with many historical buldings, some of the oldest churches in Poland. Krosno site: http://www.krosno24.pl/miasto.php. It's only in Polish, but this page has a great aerial shot of the beautiful old town.

Go to this page and click rhe links in the middle of the page. Great pics of some of the old churches, old town, and other historical buildings.
http://www.krosno24.pl/miasto.php?po...ystyka/zabytki

Krosno is also a gateway for the Bieszczady region. Beautiful mountainous area with rich forests and a beautiful lake Solinski. The lake wa created when the biggest water dam in Poland was build back in the 60s. It offers many activities. Canoeing, bicycling, swimming, hiking, etc.. The following is a nice site for the region, but unfortunately it's in Polish only. This page has some great pictures of the area: http://www.bieszczady.pl/portal/html...trona=galeria1

Just few kms outside of Krosno is a Iwonicz Zdroj. It is well known all across the country as a popular health resort famous for its mineral waters and intact environment. Here is a great site in English: http://www.iwonicz-zdroj.pl/index_an.html

Have a great trip!

Rzeszow is not the prettiest of cities but nearby is Lancut castle (it`s pronounced something like wan-sewt), well worth a visit. It is 17 km from Rzeszow and if memory serves, there is a fairly convenient bus service.

I agree with Andrzej that Krosno is a very pretty city - also, if you have some time to wander around, Sandomierz, Zamosc and (in the Tatra mountains) Zakopane.

If you're into walking / trekking the mountains south of Krackow are wonderfull. Well worth a visit. Although August and early September are school holiday season!

I've lost the link for now but have an excallant hotel there, although is probably fully booked. PM me if needed and will make a note to find it and come back and add to the post.

In WAW, the above quote about best place to see WAW is from the Palace of Culture is still true today. Be carefull the attendants downstairs aren't always overly helpful, it is worth the lift to the top. Also in WAW in the old town, watch out for tourist trap restaurants. There are two large squares ione after the other. One has restaurants all round, one just has them on left-hand side as you walk into it from the previous square. I would skip the places in this second square, they're ok but not worth the prices. Realise the 'directions' are a bit cryptic but don't have a street map to hand, should make sense one you are there.

Agree with previous posts re time, 2-3 full days in WAW is fine.

My parents are from the US but are working in Warsaw right now and I have to say, it took me awhile to get used to the city (I like big cosmopolitan cities like, oh...I dunno, Moscow!) but I LOVE it now. I can't wait to return for a visit in August. There's so much to do, taxis are plentiful, the metro leaves something to be desired (it's not nearly as extensive as the Moscow Metro, but really, none are), but it's SO easy to get around. Krakow is wonderful...the town is quaint and charming. On the weekends they have "farmer's markets" and craft markets in the main square with delicious sausage and pierogis - I don't think Polish food is bland at all but then anyone who has tasted the spicier of the sausages couldn't possibly think it's bland. If you do Auschwitz, don't forget Birkenau - in fact, I would recommend Birkenau first, then Auschwitz but that's just my opinion, of course! Depending how much time you have in Gdansk, you could go to Gdinya (sp?) or even to Hell (which is what we recommend to all our friends who come visit). As for must see and do in Warsaw - in the summer, in the old town, they have jazz fests in the square that is surrounded by beer gardens. You MUST go and sit and enjoy the music and some Zwiec (polish beer) and a real Polish meal - SO GOOD. A tour of the old town is also recommended, as is the Wilanow palace which is in a beautiful area of town.....For more recommendations during the time you'll be there, try www.warsawinsider.com they usually have pretty good advice. ENJOY!