I am considering (presuming award avaliability) going to Poland and a few neighboring countries in August. Right now, my plans look like this:
Krakow (if I feel brave enough, then a visit to Auschswitz from there) - train to Warsaw - plane to Gdansk .

Any comments on around how much time to spend in each city and the must sees and dos?
Also, how easy is it to get around using English and/or Russian?

A friend here just got back. He said that in Poland's larger cities he managed to get by reasonably well with English for most purposes. Between English and whatever level of Russian you have, you should get by even better. Among those Poles who are multilingual, older people seemed to know Russian more often than English while younger people seemed to know English more often.

English, Russian and German seem to be the three most likely foreign languages spoken by those with some multi-lingual skills there.

Krakow is great! Two days is plenty. Schindler Factory, salt mines, and Auschwitz. Krakow has great character. Excellent food and wonderful people.
I had a driver he is excellent. Very resonable.

http://www.ceti.pl/~source/

Don't take the plane from warsaw to Gdansk...It's a ripoff (can be over �200 return!)...first class intercity train isn't too slow and it's comfortable and a lot cheaper.

Krakow is lovely. Probably 2-3 days is fine. Not much to see in Warsaw. Auschwitz is horrifying.

Overall food quality in Poland leaves something to be desired.

The quality is good enough...I think Poles are quite good when it comes to cleanliness/hygiene....But they hardly use any spices, therefore the taste often is as dull as it gets....

Thank you for the great tips, please keep them coming

I checked the LOT site and the WAW- Gdansk RT is around 260 PLN, so only $70 USD . How much is the train and how long does it take?

Looks like language won't be a problem since my Russian is at least as good if not better then my English (born in Russia).

Thank you for the tip on the driver, but I will probably stick to public transit. Cheaper, plus easier to get to know more about people that way.

I'm going there on Tuesday and will be back next Monday with more tips
Lemme check the LOT site!!! The prices on opodo.co.uk were anything between �100 and �200!!!

EDIT: The PLN 259 price is the special 2-week APEX fare. Non adv-purch fares are a LOT (no pun intended) more expensive.

Further update: Train takes about 4 hours and costs around PLN 110 in first and PLN 75 in second (one way). BTW the real difference between second and first if my 2 KRK-WAW experiences are anything to go by is that first isn't crowded.
for further train info www.intercity.com.pl

I went to Krakow 3 years ago and absolutely loved it. We spent 2.5 days there; I would have liked to have stayed a bit longer to get in some more day trips. We did go to Auschwitz, which I found incredibly sad and moving and important to have seen.

For some reason, I ran into a lot of people who did not speak English, but German worked most of the time. My brother went to Krakow last spring and had no problems speaking English.

Regarding the food - it's all a matter of taste. I grew up eating Polish food and was in heaven in Krakow! And the beer isn't too bad either.

I just returned from a quick trip to KRK, (and last year to WAW)--both cities were wonderful. I disagree with the statement that there is not much to see in Warsaw. The rebuilt Old Town, the old Jewish Quarter (& monument), the shopping, even the Soviet styled "Palace of Culture" had its interesting moments. The Polish people, overall I found to be very friendly and in any of the main tourist areas English (as well as French, Spanish, Italian etc.) was widely spoken. In fact--in situations where there were a number of different nationalities seated (say at my hotel bar, for example )--the common language was English. I travelled around both Krakow & Warsaw via public transportation-the trams, buses and in Warsaw the subway were very easy to use. Buy a day or weekend pass (7.20 PLN=US$1.80) and you'll be set. In Krakow be sure to visit the Old Town & Square, the Barbizon, Wawel Castle and the Jewish quarter. As for food, I found many sophisticated/continental restaurants, as well as some very good quality local Polish places. I was a woman travelling alone and at no time did I fell anything but comfortable. Prices in Poland are still quite low, the easiest conversion from US $ is just to divide everything in PLN by 4.

Definitely go! I had the great opportunity to work in Warsaw in 1998-99 and it was wonderul. I was able to travel throughout Poland. I agree with everyone's comments that 2-3 days in Krakow is sufficient. Definitely go to Auschwitz and the Salt Mine's. I hired a taxi to take me to Auschwitz (sorry, I don't recall the price). I took the city bus to the Salt Mine, it's incredible.
In Warsaw, there is plenty to do and see. There is a good market across the river from old town in an old stadium (your hotel staff should be able to assist you) the tram will drop you off right there. But use CAUTION!!! There are good deals, but along with that there are plenty of pickpockets too. There are some great crystal and ceramic shops in WAW. The beer is wonderful, as is the chocolate (Wedel - yummy!). I always took the train to Gdansk or rented a car and it was from WAW. If you fly, you won't get to see the countryside, but will definitely get there much faster. Good luck and enjoy!

There are some wonderful old synagogues in Krakow that would be worth your time. I hope you like slaw, because four varieties will be served with most meals.

i have had excellent trips to warsaw in the last few years, a couple of days will be sufficient, and there are plenty of things to see. why gdansk ? shipyards a thing you like are they ?

as for auschwitz, it is easily reached by train from krakow, and it is a small enough town to walk through. the guided tour, in my experience, is annoying, better to contemplate the horrors on your own, rather than be interrupted by the un-informed banal questioning of other tourists.. the only thing is the train station is named in the polish name now, so best look it up in the guidebooks.

krakow is lovely, just make sure you stay in the old town itself.

I actually started considering Gdansk after reading the post at http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331646 , haven't heard about the city before. Anyone else been there? Are the ship yards and the Malborg castle the only interesting things around Gdansk?

Krakow is a cute little city; we had a great time there a couple years back. And, especially back then, the exchange rate was great, so it was very cheap. We were driving around the region; Poland's road system leaves a lot to be desired.

Language shouldn't be a problem; we only spoke English (or, at least, the other languages we speak wouldn't have been much help) and did fine.

We stayed at a very inexpensive place called the Hotel Polska which was clean and comfortable, and right across the street from the main square. Very convenient.