Booked flights and hotels about 5 mths in advance which meant me and hubby paid £284 each for 10 nights for flights and hotels all including breakfast...bargain!
Easyjet from Luton to Warsaw and then back to Luton from Krakow, once again, excellent service and on time both ways.
I have been to Poland many times before as my parents are both Polish and we used to spend virtually all my school holidays travelling up and down Poland visiting family (probably about 600 of them now!) Never really saw the country as a tourist and wanted to do this with my hubby hence this holiday.Also hadn't been for 15 yrs, so time to go back....
All hotels booked on the web. Used http://www.yourpoland.co.uk. Stayed for 3 nights at the Polonia Palace Hotel right in the middle of Warsaw, rated 4 stars but this is a 5 star hotel!!!
Loved it, hotel completely renovated to its 1920's heyday, everything modern and stunning. Asked for a double room with a view and got that, front of the hotel with a great view of the Palace of Culture bang in front. Food all excellent, if you want the chef to cook you an omelete while you wait, he will! Also booked an amazing 6 course meal for 2 in the hotel restaurant which cost £30! Staff excellent, couldn't do enough for you. Would stay here again, no problem. Hotel is in a great location, about 500 metres from the main Central Train station and is walking distance from the main sights in Warsaw but you can take buses and trams too if you don't want to walk.Must do's ..... go to the Lazienki Park and visit the Palace on the Water. Spot the very cute red squirrels in the trees. Go up to the 30th floor to the viewing terrace of the Palace of Culture (pick a sunny day though)_ great views of Warsaw all round.
Go to the Old town and have a meal/drink in the Old market square. We ate at U Barssa.
Walk the Royal route, lots of shops and cafes and stunning architecture everywhere you look both old and modern.
The not so good - Blue City Shopping Centre, it's huge but has no atmosphere, the security guards seem to think everyone is a thief too! Very impersonal, samey shops....I thought the shops in Warsaw town centre were better, try the Galeria Centrum.
Our next 3 days took us to Krakow....decided to go by train. Pick an express or intercity train and go 1st class.....all carriages were at the front of the trains we saw and buy your ticket a day early as we did and be prepared for a rugby scrum to get on the train...that was the most stressful moment of the holiday. Ticket cost £20.00 each but you do get reserved seats for this in a compartment carriage and you get food/drink trolley service.2nd class is not so refined! Took 2.5 hrs to get to Krakow.
After the luxury of the Polonia Palace, went back down to earth with the 3 star Hotel Atrium. Nothing wrong with the hotel, staff friendly and professional just stark contrast!
Most people are coming to Krakow over Warsaw and Krakow is a city more geared up for tourists. Atrium very well located, 10 mins from train/bus station and about 7 mins walk to the Market Sq.
Must do's....drink/eat in the Market Sq and take in the atmosphere and people watch!
Go and visit Wieliczka Salt Mine, it's very different. You can do this individually or as a group. We tried to go by mini bus individually but as there are major works at the bus/rail station couldn't find the stop so joined a tour and went with a group.If you want to camera/or use a video will cost you 10 zloties extra but worth it.
Visit the Wawel Hill and explore the Castle and Cathedral etc. Go early as there are limited places on the tours. No need for a guide all self explanatory.
Eating is a joy in Krakow, we got our In your Pocket guide and relied on it for advice. Da Pietro, Italian restaurant in the sq, my pizza was bland, hubby said his was tasty...desserts good. Wentzl, a refined, classy dining experience, also in the Sq.I enjoyed it, hubby struggled with his menu choices but food was very good. Best meal we had was the restaurant Pod Krzyzikiem (Under the Cross) also in the Sq, great decor here, very Salvador Dali, ate twice, 1st time was better than the 2nd. Cafes in the sq, Slodki Wentzl excellent and also Tribeca Cafe, you have to try the Frozen Honey Nut Latte!!!!
For all you romantics
, go round the Sq in a horse drawn carriage, one lap will cost you approx 20 zlotys.Shopping, also very good in the old town area of Krakow..don't bother going to Galeria Kazimierz, unless you have money! Again, very strange shopping centre with no atmosphere.
Next on the tour 3 days in Zakopane. Decided to take a bus as the train can take 4 hrs. Bus on a Friday took 3 hrs as Zakopane gets jammed up at the weekend. Bus cost 13 zlotys each, just over £2.00!!!
Zakopane was a massive culture shock!!! I have been in Poland loads of times but this was 15 to 20 yrs ago, the place that had changed the most was Zakopane. 15 yrs ago, there were 2 hotels, a couple of shops and a couple of restaurants....now the main street, Krupowski Street is a hive of commercialised activity. We arrived in a bit of rain, and when we explored this street at first, our impression was it was Matlock without the bikers and the charm!!!!
After a disastrous meal experience at one of the best restaurants in Zakopane (our waiter took our order and then went home as his shift has finished and didn;t pass it on to anyone else! 
!) we eventually received our starters after 1 hr, our mains never arrived so got the bill and then ended up in McDonalds (thank God for commercialisation!!!) we honestly thought about going back to Krakow on Saturday but Zakopane won us over by a/ it's stunning scenery and b/ the staff in our B&B, the Tuberoza. Great location, 5 mins from the main street but quiet location and about 15 mins walk from the ski jumping area (all hail to Adam Malysz! )Must do's... take the furnicular train up the Gubalowka mountain, once again, it's Skegness on a mountain top there but the views of the Tatra mountains on a clear day is stunning. Will cost you 14 zlotys return each and you can stay as long as you like up there.
Walk along all or part of the Droga pod Reglami, very beautiful scenery below the mountains.You can walk along the stunning valleys beneath the high Tatras.
You can visit the ski jumping area and take a ride via ski chair lift to the top where you wonder just how these crazy guys love to throw themselves down a hill!!!
Pysche yourself up for the cable car ride to Kasprowy Wierch mountain. The ride is in 2 parts and is seriously high. If you don't do heights and we're both a bit that way inclined, shut your eyes!! Better on the way down than up. You get 1.5 hrs on the mountain, it's cold up there so wrap up warm.(There's a restaurant and shop there) You can hike it back if you want so just buy a single ticket. The Polish/Slovakian border is also on the mountain so one half of you can stand in Poland and the other half in Slovakia.....
Get as much info on Zakopane on the web before you go....Limited info in English in the resort itself. There are tourist offices but none were over friendly.
After our poor meal experience, we chickened out and ate at Pizza Hut for our other 2 nights in Zakopane, we knew what to expect, got it and enjoyed it!
We then headed back up to Krakow for our last night and our flight back to the UK.
Shopping in Poland can also be quite cheap, we found cd's on sale for £5.00. Clothes shopping was also a bargain, esp in the July sales. Jewellery is also much cheaper than the UK.Perfumes are more expensive. Vodka is very cheap...£10 a bottle for the best stuff Chopin vodka. £4.00 for cherry vodka, 40 per cent proof!
Eating in Poland generally a very good experience and prices about half what you pay in the UK. Most of our food was cooked fresh to order anywhere we went.
Overall, very enjoyable holiday, very different holiday. Will go back at some point for long weekends/ slightly longer breaks but have many more places to visit in the world. If anyone wants to ask anymore questions re Poland, please feel free.
