€ 2000
Family of 3
Leisure
10 Days
Warsaw Chopin Airoport, Poland
Warsaw Chopin Airoport, Poland
Poland is a vibrant country of beautiful nature, mountains, coast of Baltic Sea, amazing food and friendly people. With its incredible history and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, from picturesque old towns of Krakow, Wroclaw, Gdansk to breathtaking vistas at Polish Tatra and Carpathian Mountains, country is perfect destination for budget friendly summer vacation. And food? Polish food is generally rich and meaty, Thick soup like Zurek is very delicious and Golabki, Bigos are famous traditional Polish dishes. And Polish Beer or Vodka are companion for tasty dinner.
After landing at Frederick Chopin Airport in Warsaw afternoon, we didn't have enough time for anything but take a booked car and start driving toward Karpacz, Polish highways in general are good and it took around 3-3.5 hour to get from Warsaw to Wroclaw and about 1,5-2 hour then to Karpacz.
Residence, Apartamentry Lesny Dom (Wonder House) was booked through Booking.com and featured full kitchen, free parking, fridge and free WiFi, We got there pretty late, so after unpacking and having small snack we got sleep and had good rest for next day.
Out first destination
Emergency: 112
Police: 997
Fire Brigade: 998
Medical: 999
Shops are generally open from 9am to 6pm on weekdays, and from 9am to 3pm on Saturdays. Some larger department stores and supermarkets are open on Sundays, and often to 9pm or 10pm on weekday evenings. |
Few points of interest for sightseeing.
First day in Karpacz was planned to explore area and visit some places for sightseeing in relaxing pace. First destination in our list was Zapora Pilchowice (Dam with hydroelectric power plant). and after breakfast headed to Pilchowice. Its very picturesque area, next to dam there is also little tavern. You can easily spend few hours here if decided to walk around or if lucky, visit plant at the bottom.
After Dam we want to visit recommended inn with amazing view on rock's top with vintage style restaurant. Time was slowly coming to launch and we were ready to visit next place in our list.
This place is often used for wedding, various events and located on steep bank above the Bobr river. With rustic country style ambience it was perfect spot to relax, eat tasty food and enjoy time.
Next in our list was Bolkow Castle, situated about 40 km from us. Every year in summer, in July, castle host one of the largest dark independent festival in Central Europe -Bolkow Castle Party. Music and costumes, food and merchandise, Check our page here for more information and idea.
This adventures took pretty much whole day. As mentioned before, one of the thing I like in Poland is a food. It's a "home made" food with price tag of MacDonald's in Canada, but with quality and taste much above. We spent evening sitting outside, listen music and enjoy atmosphere of full serenity and summer vibes. We stumbled on open air dance square and had some fun before going sleep.
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Poland is not East or West. Poland is at the center of European civilization. It has contributed mightily to that civilization..
This day was reserved for some adventure and hike to Sniezka (Snow Mountain), one of the highest peak at Karkonosze (Giant Mountains) with 1603m above sea level. It shares border with Czech and is an popular tourist destination any time of season and belong to Crown of Sudetes. You can get there either from Polish or Czech side, which is more longer way.
To get on top from Polish side you need take chair lift (2 person) from Kopa Karpacz to Kopa Top Station and then hike about 2.5 km to Sniezka ). Weather was little bit gloomy that day with some rain expectations but it didn't stop us from adventure. Chair lift takes about 20 minutes while you can enjoy vista on your way up.
The hike to Sniezka is relatively easy and flat, Though to get on actual summit be prepare for some effort to walk little bit steep path. But scenery is absolutely beautiful and worth it. With numerous stop to take photos it took about 1- 1.5 hour to reach peak from lift station. From top you can also overview Lower Silesian towns and villages rested in a valley. Whole journey from bottom of station and back took about 4 hours.
Rest of the day went strolling in town and another dinner in restaurant.
Just to mentioned, place we stayed had also kitchen and fridge, so for breakfast we had food from local "Zabka" convenience store..
View from hiking trail
We wanted to have more time in Polish Tatra and in a morning we headed to famous Zakopane. On a way we planned stop in Wroclaw, old town with colorful mosaic of architectural styles and rich heritage. Before WWII city was German Breslau in Silesia and with its 12 islands and 120 bridges, the city on the river Odra is often dubbed the "Venice of Poland."
Since we had our accommodation already booked at Zakopane, we had enough time to sit and enjoy launch at Sphinx restaurant patio overlooking cobblestone Market Square and then stroll around city center, taking pictures and sightseeing.
Drive from Wroclaw to Zakopane is about 5 hours, so after 5pm we took off toward a Krakow and further to Zakopane.
Zakopane is a center of Goral culture and is often referred to as "the winter capital of Poland”. It is a popular destination for mountaineering, skiing, and tourism in summer as well
Our accommodation was Willa Tatiana, stylish, family own hotel, close to Zakopane center. We arrived quite late, tired, and took rest to have more energy for next day.
Piwnica Świdnicka is situated next to the Town Hall on Wrocław’s market square and has been cited in some documents as the oldest restaurant in Europe! It having been established in 1273!
The name comes from the nearby city of Świdnica, from which beer was delivered to the restaurant in the Middle Ages.
One of the popular tourist attractions in Zakopane is Gubalowka, mountain above a town and connected with few funicular and chair lift (on Butorowy Wierch). Gubalowka offering scenic views of the Tatras and Zakopane with endless number of attractions and entertainment.
We spent whole day there and stayed to watch amazing sunset over Tatras, There is a numbers of chair setup for this similar to cinema in open air. At any time the view on mountains i stunting. You can see all main peaks without any obstructions.
Kasprowy Wierch is one of the popular destination in Tatras and best is buy tickets for funicular online in advance. Even with that it took us about 2.5 hour staying in line just to get into wagon. But it was worth it. You can also hike on top, but it will take much more time and effort.
The view from top of Kasprowy Wierch is majestic. Check place for more photos and information here.
From the height of nearly 2000 m the peak offers a magnificent panorama of the gentle hills of the Red Peaks and the much sharper pinnacles o...
Another popular attraction and destination is Morskoe OKo. You cant miss that one and we took one day of from active adventures and spent time to stroll around, relax time in town, and headed to Morsko Oko next day. After you reach parking lot you can either walk or ride by horses.
Its hard to predict weather in mountains and while we started in sunny morning, time we got to destination we had much fog covering top of the mountains. Riding by horse wagon took about 20-30 minutes but much people walk,
One of the last days we decided to go Gubalowka again and ride down on chair lift from Butorowy Wierch on . Its open another scenic vista on Giewont Mountain while riding down
It was nice time, too short but much memories.
We wanted to visit Welichka Salt mines on a way but apparently you need book well in advance, all nearest dates was already fully booked.
We didn't have time on our way to Zakopane stop at Krakow but on a way back we must visit Krakow.
As one of the oldest cities in the country, the capital of Małopolska province is a veritable gem of national cultural heritage.
Kraków also is considered one of the finest cultural capitals in the world.
Main jewel is Wawel Royal Castle. It is a castle residency located in central Kraków, Poland, and the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great, it consists of a number of structures from different periods situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard. The castle, being one of the largest in Poland, represents nearly all European architectural styles of medieval, renaissance and baroque periods.
Another sightseeing is Kraków’s Rynek Główny (Central Square)