Poland in 10 Days

This ten-day loop is for travelers who have already seen Kraków, or who want Poland’s cities with fewer tour buses: the rebuilt capital, the Baltic coast, brick Gothic river towns and a lively finish in the southwest. It is a city-hopping trip at a moderate pace, with single nights in the compact towns and longer stays where there is more to do. Every leg runs on PKP Intercity trains, plus the SKM commuter line on the coast and city trams.

Days 1-2: Warsaw

Arrive in Warsaw and head first for the Warsaw Old Town and Royal Castle. Nearly all of it was blown up in 1944 and rebuilt in the postwar decades, partly from 18th-century cityscapes painted by Bernardo Bellotto; the castle hangs several of those canvases near the rooms they helped reconstruct. Knowing that changes how you look at every facade on the square.

Give your second day to Łazienki Królewskie, the royal park along the Royal Route, where the Palace on the Isle rises out of a lake and peacocks patrol the paths. From mid-May to late … read more 👉

This ten-day loop is for travelers who have already seen Kraków, or who want Poland’s cities with fewer tour buses: the rebuilt capital, the Baltic coast, brick Gothic river towns and a lively finish in the southwest. It is a city-hopping trip at a moderate pace, with single nights in the compact towns and longer stays where there is more to do. Every leg runs on PKP Intercity trains, plus the SKM commuter line on the coast and city trams.

Days 1-2: Warsaw

Arrive in Warsaw and head first for the Warsaw Old Town and Royal Castle. Nearly all of it was blown up in 1944 and rebuilt in the postwar decades, partly from 18th-century cityscapes painted by Bernardo Bellotto; the castle hangs several of those canvases near the rooms they helped reconstruct. Knowing that changes how you look at every facade on the square.

Give your second day to Łazienki Królewskie, the royal park along the Royal Route, where the Palace on the Isle rises out of a lake and peacocks patrol the paths. From mid-May to late September, free Chopin recitals take place at the composer’s monument on Sunday afternoons.

Days 3-5: Gdansk, Malbork and Sopot

The express train to Gdansk takes about 3 hours. Walk the Gdańsk Main Town and Long Market from the Golden Gate past Neptune’s Fountain to the Green Gate, then cut down to the medieval wooden crane on the Motława. The 400-odd steps of St. Mary’s tower get you the whole gabled skyline.

Day 4 is for Malbork, 30 to 50 minutes by train. The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork is the largest brick castle in the world by area, and the included audio guide runs about 3.5 hours, so take a morning train. That evening or on Day 5, ride the SKM 20 minutes to Sopot Beach for a swim in the Baltic and a walk along the 511-meter wooden pier.

Day 6: Toruń

About 2.5 hours south by train, Toruń is a compact medieval town that came through the war largely intact. Copernicus was born here in 1473, his family house is now a museum, and the town has baked spiced gingerbread (piernik) since the Middle Ages. One night covers the walls along the Vistula and the ruined Teutonic castle.

Day 7: Poznań

Around 2 hours on, Poznań earns its night with an Old Market Square ringed by colorful merchant houses and a Renaissance town hall where two mechanical goats come out and butt heads at noon. Try a rogal świętomarciński, a heavy croissant stuffed with white poppy seed paste.

Days 8-10: Wroclaw

Finish with two nights in Wroclaw, 2 to 2.5 hours away. The Wrocław Market Square and Town Hall is one of the largest squares in Poland, its Gothic town hall crusted with stone ornament, and hundreds of small bronze dwarfs are scattered through the surrounding streets. Cross to Ostrów Tumski at dusk, when a lamplighter still lights the gas lamps by hand.

On your last full day, take a tram east to Wrocław’s Centennial Hall, Max Berg’s 1913 reinforced-concrete dome with a span of about 65 meters, a record for the material when it opened and now on the UNESCO list. The multimedia fountain beside it runs shows on summer evenings.

With a free day between Toruń and Poznań, detour to Biskupin, where a fortified Iron Age settlement has been rebuilt in timber on a lake peninsula.