Aug 16, 2020

@Michael Myers I need your help and input on this.

My "travel through Europe by train" holiday has been completely f----- by France, Belgium and Holland being put on a quarantine list for return to the UK. Meaning if I travel to any of those countries then on return I have to self isolate for 14 days after. f--- that.

Question I have @Michael Myers is; do you know of there are any restrictions with travel from Holland to Germany?
Maybe I can find a loophole in the respect that I'll be returning to the UK from Poland rather than Holland.

 

Aug 16, 2020

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. No wife and kids for 4 weeks and a confirmed 16 day break from work. I'll regret it if I don't, I know that. But I could equally fly to Greece and lie on the beach in an all.inclusove resort for a week.
So I need to do something. I like doing new things and the thought of exploring parts of Europe by train is the most exciting thing I've thought of so far.

 

Aug 16, 2020

Thanks man, appreciate the help. I've had a slight change in plan now which may still satisfy my desire to explore new, whilst getting a bit of time for myself and pleasing the Mrs. Just hope nothing else travel wise changes!

 

Aug 16, 2020

@Rick James I need your help now...

This is all based on travelling through multiple countries is looking like a big safety risk right now so I want to limit it to just the one.

So, it looks like I may go exploring just through Poland by myself.
Very early stages in planning now but what I'm thinking is to fly from London to Krakow and then either hire a car or travel by train to Szczecin, maybe going as far North as Gdansk. I've got about 4/5 days to do whatever I want. Don't want to travel more than about 3hrs a day and then end up somewhere I can spend a night or 2 to appreciate some sites and culture.

What do you think could be the best thing to do?

I'd also appreciate some knowledge of Poland's safety policies whilst out and about. Like where I have to wear a mask and all that kinda BS.

 

Aug 16, 2020

@icecube you have to wear masks in trains, buses, shops and every other building. Plus you have to wear a mask in public in red zones. Google "Red zones Poland" cause s--- changes every day.

Come to "Mazury", (google it) it's where I live. There's not so many new COVID cases, we have a lot of lakes etc. Perfect place to relax these days.

Gdańsk is cool too! Very nice city.

 

Aug 16, 2020

I've been to Poland once a year for at least the last 10 years. Maybe longer. But never been to any big city except Poznan. And that's not that big!

What route do you think I should take from Krakow to Szczecin?

 

Aug 19, 2020

@Rick James

An update on my Polish travel plans...

Day 1 - Fly to Krakow (arrive airport at 1200). Taxi to Old Town and check into hotel
Day 2 - Day of sightseeing and sampling local beer. Overnight in same hotel
Day 3 - Travel by train to Warsaw. Arrive at about 1200 again. Sightseeing etc. Overnight in hotel.
Day 4 - Overnight in Warsaw again, same as above.
Day 5 - Train to Gdansk. Again, arrive around 1200. Overnight in hotel.
Day 6 - Another night in Gdansk.
Day 7 - This is where it gets tricky. And probably where I need the most help! Either...
*Train from Gdansk to Szczecin (about 5.5hrs) and then onwards to the Mrs' hometown (another 2hrs)
*Train from Gdansk to Poznan (about 2hrs) and then onwards to the Mrs' hometown (about 5+ hrs by train)

So, questions I have are...
1. I need to lose a night somewhere along the traveling part. What city out of the 3 should I only spend 1 night in instead of 2? Can't justify travelling for 6nts and then only seeing the Mrs for 4 nts before I go home again
2. Is there a better City than Gdansk to visit that has good travel connections both from Warsaw and to Szczecin?
3. I'll need some good recommendations on beers to drink and places to visit! Gotta cram a lot in in a short space of time!

 

Aug 19, 2020

Who else here is Polish that can offer any advice as well?

 

Aug 19, 2020

@Mraczewsky?

 

Aug 19, 2020

1. I would say Gdańsk aka Danzig, but it's personal preference really. If you really like sightseeing then both Warszawa and Gdańsk were pretty much 100% destroyed in WWII and Warszawa's old town was then rebuilt to look the same as pre-war one (don't really know about Gdańsk). As for partying Gdańsk might be better if there will be good weather since you have Sopot nearby otherwise I would go for Warszawa since there are a lot of opportunities there.
2. I would guess Poznań has better connections, but I don't really think it's worth visiting. So yeah you are kind of in trouble since there is no good connection between Gdańsk and Szczecin yet (it's being built)
3. @Rick James cheap beers: Perła Export, Łomża; a little bit pricier beers: Fortuna (it has bunch of flavours); I don't know really about these more snobby beers, my friend would be better authority on that subject, but he doesn't frequent the forum here. So the next best person is Rick. As for places it depends what are you into.

 

Aug 19, 2020

@Him Shadow @marshmallow

 

Aug 19, 2020

I'm working on something, but I'll try to respond as soon as I can @icecube SORRY!!!

 

Aug 19, 2020

But yeah, Perła Export is beer for elite members of society. @icecube

 

Aug 19, 2020

An update on this from my end...

I've now booked flights there and back. I'm going to the Mrs' first to avoid any unnecessary contact with anyone.
So a 10 day holiday, 5 days at hers and 5 days travelling.

Flight to Poznan, then train from there (connections are actually fine).

Then I'm going to get a taxi to Lobez (apparently about 20mins away) and then train from there to Gdansk. Then as I've said here already, Gdansk to Warsaw then to Krakow. Then fly home form there. Looking like 2nts in Gdansk, 1nt in Warsaw and 2nts in Krakow. But that isn't 100% decided yet.

 

Aug 19, 2020

Yes sir! That's why I moved in here!