POLAND – 2 Day Itinerary

Cities/Towns we visited: Krakow, Zakopane & Oświęcim

Three words to describe Poland:

Clean
Friendly
Delicious

Accommodation: Freedom Hostel (in Krakow)

Airlines from London: Wizz Air, Ryan Air

Month: June

WHAT WE DID:

Day 1:

My partner and I decided to fly from London to Krakow, and arrive at midnight. These return flights, with Wizz Air and Ryan Air, were super cheap (15 pound each), and took about 2.5 hours one-way. We caught an Uber from the airport to the Freedom Hostel in Krakow (~15 min drive) at 1:30am. The hostel had super lovely 24/7 service at the front desk, even past midnight.

The next day, we were out the door by 8:30am, and picked up some breakfast to-go at a convenience store right outside the accommodation. A tour group picked us up directly outside the hostel. There were seven of us in total, most likely representing the maximum size of the tour group, which is ideal, as I prefer a more intimate group. We made a pit stop at a petrol station for some food, toilets and to stretch. Then the first official stop was at a wooden village called Chocolowa.

All of the houses were made of wood and are washed twice a year by all of the residents. There was one house made of only tree. I went into a convenience store here and bought some Polish fudge, called Krówki, which were deliciously sweet and creamy.

The next stop was at a little cheese factory, also called the shepherd’s hut, which was situated at the bottom of a valley, surrounded by fields of green. The tour guide made us smoked cheese, called Oscypek, over a naked flame, which we enjoyed with cranberry jam and cherry vodka. Osycpek is traditionally made with sheep’s milk from the mountain meadows of south Poland. Oh my, my taste buds were in heaven with EVERYTHING. It was all phenomenal. The cheese was like halloumi, only better, if you can believe it.

We then next ventured to the city of Zakopane, where we had a few hours of free time to explore. We went up the Funicular Railway to the top of the mountain, and experienced magnificent views of the Tatra Mountains. We rode the toboggan a few times, which I highly recommend doing, it was such a fun activity. There are a lot of stores to explore at the top of the mountain, and A LOT of cheese. If you eat meat, I highly recommend trying one of the skewered meat dishes, usually served with bread. We then caught the cable car down the mountain, and explored the local village, including the Krupowki pedestrian street. So many beautiful stores to explore there.

Our final stop was at the Chocholow Thermal Baths, where we enjoyed over 2 hours of free time. There were many baths to choose from, from an outdoor heated bath with a pool bar and stunning views of the mountains, to various indoor baths, that varied in salts and temperatures. So you can choose what you fancy – Goldilocks style.

We were then dropped off back to our hostel after a 1.5 hour drive, where we bought a cheap/lazy dinner from the local convenience store and ate in our hostel room.

I couldn’t find the exact tour we did, so I’ve linked one that looks about identical. I can’t recommend this tour enough. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly, and taught us a lot throughout the journey. This has to be one of my highest rated tours to date.

Day 2:

I started my day with a run around a local park, where I then picked up some pastries that we ate for another brekky on the go. We left at 8am, and explored our way around Krakow, visiting the Wawel Royal Castle, the river and the Main Square.

We were picked up at 10:30am from a meeting point by our next tour guide. This was a much larger group. We headed straight towards Auschwitz I, in a town called Oświęcim. I will not give much detail, as I feel as though that’s something you should learn and experience for yourself. It was an incredibly interesting tour – super eye opening and surreal. We then headed to Auschwitz II (Birkenau). This is where the biggest gas chambers existed. The entire camp housed 100,000 people at a time – it was massive.

We were then dropped off at the city centre at 7pm. From there, we headed to ‘CK Browar’ for dinner. We did a beer tasting of locally made beer and shared Polish dumplings, called Pierogi. This was SUCH a fun and delicious dining experience. I wish I could do it again. We ended the night with some gelato (I of course had pistachio & salted caramel; my partner had double choc).