Discover Poland: the best of the country and the cities
Banish the grey and gloomy image. Savvy travellers know Poland offers a rich history, cool cities, stunning scenery and unusual activities
In the pink … explore Poland's Tatra mountains. Photograph: Alamy
Long scorching summers; endless nearly-white sand beaches; wild mountains and vast forests; national parks that are home to lynx, wolves and golden eagles; homely accommodation and affordable transport; history to entertain the geekiest of geeks; couture boutiques and sports car outlets; posh cafes and fancy restaurants, a lively music scene and hedonistic inner-city nightlife; cold local beers and hot locals.
This is the Poland you never hear about, and it is the Poland that makes British expatriates want to stay. Why is it then, that foreigners like living in Poland, yet the country has such an image problem from the outside? There is, of course, the bad stuff. The winters are long (not unbearable though, snow at -10C really is nicer than drizzle at +5C); the bureaucracy is infuriating; there's a lack of respect for privacy; the motorists have a death wish; there's a scandalous dearth of English fruit cake and PG Tips.
It's the small price foreigners are prepared to pay. "Such a shame," says a young British woman at a salad bar over the street from her swish new office building in Warsaw. "I love it here, but my friends won't visit because they reckon it's all cold and gloomy, shipyards and Catholics."
How should she persuade them? Best start with the two biggest cities, Warsaw andKrakow. Residents of the two are classic rivals, but that's only because they secretly admire each other. Krakow has the looks, the brains and the vanity that comes with it. Warsaw has the dynamism, the commitment and the scars to prove it. They actually make a great couple, so it's best to meet them both.
Marien Church in Krakow. Photograph: Peter Adams/CorbisKrakow is an undisputed architectural gem of central Europe; a template for Disney's fairytale city. It has a Renaissance and secessionist citadel of spires and cobbled streets with clopping horses and accordionists; pavement cafes and candlelit bars. It's also a city of magic and legends; of Copernicus and his infatuation with the stars, of King Casimir the Great and his Jewish lover Esther, of a strapping young Pope John Paul II saying goodbye to his teenage sweetheart. Somehow the British stags and hens haven't ruined the atmosphere, and it's ever popular with couples and families. It is worth taking a personally tailored tour with Colours of Poland (coloursofpoland.com) to show you the insiders' Krakow.
Warsaw is twice the size and was bombed to bits during the second world war. But Varsovians have lovingly preserved anything that survived. Large parts of the medieval and neoclassical city centre have been restored and are pedestrianised on summer weekends. By some measures it is the greenest city in Europe (Lazienki Park, with its semi-tame red squirrels and peacocks, is a big draw for families). The new Warsaw Rising Museum attracts military buffs. Warsaw is packed full of Poland's nouveau riche, who work very hard and play even harder. The nightlife has both glamour and grime, and is a lot of fun – expatriates from Paris, Berlin and London are on the record as preferring it to their native cities. Don't take their word for it, try it yourself – or ask Adventure Warsaw (adventurewarsaw.pl) to show you around.
Poland is surprisingly big (nearly a third bigger than the UK) so if you stay longer than a weekend there is plenty to explore. Wroclaw, Poznan and Lodz are happening cities and each has its own devotees (Steven Spielberg has been spotted in Wroclaw, David Lynch is in love with Lodz). Gdansk, a rising tourist destination in itself, is the gateway to the north.
Leba on the Baltic. Photograph: Vera Kailova/AlamyThe north-western seaside at the long Pomeranian coast offers great resorts such as Ustka and Leba – the sea is as chilly as the UK's, but the beaches are a whole lot of fun.
Krakow is a good place to hire a car and go on a road trip (but use backroads to avoid the Polish drivers). Small Renaissance towns such as Sandomierz, Tarnow and Zamosc are within easy reach, and there are spectacular views where the mighty Vistula river has carved valleys through the hills. The people of the Tatra and Pieniny mountains along the border with Slovakia are famed for their hospitality. Poland's "wild east" is the Bieszczady national park, where Kraina Wilka (krainawilka.pl) offers European safaris and adventure holidays.
Of course, the first thing people associate with Poland is the second world war, their impressions often formed by The Pianist and Schindler's List rather than by history books. Some tourists wouldn't want to visit Poland for this reason. What a strange paradox. The British are obsessed with the war, yet we're often too delicate for a trip to Poland, which is seen as too morbid or even scary, because of the Holocaust.
Poland's small but prominent Jewish community is doing everything to promote a fuller picture of the 1,000-year history of Polish Jewish life, including its long periods of autonomy, creativity and success. This is a big part of the sweeping narrative of all Jewish people: 60% of Israelis and 70% of American Jews have roots in Poland. In Warsaw, a Jewish history museum will open in 2012. In Zamosc, a sumptuous Renaissance synagogue has been restored. Helise Lieberman runs tours (polandjewishheritagetours.com) showcasing Jewish culture. For some reason, Woody Allen keeps popping over to play his clarinet; Nigel Kennedy lives here and is an advocate of klezmer, traditional Jewish folk music. The Jewish culture festival in Krakow each summer has become a raucous street party attended by more gentiles than Jews. Educational trips to Hitler's most notorious inventions are now completed by these other, happier experiences.
Our changing way of understanding history offers even more potential for cultural tourism in Poland. Historians such as Laurence Rees are trying to revise the way we look at the second world war in a constructive and empirical manner. Who knows, for example, that British-trained Polish special forces undertook a secret war against the Soviets? Or that the RAF was shot at by the Soviets when it tried to supply the Poles' Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis in 1944? Few may care, but films like Katyn and The Way Back are reshaping associations with Poland and its past. The producer of The King's Speech has bought the movie rights to the true story of Jan Karski, a Polish secret agent from Lodz whose mission was to get the British to help Poland's resistance to stop the Holocaust. What happened to him in London beggars belief. This is one of a myriad of untold Polish war stories, and good stories make for great tourism.
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