Krakow

[Fear Boirche]

Heading over to Krakow next week. Would be keen to know if anyone has been and what they made of it? What's good and what should be avoided. What are the prices like, ie food, drink etc.

[Rossie11]

There not so long ago. Great city. Very laid back with great buzz about the place. The main market square is a perfect place to sit out in the sun and have a few beers (all day). Plenty of stags due to cheap flights, beer and some of the finest women on the planet but cops are strict as regards acting the clown so you dont see any trouble.

Beer/food is cheap. Most I paid for a beer was 3 euro and that was in a club @ 3am.
I didnt venture to Auschwitz as was told I wouldnt be able to go out that night due to depression.
Will definetly go back and will fit it in then.
http://www.virtualtourist.com is good for info with visitor reviews

[magpie seanie]

Concur with most of what Rossie said. Went to Auschwitz myself and obviously it is really, really depressing and sad but it really is a "must see". A dose of reality like that every now and then is no harm. Also went to the Salt Mine (can't remember the name but its a pretty big deal) and it was pretty cool. They have a full size church that is still in use underground. Some of the carvings etc are amazing. Wawel Castle is pretty good too and has some amazing views. Food and drink are good and pretty cheap. I can't remember the name of the place but there's a cafe attached to a hotel near the square that does an "American Breakfast" which is ridiculously nice. The women are absolutely sensational looking. You could just sit in the main square all day drinking beer and watching the world go by.

[ludermor]

yeah great but to be honest i thought Auschwitz was a bit like a fucked up theme park ( apart from the hair and shoes). Nowhere near as horrific as the killing fields.
the salt mines are very good, the lift down to them is an experience in itself.
as for pubs cant think of the name of the street off the main square but there are loads of decent pubs on it. prozac is a very good club. and im sure someone mentioned that the women are kinda nice, not a pair of jeans or wooly jumper in sight

[Tony Baloney]

Nowhere near as horrific as the killing fields.

Were you expecting to see dead Jews lying around the place and the smoke still belching from the chimneys?!

[Ryano]

Headin there with the missus at the end of July for 2 days. Mainly going just to see Auschwitz and then doing the night train to Prague. I'll expect to be depressed so, but it's still a must see. I'm sure it will be a very errie experience to stand on the spot where millions of people were killed.

I doubt it myself but does anyone know if camera's are allow in Auschwitz? I'd like to take a few snaps but i'm having doubts that this might be seen as disrespectful? Don't want to piss anyone off over there....

[magpie seanie]

Ryano - yes cameras are allowed in most places but from memory (open to correection on this) I think in certain spots they are not. You will be clearly told by the guide in any event. I have some pictures from there so its defo allowed in some places.

[myball22]

Agree also, went in April food is cheap but nice although you don't get the Irish portions. It's probably why all the women are so fit. When I got back on the plane to go they were a group of women ahead of us, we agreed that they were Irish as for the first time that weekend we wouldn't!!

[ludermor]

Nowhere near as horrific as the killing fields.

Were you expecting to see dead Jews lying around the place and the smoke still belching from the chimneys?!

No i wasnt. what is your fuckin point

[rosnarun]

auzwitchz actually remined me very much of my old national school in that it was a simiaalr type building yet you knew it was the scene of great cruelty. but yet i didn't connect it felt like it was of another time I was already aware of most of the facts, except perhaps the extent that the holoucost effected the ordinary Poles and the incredible way that the united nations after the war  made sure people were not made aware of this fact.
We have now seen so may Documentaries movies read so many books . I don think there will be anything there to suprize you . Nor anything that will improve you opinion of mankind either. If you go ther ready to be upset you will be there but the display are quiet 'neutral' and avoid  Mawkish sentimentality many people seem intent on imposing on the place. because there is a bigger lesson to be learnt here other than learning to hate the germans
Birkenau is also worth a visit as this is was the actual death camp.

saltmines....lift down to them

bastards made me walk

[blast05]

Going off on a tangent ....
I've always been fairly interested in WW2 and have been reading a couple of books a year on it for the last 10 years. I think the best one i have read was the one by the BBC guy who also serialised the book on BBC - "Auschwitz - The Nazis And The Final Solution"  .... powerful stuff.
However, for anyone interested in biographies and recent history, the most powerful one i have ever read (just finished it last night) is " Mao: The Unknown Story". I hadn't much of a clue about modern Chinese history but by God, this one presents a depressing picture and in no uncertain terms paints Mao as a villain far worse than Hitler or Stalin. The book is a biased and doesn't give the reader the opportunity to make up their own mind and no doubt some people would question the writing style but if even half of the facts are true, the conclusions are the same nonetheless, and all mind numbing. The most powerful book i have ever read.
Could not recommend it highly enough

[Sean3]

Hoping to go to Krakow in July as well. Anyone got pointers on transport to Auschwitz? I was also hoping to go to Lublin and Warsaw and any information on those spots would be gratefully received.

[Davitt Man]

Im thinking of heading to Krackow, a gang of 5\6 lads. Where are the good spots to go and what is the city like in general?

[Davitt Man]

any opinions lads?

[playwiththewind1st]

Hoping to go to Krakow in July as well. Anyone got pointers on transport to Auschwitz? I was also hoping to go to Lublin and Warsaw and any information on those spots would be gratefully received.

Was in Poland couple of years ago. Flew to Warsaw [bus from the airport takes you straight into city centre]  & then got train on to Poznan, Wroclaw, Krakow & then back to Warsaw. It was easy to get the train tickets online long before we went - book 1st class, not much difference in price. Arranged transport to Auschwitz when I got to Krakow, there's a tourist office sort of thing just off the main square that'll arrange a pick up for you the next day. Tended to think that, of the 2, Birkenau was the much more evocative of the 2 places, even though they spent a lot more time at Auschwitz - pretty scarey places all the same, but worth visiting.