FAO the Poles (or anyone else who has been)

[Bob's Orange]

Going to Krakow in a couple of weeks.

Require recommendations for a few things:

1. Cheap places to stay
2. Things to do during the day, I believe the Auchwitz concentration camp is situated in the vicinity. Worth a visit?
3. Wisla Krakow are playing away on the Saturday, and football teams reasonably close to Krakow?
4. Currency? Is it still the Zloty
5. Food? Would like to taste traditional Polish cuisine, any tasty morsels I should look out for?
6. Drink? I am led to believe that it is cheap as chips, has the prices increased since Ryanair started to fly cheaply their? Any recommendations?
7. Entertainment? What is the nightlife like? Any decent booby bars?
8. Women? What are the Polish ladies like? If I offer the opportunity of a life of Luxury in the rich Grand Duchy am I likely to get a shag or a wife or both?

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Fred Elliot]

PM Bartek mate

our resident Pole

[yeo]

Alternativly Bartek could reply here not everything has to go to PM Freddy boy.

[Fred Elliot]

Sorry

 

[BB12]

1. Virtually everywhere is cheap compared to here.
2. Auchwitz is well worth a visit but here's a tip - hire a car and do it in your own time at your own pace. If you go on an organised tour you end up being herded around like sheep and you won't get the opportunity to 'reflect' and/or stop off at a village or two on route. Signposts are non-existent, buy a good map.
3. Don't know, I hail from the South East.
4. Yes it's still the Zloty
5. Try everything, be adventurous, it's all good, it's all cheap and it won't make you ill.
6. Wyborowa, by the bucket.
7. More tits than you can shake a stick at.
8. Take plenty of blurters.

Now is a great time to go before it becomes too commercialized. The Poles have recognised that cities like these are becoming more and more popular with tourists and stag parties. Go and enjoy it now before it turns into Blackpool.

Hope that helps

[Bob's Orange]

1. Virtually everywhere is cheap compared to here.
2. Auchwitz is well worth a visit but here's a tip - hire a car and do it in your own time at your own pace. If you go on an organised tour you end up being herded around like sheep and you won't get the opportunity to 'reflect' and/or stop off at a village or two on route. Signposts are non-existent, buy a good map.
3. Don't know, I hail from the South East.
4. Yes it's still the Zloty
5. Try everything, be adventurous, it's all good, it's all cheap and it won't make you ill.
6. Wyborowa, by the bucket.
7. More tits than you can shake a stick at.
8. Take plenty of blurters.

Now is a great time to go before it becomes too commercialized. The Poles have recognised that cities like these are becoming more and more popular with tourists and stag parties. Go and enjoy it now before it turns into Blackpool.

Hope that helps

That's superb mate, thanks for the tips.

[Chubbs]

Going to Krakow in a couple of weeks.

Require recommendations for a few things:

1. Cheap places to stay
2. Things to do during the day, I believe the Auchwitz concentration camp is situated in the vicinity. Worth a visit?
3. Wisla Krakow are playing away on the Saturday, and football teams reasonably close to Krakow?
4. Currency? Is it still the Zloty
5. Food? Would like to taste traditional Polish cuisine, any tasty morsels I should look out for?
6. Drink? I am led to believe that it is cheap as chips, has the prices increased since Ryanair started to fly cheaply their? Any recommendations?
7. Entertainment? What is the nightlife like? Any decent booby bars?
8. Women? What are the Polish ladies like? If I offer the opportunity of a life of Luxury in the rich Grand Duchy am I likely to get a shag or a wife or both?

Any help greatly appreciated.

I went just a few months ago, Bartek knows shit.
1. I stayed in the goodbye lenin hostel, cheep and very cheerfull, A bar in the basment which is open as long at you want as long as you are buying drink its open
Free transfer from airport
Very nice staff all speak english well, (say hi to leonora the barmaid for me if you go)
2. Loads to do, very historical place, but yes auchwits is a must,
I have a lonley planet guide book, worth picking up, might be cheaper to pick one up over there, Also worth checking out the wieliczka which is a salt mine, very nice down tehre loads of sculptures made of salt etc etc.
3. Wisla Krakow is the main football team but theres also local rivals called Crakowia
4. Still Zloty around 5.6 to the pound
5. Theres been a thread about this, but go for stuff like pierogi, golabki, or if you want to be adventurous the go for flaki.
6. Cheap as chips, in a hostel or night club you wont pay more that a quid for a beer, and these are big bottles, in a pub or bar your looking at about 50p. Tyskie is a very nice beer and you gotta try out the vodka, wyborowa/wybrowka/wisniowka
7. Night life if great, loads of clubs, but keep an eye out for em, they are very secluded, so what may seem like a small entrance will end up being a massive underground night club.
You will find anything from rock/alternative pubs to jazz clubs to cheesey euro-pop clubs. Depends what your into. One mental nightclub is called prozac.
8.The women are sre something eles, you will not believe your eyes, but be carefull they fucking tease.


Enjoy mate,

Anymore info you need let me know.

Pop into whsmiths and pick up a guide (or waterstones) it works wondrs.

[Chubbs]

http://best.gliwice.pl/sc2004/img/wieliczka.jpg
wieliczka

[yeo]

what an informative thread im glad it wasnt taken to PM ,I feel I now know lots of information should I ever decide to go on my holibobs there

[spacey]

Bartek's will be better.

Isn't it Auschwitz

[sonic youth]

chubbs and his one man crusade to out pole bartek makes me chuckle

[Stef Troll]

http://www.rooster.pl/en/krakow/

If you don't like the traditional polish foods (prety hard not to), then go to Roosters where they sell stakes etc.  The waitress are bloody georgeous too

[ghanimah]

I went to Krakow last August:

1. I stayed near the main square (although the novelty of the trumpet bloke wears off after a while) – at least half price compared to here. Everywhere’s cheap even the tourist areas.

2. Loads to do in Krakow, especially if you like looking at churches there’s loads of them ;-), The main square is great if only because it’s huge (One of Europe’s biggest) and it will take you all day trying out the beer in all the café’s.
Auschwitz is a also a must, I went with an organised tour (be warned doesn’t matter how you get there the roads are shit – potholes everywhere) and I concur with above post about being herded about like sheep. The first camp especially is busy so you don’t get a lot of time to spend in quiet reflection  before moving onto the next exhibit and the second camp Auschwitz II Birkenau which is the infamous death camp doesn’t have a great deal left so my tour guide didn’t really allow us to walk about before we had to go.
If you can, make a trip to Nowa Huta – the old Soviet Communist bit – this really makes you appreciate living in Britain and the old Jewish Ghetto with Schindler’s factory.

3. Don’t know

4. Yes
 
5. All kinds of food available, even veggie

6. Drink is very cheap and, depending where you go, much stronger in ABV?

7 & 8 I went with my wife so can’t comment

[Sippo]

The Beer is cheap the women are stunning...thats all you need to know!

[Chubbs]

My english mate went to krakow and i got a txt off him which summed it up very well

"alright mate, im in gdansk, the food is shit, the music is shit but the women and beer is fantastic"

i dont agree with the food part but i can see why some poeple wouldnt like it.