Poland: The Rough Guide (4th Edition) (Rough Guide Travel Guides) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Mark Salter is the author, with John McCain, of several books, including Thirteen Soldiers and Faith of My Fathers. He served on Senator McCain’s staff for more than fifteen years.

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Where to go

Poles delineate their country's attractions as "the mountains, the sea and the lakes", their emphasis firmly slanted to the traditional, rural heartlands. To get the most out of your time, it's perhaps best to follow their preferences. The mountains - above all the Carpathian range of the Tatras - are a delight, with a well-established network of hiking trails; the lakes provide opportunities for canoeing and a host of other outdoor pursuits; and the dozen or so national parks retain areas of Europe's last primeval forests, inhabited still by bison, elks, wolves, bears and eagles. Yet you will not want to miss the best of the cities - Krak-w, especially - nor a ramble down rivers like the Wis'a for visits to Teutonic castles, ancient waterside towns and grand, Polish country mansions, redolent of a vanished aristocratic order. The ethnic regions offer insights into cultures quite distinct from the Catholicism of the majority, while the former centres of the Jewish community, and the concentration camps in which the Nazis carried out their extermination, are the most moving testimony to the complexity and tragedy of the nation's past.

Unless you're driving to Poland, you're likely to begin your travels with one of the three major cities: Warsaw, Krak-w or Gda7sk. Each provides an immediate immersion in the fast-paced changes of the 1990s and a backdrop of monuments that reveal the complexities of the nation's history.

Warsaw, the capital, had to be rebuilt from scratch after World War II, and much of the city conforms to the stereotype of Eastern European greyness, but the reconstructed Baroque palaces, churches and public buildings of the historic centre, the burgeoning street markets and the bright shopfronts of Poland's new enterprise culture are diverting enough. Krak-w, however, the ancient royal capital, is the real crowd puller for Poles and foreign visitors alike, rivalling the Central European elegance of Prague and Vienna. This is the city where history hits you most powerfully, in the royal Wawel complex, in the fabulous open space of the Rynek, in the one-time Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, and in the chilling necropolis of nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau, the bloodiest killing field of the Third Reich. Gdansk, formerly Danzig, the largest of the Baltic ports and home of the legendary shipyards, presents a dynamic brew of politics and commerce against a townscape reminiscent of mercantile towns in the Netherlands.

German and Prussian influences abound in the north of the country, most notably in the austere castles and fortified settlements constructed by the Teutonic Knights at Malbork, Chemno and other strategic points along the River Wisa - as the Vistula is known in Poland. Torun is one of the most atmospheric and beautiful of the old Hanseatic towns here.

Over in the east, numerous minority communities embody the complexities of national boundaries in Central Europe. The one-time Jewish centre of Bialystok, with its Belarusian minority, is a springboard for the eastern borderlands, where onion-domed Orthodox churches stand close to Tartar mosques. Further south, beyond Lublin, a famous centre of Hassidic Jewry, and Zamosc, with its magnificent Renaissance centre, lie the homelands of Ukrainians, Lemks and Boyks - and a chance to see some of Poland's extraordinary wooden churches.

In the west, ethnic Germans populated regions of the divided province of Silesia, where Wrocaw sustains the dual cultures of the former German city of Breslau and the Ukrainian city of L'viv, whose displaced citizens were moved here at the end of World War II. The other main city in western Poland is the quintessentially Polish Pozna9, a vibrant and increasingly prosperous university town.

Despite its much-publicized pollution problems - problems it is now finally making a serious attempt to address - Poland has many regions of unspoilt natural beauty, of which none is more pristine than the Biaowie3a Forest, straddling the Belarusian border; the last virgin forest of the European mainland, it is the habitat of the largest surviving herd of European bison. Along the southern borders of the country lie the wild Bieszczady mountains and the alpine Tatras and further west, the bleak Karkonosze mountains - all of them excellent walking country, interspersed with less demanding terrain. North of the central Polish plain, the wooded lakelands of Mazury and Pomerania are as tranquil as any lowland region on the continent, while the Baltic coast can boast not just the domesticated pleasures of its beach resorts, but also the extraordinary desert-like dunes of the Slowinski Park - one of a dozen National Parks.

When to go

Spring is arguably the ideal season for some serious hiking in Poland's mountainous border regions, as the days tend to be bright - if showery - and the distinctive flowers are at their most profuse. Summer, the tourist high season, sees plenty of sun, particularly on the Baltic coast, where the resorts are crowded from June to August and temperatures consistently around 24C. The major cities can get pretty stifling at these times, with the effects of the heat compounded by the influx of visitors; accommodation can be tricky in the really busy spots, but a good network of summer hostels provides a low-budget fall-back.

Autumn is the best time to come if you're planning to sample the whole spread of the country's attractions: in the cities the cultural seasons are beginning at this time, and the pressure on hotel rooms is lifting; in the countryside, the golden "Polish October" is especially memorable, the rich colours of the forests heightened by brilliantly crisp sunshine that's often warm enough for T-shirts.

In winter the temperatures drop rapidly, icy Siberian winds blanketing many parts of the country with snow for anything from one to three months. Though the central Polish plain is bleak and unappealing at the end of the year, in the south of the country skiers and other winter-sports enthusiasts will find themselves in their element. By mid-December the slopes of the Tatras and the other border ranges are thronged with holidaymakers, straining the established facilities to the limit.