When we were putting this trip together the plan was always to spend most of our Europe time in Eastern Europe.  We had heard it was much cheaper than Western Europe and we were excited to get off the typical European-vacation route and see some less touristy places.  However, as you can probably tell from the posts up to this point, it took us quite a while to actually make our way east.  Poland was our first taste of the former Eastern Bloc and we loved it.

Wroclaw

Wroclaw (pronounced something like vrohts-waf, who knew?) was our first stop in Poland and boy was it charming.

Wroclaw doesn’t have a ton of major attractions but we loved just wandering around the city admiring the mix of architectural styles.  The main market square, which was beautifully restored after sustaining a lot of damage in World War II, is as beautiful and lively as any plaza we’ve seen in Europe.

Outside of the center, though, are signs of Poland’s more recent history including Soviet-style concrete apartment blocks.

The neighborhood where we stayed reminded me a lot of parts of Portugal.  There were signs of old-world European grandeur but they were often hidden behind graffiti or crumbling from lack of maintenance.

Other fun things we got to experience during our time in Wroclaw included:

Hunting down as many gnomes as we could find.

What started out as an ode to anti-communist protesters has turned into quite the phenomenon in Wroclaw.  There are gnomes all over the city in fun poses or performing different activities.

Taking a craft beer tour.

Turns out Poland, and Wroclaw especially, has a huge craft beer scene.  We got to taste lots of interesting (smoked beer anyone?) and delicious brews on our beer tour with Walkative Tours.  (We also tried to do their free walking tour of the city which I’m sure would have been great if it hadn’t started absolutely pouring rain about half way through).

Jogging around the moat.

Staying in shape while on the road is tough (stay tuned for a future post about running while traveling).  Wroclaw didn’t have any huge city parks for us to run in but it did have some beautiful little green spaces sprinkled around town.

Trying a few of Wroclaw’s milk bars.

Apparently milk bars started out as exactly what they sound like: bars that serve milk instead of alcohol.  They were started by the government during communist times to encourage citizens to drink less alcohol and consume more dairy.  They eventually morphed into cafeteria-style eateries and these uniquely Polish institutions remain popular today as a place to get a cheap and hearty meal.  I found the whole concept pretty hilarious but the food was good and you can get a huge plate for a couple dollars – perfect for budget conscious backpackers.

Krakow

We started our time in Krakow with a free walking tour the afternoon we arrived.  We figured this would be the best way to get an introduction to the city and see a few of the key sights.

The city itself is beautiful but the most interesting part of the tour was our guide.  He was only a few years older than us but had clear memories of his childhood under communism.  He talked about waiting in endless lines for the chance to purchase a few groceries and about his parents saving up for years to be able to buy him a six dollar Lego set.  His stories really brought home the amazing transformation that Poland has undergone in the last 30 years.

Krakow’s old town is nice but our favorite part of the city was the Kazimierz neighborhood, historically the Jewish quarter.  It is full of funky bars and delicious, cheap food. Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the area because it was raining on the day we spent there. (Rainstorms in Poland are crazy!)

Zakopane

We had a great time in Wroclaw and Krakow but after spending a lot of time in cities we were ready for a little nature.  From what I could tell Poland has lots of options for nature lovers but we were fairly limited by where we could easily reach on public transit.

We settled on Zakopane because we heard there were some great hikes in the area and it was a relatively easy bus ride from Krakow.  The actual town of Zakopane was very touristy with lots of souvenir stands and overpriced restaurants but mountains were incredible.

We only had time to do one big hike while we were there but that was plenty.  We started out on a relatively easy path up to a waterfall before the trail got incredibly steep and we spent several hours going up and over a mountain.

It was challenging but the beautiful scenery made it worth it.

Poland has been through a lot in the last sixty years.  Most of its cities were completely decimated in World War II and had to be completely rebuilt.  That was followed by decades of poverty and isolation during the communist period.  But from what we saw Poland seems to be flourishing  It’s a country with a lot to offer and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to visit Europe.  The history is fascinating, the people are friendly and everything costs a fraction of what it would in most of western Europe.