North of England to Auchwitz.
 

Considering riding to Auchwitz in early May, been in Europe a few times always on my own, prefer riding on my own because I can set my own pace and don't always ride as fast as other riders want to go. My wife has mentioned my trip to friends and they have told her that I would be stupid to ride into Poland on my own, personally I never thought that there was a problem, does anyone on this site think it is a problem, would appreciate your comments. Steve

Poland is a nice country with nice people. Like any nice country it also has its toe rags but common sense when leaving bikes at tourist spots or overnight stops should ensure a trouble free stay. A lot of hotels have secure parking anyway.

Would highly recommend Auschwitz (Oświęcim is the Polish name for his town) and not too far away, about an hour or so, Krakow is well worth a visit.

I cannot see any problem for you as a solo rider - enjoy !

Poland Is Cool Dude. Been There Many Times ... No Problem

I have ridden on my own many times. Back in 2006 I rode 5000 miles through Eastern Europe, visited Krakow, Auschwitz and the salt mines. The latter are well worth a visit.

As long you have breakdown insurance or you are handy with a spanner there should be no problem.

Have they ever been ??

And that just sums it up.

I rode Poland a couple of years ago (solo), with no lingo skills at all and loved it. I stopped at a roadside cafe/guesthouse just north of Warsaw, without a word of english being spoken (or Polish on my account) the owner removed his rather new ride on lawn mower from his log shed and pushed my bike into it, then locked it up, leaving his lawn mower outside all night!

Watch out of the 'roadside ladies' some of them look fantastic from a distance, easy to loose your concentration!!

Also watch the driving standards, it's mad! But once you get used to it it's more predictable than the UK as you pretty much know the two overtaking trucks heading towards you are going to pass you either side :helpsmilie:.

The road surface can be 'interesting', perfect EU tarmac for miles, then, dirt track for 500 meters then nice tarmac again - bizzare :confused1:

It's a fantastic country is Poland, it has it's differences (the North is spectacular) like anywhere, and it's share of scum (like lots of the UK). But don't be put off at all. I've been there, and not a single reason to doubt it's people.

It's my second favorite EU Country to ride in, after Romania....:funmeteryes:

The Polish people are great. Get on yer bike and go................:scooter:There are far worse lowlife where you come from.

Poland is well worth a visit,have visited the country 3 times by bike now,last year I rode right across Poland to Bialystok near the Belarus border with no probs. Krakow is a lovely city & worth a visit if your going to Oswiecim as its not far away & Auschwitz can be very sobering,in Oswiecim there is a Christian mission called the Centre for prayer & meditation ( or something very similar) that offers very cheap clean rooms or you can camp in the grounds,they do not ram religion down your throat either :innocent:
Have a great time
Andy

Hi Friends
 

Thanks for replies about my country.
Really don't worry to visit Poland. We are normal people.
There are much of work on Polish roads now, be careful on this places. Tarmac is in very good coditions almost in all Poland. Theft and robery is unexist. Of course look at your money, documents, close the car (it is not like I was in Iceland and left camera on a bench in a center of Reykjavik and took it after 2 hours. Not in Poland but I think that in most of countries is similar)
We dirve normally, sometimes faster than say rules, but without stiupidity.
Many cars, many bikes during summer.
Many good places for rest and sleeping.
My mother don't speak English, but people in middle age like me and children often speak fluently.
Don't worry about Poland. Come and have great time in my counrty.

Thank you very much for all the replies, I didn't think it would be a problem and I will definately be going. Steve

Hi

I did a trip to Finland in 2008 for an international rally. I was like you, hated the group ride.. too slow.. too fast !!

My missus wasnt happy about me going on my own but I took no notice of her !

Went to Finland via Germany, Denmark and Sweden. my return route was to take me thru Estonia, Latvia, Lithunia and on to Poland, however I had heard some scary stories so I teamed up with my mate and his wife (pillion). We spent the next 3 days together thru Estonia, Latvia and Lithunia. I left them in Lithunia cause they wanted to stay on for a few days..
So I crossed Poland on my own. Roads were interesting ! to say the least, I found the A and B roads were heavly rutted in places which made for fun overtakes .. felt a bit like a scalextric track at times !

I was only half way thru Poland and needed to camp but couldnt find any campsites. so i booked into a motel for £16. the motel looked a bit rough and the door looked like it had been jemmy'd a few times but my stuff was ok and it served lovely cheap beer and a good breakfast.

My hope was to visit Auschwitz but i had miscalcuated the time needed to get there. So i skipped it because I wanted to visit Colditz castle (if you get the chance to visit, make sure you do).

I did a ride report for the website i run for the VSOC

Finland 2008

is the link

I could have easly stayed on my own, never did I feel threatend or worried.

My plan this year is to ride to Turkey and back :-)

Cheers
Geordie

Used to work in Krakow never had any problems at all. Safe walking round at night etc.

You can, and its a can rather than should get to Krakow in less than 24 hours from Calais if you want to.

If your wife is concerned about Poland I'll send you some photos of all the Tesco stores I built out there. Must be a good 600 of them now. Its no different to the UK :D

I think I should make the Tesco-o-meter. The sign of how civilised a country is :)

Last summer I and my girlfriend rode from Italy to Russia and stopped at Auschwitz and Krakow.
I would absolutely recommend to visit the Country, it's full of lovely people and with much to see.
Only pay attention to some roads, where Koleyni (tracks that are formed by heavy lorries on the pavement) could be slippery if it rains, but if you ride accordingly, there's no problem at all.
In Krakow, we left our Harley at a 24-hr. secured parking for two nights (cuz our B&B had no parking) and it was absolutely OK.
If you go there, don't miss "pierogi" while sitting at a table: I can not tell you the recipe because English is not my mother language and I would not know how to explain it, but they are veeeeeeeery good and tasty (they are very similar to "ravioli", an Italian first dish: maybe you know 'em if you like our food).

I can only echo what other people have said. I really liked Poland and its people and can highly recommend visiting. After visiting Auschwitz we headed South and enroute to Zakopane (Lovely scenery) stayed at a small camp site at Kazimierz Dolny. The chap who ran the site with his wife would bring us fresh bread he had baked every morning.

Now that, could go either way........:rolleyes2:

I've just been to Budapest...
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kL4ZseB4TGc/S2...20budapest.jpg
Was that your handiwork too, Sockpuppet? :)

Steve: I've also only had positive experiences in Poland. :thumbup1:
Stephan

Coming from Russia, I thought Poland was wonderful, and little different from Western Europe. I think there's an old saying: "Coming from Paris, Warsaw looks like Moscow. Coming from Moscow, Warsaw looks like Paris."

POLAND ROCKS
:funmeteryes::wave:

My wife and I spent three weeks in Poland in 2006, and had a great time. Lovely people, great scenery, roads between terrific and terrible, and it rained all the time. But we'd definitely do it again - need I say more?

We also went to Auschwitz and found a great place to stay really close by where we could park our bike in a small shed or the fenced patio. Great room, too, and very lovely landlady. Met some other bikers from the UK who were also staying there. Drop me a line (PN or E-Mail) if you're interested and I'll start digging through my stuff. Their business card must be somewhere in there.

When I was in Oswiecim last year with my girlfriend, we really had a good stay here *** Hotel Galicja Oswiecim (Auschwitz-Poland).

Friendly staff speaking very good english, good food at their restaurant, and motorcycle as safest as possible (garage).
They also kept all our luggage + motorcycle gear stored at their facility while we visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, so we could get there with our bike unloaded.

+1 for the Hotel Galicja.

I've stayed there twice and both visits were good.

Poland was great. Did trip out to Auschwitz last September with wife, toddler and dog then on to Zacopane and then into Slovakia. Crossed over channel and into Belgium on the Friday night and ended up in Auchwitz on the Tuesday night after a fairly easy journey, couple of full days, couple of half days. Really interesting but sobering place, well worth a visit. We also stayed at the Hotel Galicja - nice new place, car park felt safe.

Would back up everything that has been said already - Krakow well worth a visit , we really enjoyed the city and wouldve liked to stay longer . If you have time head a bit further east and cross into Slovakia via the Dukla Pass and spend a night in Bardejov . Then whizz along thru Poprad onto the E77 and back into Poland or do the tourist bit and visit the castle at Bojnice and then come back via the Czech Republic .

Went through Poland on my way home from Istanbul last year and loved it. Stopped at Auschwitz and had one of the most interesting days ever.

Watch out for the car park vendors...ripping off tourists.

Check out my blog at Round the Bloc tour 2009 - ::. UKGSer.com .::

Geoff

Hi there,

I must admit that I loved Poland.

Basic thoughts;

roads can suffer from pronounced wear and heavy grooves. Made my short legs and tall bike demand for extra attention!

people really friendly, well informed and sociable.

Auschwitz is a place I wouldn't have missed for anything but I'll never return, I had the weirdest feelings in there. Even camped over night, just down the road from the camp and noticed there was no sign of any wildlife, not even a single bird!

flying clubs and gliding sites very open for local flights.

many beautiful women!!!

Great place.

Regards

Reggie AKA The Cameraman