Hot Take: Poland Is One of the Most Underrated Travel Countries in Europe

I have visited Poland twice now and both times were shocking.

It blows my mind that my European friends never talk about tourism in Poland. I mean, never. As if it doesn’t exist. Once I actually started leaving the USA and traveling, I didn't get too into reading travel guides or blogs or things like that, but I feel like the bit of content I've seen has always presented Poland to me as a footnote rather than a destination and I can't wrap my mind around why that would be.

Here’s the thing, for me, Warsaw is just OK. It’s a new city (relative to Europe) that had to be rebuilt and that fact probably diminished a good bit of its original charm, sure, I get that… but Warsaw is still a fun city to be in and literally every other town I’ve seen in Poland is as charming as any city I’ve been to in Europe.

Warsaw feels modern, busy, and a bit more fast-paced than most old world cities. It’s a fantastic place to catch up with friends, have a wild night out, or visit museums to learn about the insane history of the region. It's probably not going to be the most memorable visit of your trip but it still has great food, affordable beers on tap, and, the best part, wonderfully kind people.

I requested to stay with a couchsurfing host, Joanna, during my visit in Warsaw. She told me that she had just bought an old apartment and has been busy with work so she was not able to renovate it and move in yet. Expecting a "sorry, maybe I can host you next time," I replied that it's no problem and wished her the best with her upcoming move. Joanna responded and told me that she's not living there yet.... But there's a bed and a heater and I'm welcome to stay there for as long as I'd like in the meantime! Unbelievable!

We met in the snowy evening when I arrived in Warsaw and she gave me the key to her little first-floor apartment in an old Soviet-style block apartment complex. There wasn't much - a bed, a bathroom, a small kitchen... But... What else do I need?! We talked for just a short bit and Joanna told me she needed to get home to her mother's house, where her daughter was waiting for her. I thanked her a thousand times and she said goodnight, leaving me at her beautiful little Soviet-style apartment. I felt like I was at home! I ended up staying for much longer than I'm sure Jo would have liked - I think something like a week and a half in total. To be fair, it's because she introduced me to some of her friends during various nights out together and they were all so incredibly welcoming and kind. Some friends invited me to try a classic Polish "Milk Bar," a traditional, cafeteria-style subsidized diner serving affordable, home-style Polish comfort food with them, which was such a fun experience! Others insisted we have a night out (we went to a Balkan Disco at some crazy club together and drank too many shots with some wild Euro-swingers). Jo and her friends made Warsaw feel like I'd lived there for years. Joanna is a teacher and invited me to come to her school and chat with her students a little bit about why I'm visiting Poland and about what makes Poland special for me. Amazing. Thank you for the memories Jo!

But you want that European charm, right? Okay, Warsaw is a new city... But hop on a $12 FlixBus to Gdańsk (pictured) and you’ll experience a different side of Poland. I was there in the winter and crunched my way across an icy beach, which sounds terrible now that I think about it, but I enjoyed the experience so much. The air was painfully cold but there was nowhere else on Earth that I wanted to be.

After Gdańsk I stopped back by Warsaw before taking a much longer bus to Wrocław (pronounced something like Vratzuav - pardon my Polish) and, the same story, on arrival I was completely blown away by the character and charm of the town.

An entire city center consisting of tiny colorful gingerbread buildings crunched together over cobblestone streets with massive cathedrals around every corner. At night time, while snow flakes fall here and there, Christmas lights twinkle in every direction, glimmering off of the wet stones under foot.

I don’t understand it fully but somehow, there have been few travel experiences for me that have felt more “at home” than sitting in a warm Polish restaurant during wintertime slurping on hot soup, dipping thick bread into it, and eating doughy baked pierogi while washing it all down with a cold Polish beer. Just typing this gives me a homesickness for Poland that I have no business feeling.

One more city I’ve visited in Poland was my first visit back in 2016. I traveled from Berlin to Krakow by a cramped Flixbus and, at that time, knew nothing about Poland whatsoever. I had no expectations and no plans. I highly recommend a stop in Krakow to all travelers interested in Poland. The best memory in Krakow was staying at Greg and Tom’s Party Hostel (give me a break, I was 23 at the time) while they organized a tram-party around the city. We all piled into a tram and they handed each of us guests a bottle of vodka for ourselves and turned on the music and lasers inside the tram - this was, by the way, a pregame for all of us to pub crawl afterward. Absolute chaos. That night was one which made me fall in love with traveling, in Europe and beyond. Krakow is a heck of a fun city - go see for yourself.

Apart from just the party scene, this part of Poland is also rich in history with so many incredibly meaningful places to visit nearby, from WWII history to ancient castles on hilltops and older. Really. There's a lot to do. If history isn’t your thing, my friends have told me that the south of Poland is incredible for hiking as well - that’s next on my visit list!

No matter what you’re into, I’m a believer that you can not go wrong with tourism in Poland. A-tier European destination in my questionably humble opinion.

Keep your sweaty Ibiza and your summer in Anatolia. Give me the gezellig of a Polish winter as seen from the window of an adorable little pierogi shop with a wood-fire at my back.

Dziękuję, Polsko!