I am planning a road trip with a motorcycle to Poland next summer. I'd like to share my plan to you in order to know if I'm missing something essential or if I should skip some places. So here are the places and how many nights I have thought to stay. I'll arrive to Gdansk by a ship and then my journey truly begins. Toruń (1) – Częstochowa (1) – Zakopane (2) – Košice (Slovakia,1) – Rzeszów (1) – Lublin (2) – Glinojeck (1) – Gdansk (3).

Few notes and questions about my route:

I chose Glinojeck to just have a rest since I don't want to drive too much in a day. If you have something else to suggest somewhere near it please let me know!

Would you consider these roads good to drive in general (traffic, safety, sights…)?

I am not planning to be in Kraków because I have already been there. Really nice city!

Thank you in advance!

by Inner_Ticket_8634

36 comments

  2. Any road trip plan in Poland is good. But why Glinojeck? That’s the first time I’ve heard about such place 😀

    If you don’t mind a longer road, then you can drive from Lublin to Białystok, visit Podlasie on the way, then turn north-west and see Malbork, Elbląg and Olsztyn.

    Edit: The same as other people suggested – Toruń, then Poznań and Wrocław would be a better way than your original plan, albeit a longer one. It’s also worth to visit Opole on your way to Kraków.

  3. Between Częstochowa and Kraków, instead of taking the route you marked, you can consider taking a slower but more direct route along the Eagles’ Nests castles (e.g. Ogrodzieniec, Pieskowa Skała and others) and then with a short visit at Ojców NP.

    I don’t think Kosice is that interesting a spot for the stop, in my opinion the most interesting places of that part of Slovakia are shortly after you cross the border: High Tatras, Slovak Paradise NP, ice caves, Spiss castle. So I would rather spend the night somewhere in this area, and then continue straight to Rzeszów. If you do so, I would consider 1 night in Zakopane and two in near-border Slovakia (one day for Polish Tatras around Zakopane, 1 day for Slovak Tatras, 1 day for the further places in Slovakia) rather than 2 nights just for the Polish side of the Tatras, and then 1 night for all of Slovakia.

  4. Torun is better than bydgoszcz. Częstochowa is nothing special, better look over silesia: Katowice, Gliwice etc. And maybe choose Warsaw or Malbork over glinojeck

  7. I’d go to Wroclaw and Poznan (specially Wroclaw, it’s awesome in the Summer).

  8. Hmm since you are planning to be on motorcycle like previous guy said take non highway roads through national parks and castles jak Ogrodzieniec and Olsztyn, make a brake here and there between Krakow and Częstochowa, since Częstochowa itself isn’t as much of a thing to take entire day maybe like 4 hour gig at best.

  9. You shouldn’t overlook Katowice, it’s not 1989 anymore we don’t live in mines anymore

  11. If you want somewhere around Glinojeck that Poles actually heard about, you could go to Płock. Old capital of Masovia, has a rich history.

  12. Why not check out Malbork castle? It’s on the way to Gdańsk, it’s technically the largest castle in the world too (google it!)

  14. Unless you’re deeply Catholic, there’s absolutely nothing to do in Częstochowa. The city’s only attraction is the monastery and the rest of Częstochowa is pretty ugly and boring. If you need a stop there, I’d strongly encourage you to consider checking out the Szlak Orlich Gniazd castles. It’s a hilly, Jurrasic area with ruins of medieval castles, pretty picturesque especially if you’re driving a motorcycle. Ogrodzieniec is the most famous one but there are others. Not too far to Ojców National Park either. Another alternative would be to stop in Gliwice or Katowice which are both much more interesting touristically.

    I guess my other, more general question would be: what is the purpose of the trip? Are you looking for scenic drives and cities in between? Or is the motorcycle simply the means and you don’t mind driving it for 4 hours on the freeway?

    If it’s the latter, your plan is probably good (except Częstochowa). If it’s the former, I’d suggest to skip northern Poland and go to the south immediately. Anything south from Częstochowa will be more scenic.

  15. Go to Hell. Literally. “Hel” is village north to the Gdańsk. It is very beautiful.

  17. When reading this post I wasn’t expecting to be that much surprised. Glinojeck is a town several kilometers from my village. I can’t give you any opinion about that town – you will.probablu find a place to sleep, there are no things to see there, but it’s nice to see familiar name on reddit
    Okay actually after some thinking, you may have problem with finding a place to sleep in Glinojeck. You can change it for płońsk or ciechanów ( bigger towns/cities, they for sure have some hostels/hotels) and they’re pretty close

  19. Go to Toruń, Poznań, and Wrocław, Katowice definitely. How can you skip those, lol?

    Częstochowa, Łódź, Zakopane – hard skip, unless you’re there for something **really** specific. Where did you even find Częstochowa, haha.

    Rzeszów – hardest skip, nothing there.

    Go straight to Lublin via Zamość and see the Roztocze National Park. It’s a no-brainer.

    If you can’t go east from Warsaw to Białowieża, Grabarka Góra, Kruszyniany and Bohoniki (the only two Tatar villages in Poland with hundreds-yeard-old mosques), just stay in Warsaw.

    PS. I visited every most major towns and cities and Poland, as well the entire Eastern Poland last year (from Roztocze to the Lithuanian border in 10 days with with over 20 places visited).

    You can PM me for more info, I’m great at planning long trips.

  20. If you are going to visit Slovakia, then I recommend to take this route back to Zakopane:
    [https://www.google.de/maps/dir/Zakopane,+Poland/Ko%C5%A1ice,+Slovakia/@48.9898333,19.5463085,9z/data=!4m21!4m20!1m10!1m1!1s0x4715f29294ef3939:0xdf8d87a1716ba6a0!2m2!1d19.949562!2d49.299181!3m4!1m2!1d19.5996646!2d49.2375319!3s0x4715bddb654e7f0d:0xea9e4259d87e58f0!1m5!1m1!1s0x473ee01b67c6957b:0x400f7d1c6978bd0!2m2!1d21.2610746!2d48.7163857!2m1!1b1!3e0!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTIwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D](https://www.google.de/maps/dir/Zakopane,+Poland/Ko%C5%A1ice,+Slovakia/@48.9898333,19.5463085,9z/data=!4m21!4m20!1m10!1m1!1s0x4715f29294ef3939:0xdf8d87a1716ba6a0!2m2!1d19.949562!2d49.299181!3m4!1m2!1d19.5996646!2d49.2375319!3s0x4715bddb654e7f0d:0xea9e4259d87e58f0!1m5!1m1!1s0x473ee01b67c6957b:0x400f7d1c6978bd0!2m2!1d21.2610746!2d48.7163857!2m1!1b1!3e0!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTIwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)

    It is a scenic route south of High Tatra using old road (no highway) that takes you through small mountain pass Huty with views of Liptovska Mara hydroelectric dam.

  22. Skip Slovakia since it’s not Poland.

    From Rzeszów to Kraków,.from Krakow to Wroclaw from Wroclaw to Poznan.

  23. I think you should choose Płock instead of Glinojeck. AFAIK it’s the oldest city in Masovian region and it’s perfect for a couple days stay, though you may do everything in one day if you’re quick.

  24. It really depends what you wanna see. However imho in Zakopane nothing is special despite the prices, which can be very special.
    Częstochowa is very good if you’re into catholic atractions. Despite this, better choice is to visit Silesia or Lodz. Both have very nice industrial and 19th/20th Century architecture.

  27. Go to Sopot and Gdynia – very close to Gdansk, beautiful cities – you can basically walk through them all by a fantastic promenade and some forests and cliffs by the sea. You will find many excellent cafes and restaurants there.
    Enjoy! 🙂

    Edit: language

  28. By the way, I also invite you to visit Elbląg.

  30. I find Częstochowa underwhelming and I would personally skip it unless you are very religious and you are going there to pray specifically. Kraków, Wieliczka or even Warsaw are directly on your way and while you won’t be able to see a lot of those cities in a day or two, I would still prefer those to Częstochowa.

    I also hear good things about Łódź these days. I hear it changed a lot for better.

    Zakopane I would also skip personally. It’s not bad. It’s kind of a tourist trap, but it’s overwhelming for more than half a day imho. Skip Zakopane in favor of Kraków imho.

    I think maybe you should say why you chose those cities specifically, because some of those aren’t traditional choices, but I am assuming some family connections maybe?

    Zakopane area will be shot by traffic in the summer.

    ETA: I actually just noticed that you purposefully skipping Kraków, but Wieliczka is worth it imho. I enjoyed mines a lot while I visited last time. I went on what’s called “miner’s route” and it’s less flashy than the “tourist” one, but it was very fun.

  31. First time I see a foreigner, who unironically goes to Łódź.

    As a Citizen I recommend, if you like post industrial (but not post mining-industrial) objects.

    Don’t listen to those Poseners and WrocLovers! /s.

  32. Wow, thank you all for so many answers and suggestions! It takes a while to really think about alternatives but I have luckily plenty of time for it. Unfortunately my summer vacation is naturally limited so I just don’t have time to go all places I’d like to go.

  33. don’t visit Zakopane. its one huge tourist trap. you should look at Krynica Zdrój instead

  34. About the road quality
    General rule in Poland:
    You will be driving on 2×2 highway with speed limit of either 120 (S roads) or 140 (A roads)

    Exceptions on your route

    Roughly 100 km in between Częstochowa na zakopane there is a section of 2×3 A class highway
    30 km on highway number 7 south of Krakow is undergoing a major renovation
    Another 15 km of road between Krakow and Zakopane is local highway with sped limit of a 100km/h (No S or A category)
    The road changes into regular 1×1 local road 10 km before Zakopane and continues to Slovakian border
    I am it sure about the roads in Slovakia
    The regular road continues from Slovakian border all the way to Rzeszów ( with small exception of 20 km of regular 2×2 S highway)
    The S highway continues all to Warsaw
    Warsaw bypass is 2×3
    Small section of 10 km technically does not meet standards and is a regular 2×3 road

    There will be two tolls you’ll need to pay totaling about 60-70 pln

    Hope that helps

  36. If you go through Bydgoszcz, consider Toruń as well – honestly either direction

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