Trains in Poland

Hi all,
I am travelling to Poland next week and I am just wondering would I need to pre-book tickets to get a train from Warsaw to Krakow?
Is the time-table for these trains regular enough??? Are they very busy?
Also any tips regarding both places mentioned would be greatly appreciated, not sure what to expect!

Hi Sunlife, I travelled there in '84 so I imagine things are a lot better now than then. At that stage we didn't pre book train tickets and there was no problem getting from one city to another. Warsaw then was very drab and grey, the only nice part was the old city. There used to be an old craft market that sold local crafts, a lot of wooden sculptures and things made out of candle wax so it might be worth checking if that is still going on. Krakow on the other hand is lovely. While you are down there, travel to Auschwitz concentration camp, it is preserved as a museum and well worth the visit. The Tatra mountains down that direction also are quite pretty. Enjoy the trip, Priscilla.

Hi Sunlife,

You don't need to book pre-book train tickets. The trains leave on time but there can be very long queues so make sure you get there early to join them. There's no avoiding queues in Poland! Its a good idea to have your destination and seat class written down to pass through the hatch when asking for your tickets to avoid confusion. You will be allocated a seat and the trains are v. cheap for the distance travelled.

We went last year and had a terrific holiday. Krakow is a beautiful place but perhaps touristy. It has lots of cafe bars and vodka of course! They had a great indoor market called the Cloth Hall just off Market Square. Amber is for sale absolutely everywhere and if you like shopping you won't be disappointed. From Krakow you can visit the Salt Mines and Auschwitz as well. Warsaw was very different. AS Priscilla said it is greyer but to be honest it also had more of a city feel to it. Its split into the old and new town. The old town (Stare Miasto) is pretty and very similar to Krakow. The newer part is a bit bleaker as many buildings were built under communist rule. Its more 'real' in a way. The Jewish quarters in both cities are worth going to. The Polish were incredibly friendly and were really seemed to 'welcome' people. Buy a Lonely Planet and enjoy. You will have a great holiday.

One and only word of warning. Europe's biggest flea market - The Russian Market - is just on the outskirts of Warsaw (within walking distance) of the city. Trading takes places just around the perimeter of a football stadium. They sell absolutely everything from alcohol to clothes to guns. This is the only place we had a bad experience as we walked too far into it and we were circled by some guys looking for our money. We're still unsure what exactly they were saying but it was along the lines of we had supposedly walked off with something and hadn't paid for it. Nobody came to help even though it was pretty obvious what the guys were trying to do. Eventually we started calling 'police' and they backed off. We ran out of there!

PM1234 - is the "Russian market" you refer to by the Palace of Justice - this market, or another ?

Its real name is Stadion Dziesieciolecia. Its located near the Poniatowski bridge in the Praga district.