After a week spent in a couple of smaller cities, arriving in Katowice was like entering a metropolis. The capital of Poland’s Upper Silesia region, it’s a former mining city with a definite industrial ambience. While this does mean it’s not the most touristy place in the world, there’s definitely enough to keep visitors occupied …
I don’t think many backpackers or tourists make it to Bielsko-Biała; it wasn’t in any of our guide books, and everyone we met seemed surprised to find us in Poland’s 22nd-largest city. Admittedly, we only really stayed there to visit the nearby Żywiec Brewery. However, what we found was a lively, pretty place with plenty …
OK, I know this one’s not about craft beer. In fact, I suppose it’s pretty much the opposite! However, as beer lovers travelling through Silesia we couldn’t resist the chance to visit one of the region’s two big breweries, Tyskie and Żywiec. We opted for the latter as it was easily accessible by train from …
Originally the Jewish quarter of Kraków, Kazimierz was pretty much destroyed during the Second World War. For decades the area lay neglected, but over the last 20 years or so it has begun to reinvent itself. Myriad shops, restaurants and cafes have opened and some of the Jewish community has even started to return. There’s …
To be honest, we only chose to stop off for a couple of nights in Częstochowa to break up the journey between Łódź and Kraków. We hadn’t realised until we arrived that the town is actually a site of pilgrimage for around 5 million Catholics annually. Believers come from around the world to see the …
Last weekend in Warsaw we went on a tour of the Polish Vodka Museum. Poppy’s a vodka fan, but to be honest I’m usually no great lover of Poland’s favourite drink. However, it was fascinating to learn about the history of vodka and the methods used in its production. Poppy has written more about the …