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Guest writer: Minna and Kaj Avrin
In spring 2024, we, Minna and Kaj Avrin, travelled to Poland with our motorhome. We share both practical tips and our own experiences. The trip included golf, visits to cities, national parks and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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ShareBefore travelling to Poland
Let's start with what's most important when travelling to Poland. The old system of toll roads in Poland has been changed to fully digital. You used to be able to buy a vignette at petrol stations but this is no longer possible. Our advice is to get the new "etoll" system before travelling to Poland. The rules are different for cars under and over 3.5 tonnes. You can read more about the scheme here. Our best advice is to read about it before you start filling in data.
We had booked the ferry Trelleborg-Swinoujscie, with TT-Line, at 07:45. We arrived in Trelleborg the day before and booked a place on the parking lot near the harbour. We took the opportunity to enjoy the sea and finally some sun and took a walk along the beach.
Ferry to Poland
The ferry we travelled on was a year old, very nice. We chose to go during the day without a cabin, several of the other passengers had a cabin. We passed some cabins with open doors and they looked fresh. On the ferry there was also a sauna with a women's and men's section with a common relaxation, free to use. Outside the sauna there was also a balcony to cool off.
Golf in Poland
Modry Las Golf Resort PGA National
We left the ferry in the afternoon of the same day. Our first destination was Modry Las Golf Resort PGA National. Halfway there we had to stop and change into lighter clothes, the temperature rose constantly. The service was good, however, we advised them to also offer English on their answering machine.
Due to the fact that the car park was still wet, it was closed. We stood in the car park and it went fine. When the car park is open, there is both water and electricity. It was the first time with dinner outside and to enjoy a long long time of a lukewarm evening. What a difference to the storms and rain in Skåne.
The course has been voted Poland's best six times since 2014. It is very beautiful. Not quite simple with long holes and deep bunkers even along the fairway. The best is to play it at least twice. The clubhouse is neat with good showers and there was also a spa area with Finnish sauna, steam room and infrared sauna.
We did not try the restaurant as we like to cook our own food. However, talked to a Swedish couple who were there for the second time and they said the food is good, now in April the menu was the same as last autumn when they stayed at the hotel for the first time. They thought that Modry Las is a very affordable option.
Gradi Golf Club
We then travelled to the Gradi Golf Club. This is an incredible place with a 19th century palace as a hotel. We were told by a golfer that there were two guys living in the area who had bought the palace. They had bought additional land from farmers around it and built the golf course.
The surroundings are very beautiful with various flowering trees, shrubs and perennials. We ate at the restaurant, which serves typical Polish food with a local connection, including goat cheese from the area. The service was very good.
The golf course has a couple of pitches and these are the most expensive we stayed on, 200 zloty/night (SEK 540) On the other hand, the golf with Golfamore cost 230 zloty (SEK 620) for the two of us, which evened out the costs. There is a spa in the palace, however, we did not use it. The price for the spa is 70 zloty/person. The staff was nice and very helpful.
The course is beautiful, not very long but has some difficulties. The finishing hole from the yellow tee is 143 metres above water and from the red tee 108 metres. The Polish Championship and other prestigious competitions are played annually on the course.
Wroclaw Golf Club
The third banana was Wrocław Golf Club. The club does not have pitches but it is possible to stand in the car park. We arrived at half past four and started with a beer on the terrace. The restaurant closed at 6pm and then the doors to the changing rooms and toilets were also locked. Here too, the service was super good.
It was a bit slow on the track and then the people in front of us got a warning from the track staff. Then it flowed nicely. Despite some waiting at the beginning and the fact that the course is unusually long, for red tee 5431 m we played in 3 h 40 min. The loop provided much needed extra strokes to compensate for the long course. With Golfamore, the green fee for two people was 220 zlotys.
Krakow
The next stop was Adam camping in KrakowWe would rather call it a full-service caravan park. There are showers, toilets, an outdoor sink and grey and black water drainage. Fresh water is refilled at each site. Bicycles and canoes can be hired and there is a children's playground, a small football pitch and a beach volleyball court. There is also a hotel.
From the campsite it was less than four kilometres to the centre. The cycle paths are good both to the centre and out to the countryside. To town you can cycle/walk along the road but there is also a nice cycle and footpath along the river. You will find it after the first bridge, if you are on the right side of the road, turn right just after the bridge and then under the bridge and on to the centre. Very beautiful. Unfortunately, a neighbour told us that there would not be a bike path all the way and that the traffic was hectic so he recommended a taxi, which we decided to do.
We started at the castle where, among others, King Sigismund and Anna Jagellonica lived. We chose to look at the official premises, discounted price for two over 65 years was 50 zloty. The castle offered fantastic paintings, tapestries, furniture and tiled stoves. Impressive when large parts were built in the 14th century, including a water system for both fresh and waste water. There was much more to see but we felt satisfied so. Coffee in the sunshine ended our stay at the castle.
Then we walked to Stare Misto, the old town of Krakow. The square there is incredible, it is the largest medieval square in Europe. In the centre is a building that we guess was once a market hall, now it is full of shops with tourist content.
We didn't count the number of restaurants in the square but they were incredibly numerous. At the risk of tourist trap, we had lunch at one of them. It was fish and chips and Polish dumplings. The chips needed at least one more round in the fryer but the fish and the side dishes were good. The dumplings got 10 out of 10 possible. Goose meat and thyme in a delicious combo.
From the old town we walked along the Vistula river until we reached the Jewish quarter. We like to stroll in cities and feel the atmosphere. Sometimes it happens that by chance you meet something extra fun. This time we "ran into" a design fair in old industrial premises with a bar outside. Lots of people lounging in deckchairs and enjoying the warming rays. The fair had everything from clothes and bags to candles and jewellery. All direct from the creator.
We continued towards the square and the museum in the Jewish quarter. After hanging out there for a while, we realised it was a bit early for dinner and as our legs were tired from all the walking, we decided to take a taxi to the Forum.
The Forum building was built during the Soviet era and that says it all about the architecture. There is a funfair, restaurants and lots of sun loungers to relax in. We sat in each one for a good while and watched people passing in front of us. The building has a food court with several different restaurants, so something for most tastes.
There is much more to see in Krakow so we will have to come here more often.
Auschwitz-Birkenau
After a number of books on the Second World War, it was time for this visit. We recommend buying tickets in advance at the museum's official website. We chose the guided tour, which was a wise decision. Our guide was very good, spoke clear English and had deep knowledge. If you want to go on your own, you can buy a visitor guide in Swedish in their bookshop.
When we arrived at the museum we were a bit confused. There were lots of people and a long queue inside. We then realised that the long queue was for groups. To the right of their entrance was another entrance that was unmarked. It was for other visitors. After the security check, we picked up our stickers at the information desk saying that we had booked a tour in English. Then it was just to wait for the guide.
The tour took 3.5 hours and involved a lot of walking. When we were there it was raining on and off so coarse shoes were good to have as the roads, especially in Birkenau, were somewhat muddy.
However we read and absorbed the horrors of the concentration camps, the experience of them on the ground was enormously powerful. The stay in the camps must have been absolutely disgusting. Unbelievable how cruel man can be. The only consolation was the countless visitors, who mostly consisted of large groups of schoolchildren. We must never forget what happened here and in the other concentration camps.
Real motorway service area nearby
Just over a kilometre from the museum is a parking area at Centre for Dialogue and Prayer. There is a beautiful garden with plenty of places to empty the toilet and grey water, fill up with fresh water and shower, toilet and outdoor kitchen. There is also a hotel with 45 rooms of various sizes.
Bonus tips
The book "What the heart never forgets" by Kelly Rimmer was a good read during the trip. The book is about the time during World War II and some of the events take place in Trzebinia, which is close to Auschwitz and makes the visit even more real.
Wroclaw
Our plan was to either drive to Dresden for asparagus or play more golf. However, the summer heat changed to seven degrees and rain on and off. We decided to go to Wroclaw instead and explore the city.
We stopped at Wroc-camping. It is a small and safe family campsite. Payment is made in cash. A couple of hundred metres from the campsite there is a supermarket and there is an ATM. On the campsite there is emptying for toilet and grey water, refilling of fresh water, perfectly ok showers and toilets, waste sorting, microwave, refrigerator and washing machine that works with 1 euro coins.
The owner is friendly, speaks German and Polish and little, little English. He gave a map and showed the stop for the tram to town, about 500 m from the campsite. You pay by credit card on the tram. On the machine there is a slot for a ticket but there was none. You might get a physical ticket if you buy a ticket for several days.
We spent a day in the city. Took the tram to Galleria Dominikanska in the centre of town. Walked towards the islands in the river Oder.
On the way there we stopped at the market hall and there we found our long-awaited asparagus. There is something special about market halls, especially abroad, you can find fresh vegetables, meat from animals we don't usually eat, small delicatessens and more. We found beautiful packs of scarlet mushrooms for our children and reusable cake decorations with cartoon characters for the grandchildren.
Then we continued to the islands. There and also in the rest of Wrocław there are incredibly beautiful houses. Many houses were destroyed during the Second World War but they have been rebuilt.
Bishop Bolesław Kominek has contributed to relations between Poland and Germany. In 1965, he initiated a letter to his German colleagues calling for open dialogue. The letter resulted in the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Poland and Germany and led to the Warsaw agreements.
He was Archbishop of Wrocław 1972-1974, and was appointed Cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1973. Kominek is buried in Wrocław Cathedral and there is a statue of him.
Small statues
In Wrocław there are about 700 small statues, they are referred to as dwarfs. We saw some of them.
The square in the old town is called Rynek. Even this medieval square is big and nice. There we found a cosy Italian restaurant to have lunch. You can't get enough of all the beautiful houses and the result is an almost endless amount of pictures.
After lunch we walked to Jatki, an alley with small shops with different kinds of art. Jatki is a little gem in the city.
After that, we continued to stroll and admire more beautiful houses. However, the chilly weather made us long for the warmth of the motorhome, so it was time to take the tram back.
There is much more to see in Wrocław, murals, beautiful parks, a Japanese garden, museums, viewpoints and more. So there may be more visits to the city.
Stop on the northbound carriageway
The target after Wrocław was Wolin National Park. We split the trip into two days and focused on standing at the campsite Gajówka Ralcewiczowka, which we found via the Real Place app. However, the campsite was not completely ready.
The owner Eva recommended us her uncle's campsite nearby, Agroturystyce Maya, she consulted with her uncle and we were welcome there. The website is only in Polish but the owner speaks English. The place is a combined hotel and campsite. They have large areas, chickens, geese, horses, deer, peacocks and highland cows. Very child-friendly. There are also canoes for hire for paddling in the adjacent river.
The hotel has 25 rooms including two suites. One of the houses is being renovated as it was when it was built by the Germans in the 18th century. The building where the hotel is located today was originally a barn. The environment is rustic and cosy with good standards.
We took a lovely long walk along a narrow road through woods and across fields. Managed to dot the walk when the sun appeared between the rain showers.
In the process, we learnt that Poland has a system of so-called agrotourism. You can read more about it at agroturystyka.pl, but the website is unfortunately not very simple, for example there is no map. It is also not easy to see which places have camping or caravan sites. But we realised that there are a lot of farms connected to the system.
Miedzyzdroje
Of all the campsites in the area, we chose Forest camp. In the caravan park app it is called Föreställningen camping. The campsite is located at the beginning of the town. We realised that the closer you get to the beach, the more expensive the pitches become. We paid 139 zlotys for a motorhome, two people and electricity per night. The service was great, we got tips about a newly built walkway along the beach and much more.
Due to few campers as it was still low season, we were allowed to stay at the campsite on the day of departure for as long as we wanted. Perfect when we were taking the evening ferry to Malmö. Cash payment was also required at this campsite, the nearest vending machine is inside Netto, which you pass on the way to the campsite. It went well to pay the next day.
On the day of arrival, we walked to the end of the town, which is about three kilometres. Due to the low season, only some of the shops and restaurants were open and despite that, the offer was great. We can only imagine what it is like in high season. At the campsite we got a tip on the best fish restaurant. It is called Port and is located almost at the end of the town. The menu was varied, the food good and the service good.
The next day we put on our hiking boots and packed a backpack with coffee with the goal of hiking in Wolin National Park. Near the Port restaurant there is a staircase to the park, where there is also a map and a vending machine to pay entry to the park.
We who have turned 65 can buy a ticket at a discounted price, the entrance fee for the two of us was 9 zlotys. The forest in the park is incredibly beautiful, mostly beech trees, all with high trunks and the crown at the top. The paths were easy to walk on, stairs at steeper slopes. NOTE! Dogs are not allowed in the park.
The park contains a facility built by the Germans for the training of soldiers in the late 1930s, which became a military unit in 1945 and was then taken over by the Soviet Union. Today, part of it is used for nature education in the park.
We also visited a large enclosed area with bison, deer, sea eagles and wild boar. This area has an entrance fee of 12 zlotys for people with a reduced fee, i.e. over 65 years old and young people.
Then we took the same way back and at Kwacza Góra we took the stairs down to the beach. By the time we were back at the campsite we had walked almost 1.5 miles. From the bison park there is also a shorter way to the city centre if you don't want to walk back and forth.
Time to go home
In the evening we took the Finnlines ferry to Malmö. You should be a couple of hours before departure in the harbour. You check in at the check-in desk, then you wait in the car park until the light turns green. Our ferry was due to leave at 21:30 and we were able to drive on the ferry at eight. The restaurants were open, however, we had taken the opportunity to eat the motorhome while waiting to drive onto the ferry, so we do not know how the food was. We were happy with the cabin and this ferry was also brand new.
We are very happy with our trip and for all golfers we really recommend the golf courses in Poland. We have seen and experienced a lot and as usual we have discovered that Poland has a lot more to offer, there will be more visits.
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Mr Björn Lövdahl says:
Finnlines has never operated a Trelleborg-Swinjouice service but only from Malmö
14 August 2024 - 8:54
Helena says:
Hi Bear! You are absolutely right! I contacted the writers and they send their regards and thanks for the attentive correction. They travelled with TT-Line, which is in the text now.
14 August 2024 - 13:30