Poland and Slovakia; driving touring and camping.

[syncro up]

Hi

I'm looking to canvas opinion of those who have spent any time touring in Poland and Slovakia.
We are doing a touring honeymoon later this year and I’ve always wanted to see the Auschwitz camp so long story short we are looking at traveling from Berlin area to Krakow area, then cut through Slovakia to Vienna.
We are travelling with our T25 + trailer and our three year old so we are not looking for risk and adventure, just some culture and scenery.

I have heard some very old stories about Poland not being the place to take a nice car for fear of parts disappearing off it. But I’m sure that sort of thing is very out of date now, and I must say the Polish that I meet working over here are very friendly and lovely people.

So… who’s done it and how did they get on? Is it safe to leave your vehicle parked up? What are the campsites like? Did you have any problems with police or officials?

We can still go to the Auschwitz camp by travelling more in Germany and Czech Republic but I would like to see more if possible.
Cheers
Alastair

[AndrewP]

Hi
I've spent a lot of time in Slovakia - though this was before I owned a camper. It's a beautiful country populated with lovely people. Camping used to be looked down on and the only time I intended to camp the site was far too scary and I stayed in a hotel instead. That was shortly after the velvet revolution though and the country has changed enourmously since then. It even has some sites listed in the Alan Rogers guide to good campsites in europe book. The High Tatras are a steep version of the Alps and the Low Tatras are also stunning. Liptovsky Mikulas and the surrounding areas is well worth a vist. Krahule claims to be the dead centre of Europe and don't just bypass Bratislava, I think the centre is great (though British stag parties have sullied our reputaion out there). It's still cheaper there than here - but not by as much as it used to be.

I've never been to Poland!

I hope that's useful.
Andrew

[george 57]

i went to poland last year not in the camper tho .. went to the lakes it was amazing but saw some camp sites they looked very basic and our polish friends we went with said they didnt recomend them ... but b and b was very cheap the people were great and friendly ..also went to the wolfs lair where hitler had bunkers in the woods an amazing place (no bird song ) spooky some places we visited they had never met a english person before.. we hired a car and driving was ok ......... loved the place and hope to go back some time

[syncro up]

Thanks for the insite guys, thats very usefull.

But this time I think we will give this the miss, not least because Ive reworked the route and its no longer as convenient to go as far east.
Ive been doing some other research as well, and as youve suggested, camping in these areas seems to be an activity of the young as a means to get some time away from mum and dad. Therefore camping equals party time and the facilities are very (very) basic. So yea these arent recommended.

There are apparently a few upmarket sites but you really have to look for them. That combined with warnings about gangs impersonating local police and targeting forgien vehicles means I will give this area a miss just now. Defiantely return, but perhaps as a flying in and organised tour rather than on our own.
This holiday is our honeymoon, its taking a hell of a lot of money and planning to get it going and I dont want to risk that if I dont have.
These destination stay on the todo list...