The date you visit Poland determines the reason you travel. Here are some things to consider and decide upon to make your decision easier.

If your destination is by the seaside and you want to spend some leisurely time the best time to come will be July and August when the air and water temperatures are at their highest for the average of the year. The alternative dates are June or September with lower but reasonable temperatures and visibly smaller crowds. With a bit of luck both months should be mostly sunny and warm.

If the idea of coming to Poland is to ski or for winter sports the best time is between December and February with snow in the Tatry Mountains as well as the Sudety and Bieszczady. But looking at the metrological tendencies for the last few winters it is really hard to say what month is best and guarantees snow around the skiing facilities. The weather has gone rather unpredictable and it may be that the best season and a lot of snow will be November and December with no snow at all in January. The only advice is to watch weather forecasts before planning the trip, e.g., www.onet.pl (one of the Polish weather services).

If your destination is one of the big and well-known Polish cities and you plan to sightsee, visiting museums and the local attractions, it would be best to come in Spring (IV-VI) and Autumn (even at the end VIII-X). Temperatures are moderate and there are fewer tourists.

One more factor in choosing the best time for your visit is to take into consideration Polish national holidays or ‘long weekends’. Both make big cities lazy and some services close down or are limited. On the other hand, all important tourist places and regions get very busy and are usually fully booked. We have a “custom” in Poland; we prolong our holidays for as long as possible. Once every four years we have ‘the longest weekend in modern Europe’ as we like to call these special days off which last 9 days! It happened in 2007 with Tuesday ( May 1st) and Thursday ( May 3rd) our national holidays. Whoever could take the days off on Monday, Wednesday and Friday could organize a long weekend of 9 days! We love this type of sport and whenever we can we use all the opportunities to prolong the weekends and to fill gaps in the calendar. This is important to know because many holiday resorts and popular spots will be booked up by Poles for the long weekends! You should also think about the traffic on the roads before holidays and long weekends. It can get really bad…and you can get stuck in traffic for a long time.

Days off – fixed dates in Poland

January  1st – New Year

May 1st – Labor Day

May 3rd – Constitution Day

August 15th  – Church holiday Assumption of Virgin Mary

November 1st – All Saints Day

November 11th – Independence Day

December 25th  – Christmas Day 1

December 26th – Christmas Day 2

Easter Monday (usually last week of March)

Corpus Christi (at the end of May)

Last but not least, please remember about the summer and winter holidays for schools in Poland. If you want to come to Poland on these dates you would be well advised to book in advance. This is the seasonal peak demand time.

The summer holidays start in the 3rd week of June and last till September 1st. All schools are closed during this time across Poland.

The winter break comes in January and February. This lasts two weeks and Poland is split into regions where winter holidays are taken on different dates. This prevents crowding with all the children out at the same time filling up the resorts for their 2 week winter vacation.

So think about everything we talked about and pick the dates best for you. But whatever the time you choose I wish you an enjoyable and successful stay in Poland!

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)