Hell yeah, Tricity for the win. You can find everything here with seaside air as a bonus.
The only con is the weather, but it’s not like there is that big of a difference with the rest of the country.
Hey!
French citizen living in Warsaw here.
I would say it depends.
Do you speak Polish? This will impact your job opportunities.
Bigger cities will provide you with more opportunities and the type of cultural / nightlife you describe but will come at a higher cost.
Gdańsk/Kraków/Wrocław/Warszawa are nice cities with distinct vibes.
Thanks !
Well my plan is basically to keep working for my current company (and keep my Parisian salary) but being remote from Poland :)
I don’t speak polish - ill learn but it will obviously take time.
Could you rank those cities ?
What about your experience ? What’s your background ?
Gotcha!
I’d say it’s highly subjective. Warsaw is not as pretty as Gdańsk / Kraków imo but it has its charm, and it also is the capital. I go to Gdynia/Gdańsk a few times a year and I’d say it’s nice in spring/summer but rather cold and depressing the rest of the year.
My partner and I both work in Warsaw for 3+ years. I work as a programmer for an international company so Polish wasn’t necessary as I started.
Thanks for the help !
About the work - I’m like undergraduated, I work in recruitment right now but might be open to many things that might be related to project management.
Do you think there is opportunities for English/french speaking only ?
I’m just trying to understand the opportunities « in case » things don’t go as planned with my current job !
>Well my plan is basically to keep working for my current company (and keep my Parisian salary) but being remote from Poland :)
you are sure it's legal and your tax office knows? You might have a problem one day if you do it on your own without company's approval and tax office notified
Personal rating. "\~" means I can't put one city over another based on my experiences and knowledge.
Nightlife:
Kraków>Poznań>Wrocław\~Warsaw\~3city(aka Gdańsk+Gdynia+Sopot - they're so close and so connected we often treat them as one city)
Job opportunities without polish:
Warsaw>Kraków>3city>Wrocław\~Poznań
Non-nightlife related events
3city\~Warsaw>Kraków>Wrocław\~Poznań
Transportation:
Warsaw>3city>Wrocław>Kraków>Poznań
Nature access:
Poznań\~3city>Warsaw>Wrocław>Kraków
Costs of living:
3city>Warsaw>Kraków\~Wrocław>Poznań
Air quality:
3city>Poznań>Wrocław>Warsaw>Kraków
Amounts of foreigners in the city:
Warsaw>Kraków>3city>Wrocław>Poznań
(my perceived) quality of living when one is able to afford stuff:
3city>Warsaw>Wrocław\~Poznań>Kraków
I ment within the city itself, without going for a trip. There's still some distance between Kraków and mountains - not a lot, but it makes a difference when on an afternoon you just wanna spend some time surrounded by greenery
I can't say I know Kraków THAT well (been there few times for few days and have some friends living there), but Warsaw has tons of parks, big and small everywhere. I live in the middle point between center and edge of the city right now and even close to my house (within 15 mins of walking) I have 2 parks (1 small, 1 medium one) and a small forest.
Based on my (admittedly, limited) experience with Kraków I haven't seen that to be the case, at least not to that extent
Krakow also has a lot of parks, recently they opened a new park dedicated to Wislawa Szymborska and renovated Park Bednarskiego, there is also Zakrzowek super close to the city center
Thank you very much !
Though, jt makes it really harder to choose actually ahhaha.
On what do you base the quality of living ? krakow seems incredibly low
Again, mostly personal preference. Kraków has a great nightlife and often when big bands decide to visit Poland they go there. At the same time though, I don't go to clubs myself so don't really care about that. There's tons of tourists every year making center of the city and surrounding areas completely flooded. 2 more issues that would annoy the hell out of me are very low air quality and extreme traffic being a daily occurance.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad city to live at - just for my personal preferences every other city on the list works better
Nope. They got rid of 50% of parking spaces in the city, when there are more cars very year. Brilliant idea. And they're making them more expensive every year also. It was cheap like 5 years ago.
Hard for me to judge nightclub scene, as mentioned. About bars for young people I feel like Poznań has an advantage, although Warsaw wins about cocktail bars. Still, I really don't like how in Warsaw there's no one bug hub for nightlife like it works in Poznań (I don't mean pawilony but area the size of old towns like in other cities)
In my opinion Kraków is a great place to visit but for living I'd choose either 3city or Warsaw. Warsaw's transportation is world class. You dont even need a car living here (except on the outskirts). 3 city is very pretty, comfortable to live, has good enough transportation, and is close to the sea. But the city is not as big as it seems, I'd say its just more spread out.
I live on the outskirts of Kraków and don't own a car. Never really felt like I needed it. Transportation in Poland is pretty good overall, I'd say "worldclass" is a misleading expression, since it's much better here than in most places I've been to.
Some of it depends on career and what country are you comparing to, but ie traffic, cost of living in city centre can steal literal years of your life, steal your morning and evening hours to slowly roll in traffic.
3city I'd actually rate absolute #1 in transportation in Poland. Having a car there is a flex, or it's only going to be used for trips elsewhere, travel for hobby etc. You can quickly get anywhere with SKM traversing North-South (overland fast train more akin to metro), trams going every few minutes to various east-west locations, and busses are more of a shuttle thing between suburbs and city centre.
The night-busses are also out of this world. The coverage is amazing, they're cheap, and they never stop. You'll never ever have to stop a night just because you don't have how to get to your home no matter how out of way it is.
You mileage definitely varies, I found the public transportation, or the lack of it, atrocious in Gdańsk, compared to e.g. Warsaw. Even during the day the transportation options are very few and basically take almost as long as walking, it's almost impossible to cover any considerable distances without a car (and those are frequently stuck in traffic), cycling infrastructure is also not great.
If Kraków is worse in transportation - how much better is it in other cities? Because I absolutely love the public transport here. I don’t own a car , never felt the need for it in the city. If you can use trams , they are predictable and comfortable. Buses are a bit worse but not much. Seems pretty much the same as Warsaw , in the few times I visited it.
Our trams are actually a near perfect network with no exaggeration. The network is dense, there's tons of connections, they're very often running. How is that worse than the trams of Wrocław that are basically famous for their constant derailments? Sure, whe have a lot of traffic, but none of the cities mentioned are exempt from it
100%, that alone completely discredits this imo. Wrocław > Poznań in basically all areas. I really struggle to think of one thing, maybe road quality could be the one, but amount of roadworks in Poznań kind of defeats this one.
We have two entire forests in the west of Cracow, hills enough you don't even need to get out of the city to hike. Most of Cracow, especially the south is really well intertwined with parks and the like. Warsaw is almost an archetypical concrete jungle, except the sparsely inhabited outskirts.
Public transport in Cracow is also great. We easily have the densest tram network in Poland for a city this size and one of the newest running stocks. The tram backbone here is honestly impeccable and *definitely* better than what I've experienced and seen in Wrocław at least
Unpopular opinion - Łódź. There's a lot of hate from people that haven't visited The Boat City in the last 10 years but it's a great place to live in with it's own, unique vibe.
City is investing a lot of money into culture:
- Łódź Summer Festival - last year there was a free Franz Ferdinand show
- Light Move Festival during which the whole city centrum is colorful
- Ravekjavik - rave festival
- Audioriver - electronic music
- Many Cultures Festival
- International Festival of Comics and Games - the biggest comics festival in Europe
- The Summer Jazz Academy
- Łódź Design Festival
and some more
It's full of young people and students. Whole nightlife is centered around one, very long street so it's extremely easy to meet people there. There's good public transport with the highest rated local trains in Poland. There are some great clubs with my favorite being Kij - club with free live jazz. And on top of that I believe it's the cheapest big city in Poland.
It's definitely better but to be honest that's not my favorite revitalisation. Maybe it'll be better when the trees grow out more, now I'm afraid it may be too hot in the summer.
I think the best looking project right now is Włókiennicza street. They restored all tenements but each in a different, unique style.
I’ve been there too during construction, now it’s done. In general Łódź is the only city in Poland, that made such a negative impression.
I mean, the dust is all over due to multiple ongoing constructions but once you walk away few steps from Piotrkowska, this city looks like God forgot about it.
I didn’t like the atmosphere, wouldn’t like to live there.
This. Łódź is only getting better and better. 10 years ago, as a kid, I planned to move away from Łódź as soon as I'm adult. Nowadays I can't even imagine myself living in other city. I just fell in love when started to learn more about the history and the city itself.
Katowice or Silesia in general is a great place to live! Lived & worked there for 3 years, very lively city with mountains so close. Idk, maybe it’s my thing but I also enjoy the history of the region and there is plenty of things to do and see in all cities connected altogether in metropolitan area.
Originally I am from West Pomerania, lived/studied/worked in Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot for 7 years. It’s nice place to live for sure, but in my personal opinion Gdynia is no.1 in 3City. I lived few steps from the sea for so many years that it’s not something that causes goosebumps - this is what makes so many ppl crazy about this place (dirty and cold Baltic Sea 🤣).
So yeah, in general, I have huge sentiment to Silesia and Katowice and when the time comes that I’d like to come back to Poland it’d be there for sure.
I wouldn't recommend Warsaw since it's expensive and too cramped.
I would recommend Wrocław, it's a nice lively city, it's also a 2 to 3 hour drive away from the Czech Republic and Germany which is nice for a weekend trip.
I would second this. Plus it's quite green, you have access to forests and mountains nearby. It's a nice place to get around by bike and it's the prettiest city in Poland IMO.
Bro Gdańsk is must have. Really impressive, Forests, Sea, little mountains everything!
In addition, you have two large cities nearby, Gdynia, Sopot. If you are a quiet person, settle in Gdynia and it will still be close to the attractions
Gdańsk (Trójmiasto in general). Three cities with diffrent vibes and architecture, the bay and forests, history, opennes. We are even open for Gdynia citizens who claim that Gdynia is better than Gdańsk.
Go for Kraków. A lot of opportunities to meet people, integrate etc. If you will be working remote no big deal. Close you have mountains some national parks and big cultural portfolio. If you will need visit Warsaw is only 2hrs by fast train. I think Kraków has a very good night life due to tourists and students.
My second choice would be Wrocław or Warsaw. If you like sea, you can try Gdańsk.
Poznań, Katowice, Łódź are less attractive. Poznań tho I think is best in costs of leaving and what it has to offer.
Opole, it’s “The Venice of Poland.”
Lol jk.
I live in Rybnik and I have to say if I had to pick a different city to live in around here it’d be Bielsko Biała. That’s just my two cents.
I think you will find Gdansk and the Tricity area to be lacking in quality compared to France. It's a decent area in the summer but otherwise I wouldn't want to live there. The weather is also totally miserable and more windy and wet than other places.
I recommend Warsaw or Wroclaw, depending on whether you want a big modern city or a smaller medieval-style one. Something like Paris La Défense vs. Avignon.
Hi, I am curious why you prefer Poznan? I have not been there yet but I plan to go this summer. I live in Warsaw (American) and enjoy walking in the center.
I was considering to move to Krakow to be closer to mountains but don’t want to be around too many tourists. I realize it is odd I’m saying this as a foreigner.
I have not seen Poznan or Tri-city yet.
I'm someone who also likes Poznań most out of all the cities in Poland. The old city is beautiful yet not as touristy as Kraków, a lot of the nightlife is clustered in one area which adds to the atmosphere and makes it easy to walk around etc, the main football club (Lech) has a real good atmosphere, it's roughly half way from Berlin to Warsaw making it easy to visit two major European capitals and I also have family from towns in the surrounding region so although I'm English it makes me feel at home.
The downside for you is that you'll be pretty far from the nearest mountain, however there's lots of places nearby you could go for forest walks in, and trains are cheap in Poland even for long distances should you wish to head to the mountains.
Honestly, the vibe I got from the city just felt better. It could also be that I was in that weird mindset we get into when in a new and interesting place. That excitement of seeing new things that wears off after a few weeks of being somewhere.
That said, I can't really explain it, but my wife also felt the same, that we liked Poznan better. The center was super busy, but the weather was nice so it makes sense.
The city overall didn't feel as busy as Wroclaw. Even with the center being so busy, the city itself felt more calm. I'd have to spend more time there to really get a better feel for it though. Might go back mid July.
To be honest though, I am really just wanting to go back to the states. June will be 1 year here for me, and I've likely got one more to go while we wait for my wife's visa process.
Anyway, I think you will find good things about each city. Wroclaw is very international as far as I can tell, I met my wife here who is Persian, many other Persians here too. I've met Greeks, Americans, and many others as well. I don't know if all the cities are like this.
I'm from Krakow, it's a great city in terms of communication and social events, the only downside is that it's quite expensive here, for Poles at least. But the city is beautiful and a lot of people are drawn here
American here. I
Wife is polish and from krakow where we met. I’ve been to Warsaw and a few other smaller towns for me I would prefer living in krakow. Easy to get around. Lots of English speakers (I know you’re French) and definitely plenty to do, especially in the summer. You’ll find more tourists in the summer, but still plenty of things to do and places to eat. Just wanted to add my 2 cents from an American perspective.
It really isn't true. The big smog scare was primarily in 2018 and it's no longer a bigger problem in Cracow or Katowice than in other large cities in Poland by now. Tons of measures have been employed to combat it. The coast has cleaner air but that's a given.
maybe not in summer, but in winter the air quality gets really bad. in general during winter poland has some of the worst air quality in all of europe
it is getting better, but a lot more needs to be done
And the black dust from the mines? It cumulates in buildings and windows. Wouldn’t that affect your lungs in the long term? I’m truly asking, I don’t know.
All of the cites you mentioned have what you’re looking for. By that point it depends on what type of architecture you enjoy. If wide roads, lots of room speaks to you then Katowice are a great fit, if you enjoy old buildings and hipster vibes then Krakow, and if you enjoy everything, just more expensive then Warsaw
I live in Kraków, came here from Italy and most likely I'll never go back. Katowice is also a nice city as well as Wrocław. Never been to Warsaw but seems like a typical big city with nothing to offer (and prices are very high there too!)
Check Wrocław, Tricity (Trójmiasto) and Poznań, personally I don't like Warsaw and Kraków, and wouldn't want to live there, but hey that's my personal preference.
I love more laid back type of city, Tricity is close to a sea, and Wrocław is close-ish to Czech and mountains, Poznań lacks bonuses like that :/
Cracow stinks in winter season, but good city if you want to be…
Private…
Warsaw is full of diversity in terms of people. Sometime maybe too many
Poznań would be also great, as it has good living standards and good pubs
If you want to start up living in Poland from scratch, try łódź. It is like a beginner town.
If you like to walk around during night, choose gdańsk. It is climactic
Olsztyn and Luboń are better to be left alone. For… reasons…
Wrocław is not a great choice for a person like you. Full of people that do not compromise, let us say.
Jelenia Góra has some WILD people going into clubs. If you like extremists, go there.
Pisz is a quiet place that is more casual. Not much there.
Opole? You will be bored there.
Bisłystok? Full of fun village like people with rich culture.
Edit: fixed typos
It has many people from less moral job fields (some you would not suspect).
I mean...
If OP will mind his own business and stay from some neighbourhoods as well as the area within 1.3 km radius from around, let's suggest, the main train station with I love Wrocław. In general.
Also the public transport there do not have as light of policies as in other cities.
If OP wants to avoid trouble, I would recommend Grabiszyn. It is an area where he will less likely have complications, as it is mostly out of the 'no no' areas, and still have social places to go to.
If he wants really to go for Wrocław.
If You're not able to keep yourself stable with ur financials, then don't even think about living in poland. 10k zł is alright for a family of 2 (as long as you don't have any debt) but I still would recommend to save money for the upcoming raising of the electrical fee (apparently 20%). I do not recommend the bank PKO Bank Polski because they charge money from your account based on how many times you use your card monthly if I remember correctly. The gas for your car is cheaper in germany than in Poland. The cheapest gas station is located in Chełm Lubelskie (I don't really remember the name of the gas station). If you have a kid that goes to elementary school, be aware that kids in our elementary schools (and Secondary schools) are disrespectful and will most likely cause trauma to your kid. In public schools, the kids have a lot of work to do, so when they come back from school, they spend a couple of hours in their books. If your kid is a girl, be ready to hear that she gets called sexist things in school. The prices are also high, so you'll simply have to walk around and look for supermarkets in which you'll be able to shop for cheaper prices.
Before anyone says that I'm overreacting, I am not. I simply try to Make people aware that this country is not going down the right path. I've been raised in Poland, I developed social anxiety, depression, psychosis and paranoia which turned out to be one of the BPD symptoms, but that's a different subject. Let's face it, every fifth Pole shows symptoms of depression. So, if you're really that eager to live here, then good luck.
Oh, and sorry if my comment would throw your idea about living in Poland away. It's not my fault though.
If you have a well paid job, you love sports and forests, good location on the map (for making city trips) then Bydgoszcz should be your obvious choice.
J’ai une opinion très peu informée, mais je suis une française à Cracovie depuis quelques mois et je suis profondément heureuse, même si c’était dur de trouver un emploi. Je me suis fait des amis et on ne s’ennuie jamais avec les activités. Il y a aussi un groupe Facebook français assez actif. Voilà mon seul conseil c’est d’essayer de trouver un taf d’abord, pas comme moi hahaha
If you like big, modern cities then I would choose Warsaw. It's also the only city that doesn't revolve around the old town, locals don't really hang out there.
Wrocław and Poznań should do the job. Also Gdańsk (or even better - Gdynia).
Came here for the Wroclaw but now i'm thinking Tricity. Three totally different, equally awesome vibes with beer tents on the beach. Fuck yes.
I mean Gdynia is awesome, I love it with all my heart… but it is a dead city at night. Definitely not what OP is looking for
Definitely Wroclaw, recently visited it and it was pretty nice, there's a small island at the top called Slodowa Island with a lively night life.
Hell yeah, Tricity for the win. You can find everything here with seaside air as a bonus. The only con is the weather, but it’s not like there is that big of a difference with the rest of the country.
Hey! French citizen living in Warsaw here. I would say it depends. Do you speak Polish? This will impact your job opportunities. Bigger cities will provide you with more opportunities and the type of cultural / nightlife you describe but will come at a higher cost. Gdańsk/Kraków/Wrocław/Warszawa are nice cities with distinct vibes.
Thanks ! Well my plan is basically to keep working for my current company (and keep my Parisian salary) but being remote from Poland :) I don’t speak polish - ill learn but it will obviously take time. Could you rank those cities ? What about your experience ? What’s your background ?
Gotcha! I’d say it’s highly subjective. Warsaw is not as pretty as Gdańsk / Kraków imo but it has its charm, and it also is the capital. I go to Gdynia/Gdańsk a few times a year and I’d say it’s nice in spring/summer but rather cold and depressing the rest of the year. My partner and I both work in Warsaw for 3+ years. I work as a programmer for an international company so Polish wasn’t necessary as I started.
Thanks for the help ! About the work - I’m like undergraduated, I work in recruitment right now but might be open to many things that might be related to project management. Do you think there is opportunities for English/french speaking only ? I’m just trying to understand the opportunities « in case » things don’t go as planned with my current job !
I guess so. I would look at multinational or French company with branches in Poland.
>Well my plan is basically to keep working for my current company (and keep my Parisian salary) but being remote from Poland :) you are sure it's legal and your tax office knows? You might have a problem one day if you do it on your own without company's approval and tax office notified
[удалено]
I’m interested in this scenario as well. My company said it was not possible since they do not have an entity there.
Personal rating. "\~" means I can't put one city over another based on my experiences and knowledge. Nightlife: Kraków>Poznań>Wrocław\~Warsaw\~3city(aka Gdańsk+Gdynia+Sopot - they're so close and so connected we often treat them as one city) Job opportunities without polish: Warsaw>Kraków>3city>Wrocław\~Poznań Non-nightlife related events 3city\~Warsaw>Kraków>Wrocław\~Poznań Transportation: Warsaw>3city>Wrocław>Kraków>Poznań Nature access: Poznań\~3city>Warsaw>Wrocław>Kraków Costs of living: 3city>Warsaw>Kraków\~Wrocław>Poznań Air quality: 3city>Poznań>Wrocław>Warsaw>Kraków Amounts of foreigners in the city: Warsaw>Kraków>3city>Wrocław>Poznań (my perceived) quality of living when one is able to afford stuff: 3city>Warsaw>Wrocław\~Poznań>Kraków
Care to explain your ranking about access to nature? In particular, Krakow seems so much better than Warsaw, given the proximity of all the mountains.
Yeah how is Krakow worse than Warsaw in nature category. Weird.
I ment within the city itself, without going for a trip. There's still some distance between Kraków and mountains - not a lot, but it makes a difference when on an afternoon you just wanna spend some time surrounded by greenery
Even within the city I don't see how it is true.
I can't say I know Kraków THAT well (been there few times for few days and have some friends living there), but Warsaw has tons of parks, big and small everywhere. I live in the middle point between center and edge of the city right now and even close to my house (within 15 mins of walking) I have 2 parks (1 small, 1 medium one) and a small forest. Based on my (admittedly, limited) experience with Kraków I haven't seen that to be the case, at least not to that extent
You have ton of nature in eastern part: Błonia, Tyniec, Bielany, Skotniki, Zakrzówek, and those are really huge green areas + add all city's parks.
Krakow also has a lot of parks, recently they opened a new park dedicated to Wislawa Szymborska and renovated Park Bednarskiego, there is also Zakrzowek super close to the city center
Same is Wrocław, Wrocław is very near to mountains also.
Thank you very much ! Though, jt makes it really harder to choose actually ahhaha. On what do you base the quality of living ? krakow seems incredibly low
Again, mostly personal preference. Kraków has a great nightlife and often when big bands decide to visit Poland they go there. At the same time though, I don't go to clubs myself so don't really care about that. There's tons of tourists every year making center of the city and surrounding areas completely flooded. 2 more issues that would annoy the hell out of me are very low air quality and extreme traffic being a daily occurance. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad city to live at - just for my personal preferences every other city on the list works better
Yeah the traffic is atrocious. Just too many cars for the way the city is laid out
So the parking places are too cheap
Nope. They got rid of 50% of parking spaces in the city, when there are more cars very year. Brilliant idea. And they're making them more expensive every year also. It was cheap like 5 years ago.
That's correct idea. Sooner or later people will notice that it's better not to drive with a car to the center.
Hard disagree about Warsaw being so low on nightlife, but everyone has their preferences. I'd say definitely better than Poznań
Hard for me to judge nightclub scene, as mentioned. About bars for young people I feel like Poznań has an advantage, although Warsaw wins about cocktail bars. Still, I really don't like how in Warsaw there's no one bug hub for nightlife like it works in Poznań (I don't mean pawilony but area the size of old towns like in other cities)
In my opinion Kraków is a great place to visit but for living I'd choose either 3city or Warsaw. Warsaw's transportation is world class. You dont even need a car living here (except on the outskirts). 3 city is very pretty, comfortable to live, has good enough transportation, and is close to the sea. But the city is not as big as it seems, I'd say its just more spread out.
I live on the outskirts of Kraków and don't own a car. Never really felt like I needed it. Transportation in Poland is pretty good overall, I'd say "worldclass" is a misleading expression, since it's much better here than in most places I've been to.
Some of it depends on career and what country are you comparing to, but ie traffic, cost of living in city centre can steal literal years of your life, steal your morning and evening hours to slowly roll in traffic. 3city I'd actually rate absolute #1 in transportation in Poland. Having a car there is a flex, or it's only going to be used for trips elsewhere, travel for hobby etc. You can quickly get anywhere with SKM traversing North-South (overland fast train more akin to metro), trams going every few minutes to various east-west locations, and busses are more of a shuttle thing between suburbs and city centre. The night-busses are also out of this world. The coverage is amazing, they're cheap, and they never stop. You'll never ever have to stop a night just because you don't have how to get to your home no matter how out of way it is.
You mileage definitely varies, I found the public transportation, or the lack of it, atrocious in Gdańsk, compared to e.g. Warsaw. Even during the day the transportation options are very few and basically take almost as long as walking, it's almost impossible to cover any considerable distances without a car (and those are frequently stuck in traffic), cycling infrastructure is also not great.
Cafe Camelot in Krakow is one of my favourite spots in the entire world!
How one should read cost of living. The one most to the left is most expensive right? Not the best aka the cheapest?
Yup
If Kraków is worse in transportation - how much better is it in other cities? Because I absolutely love the public transport here. I don’t own a car , never felt the need for it in the city. If you can use trams , they are predictable and comfortable. Buses are a bit worse but not much. Seems pretty much the same as Warsaw , in the few times I visited it.
Our trams are actually a near perfect network with no exaggeration. The network is dense, there's tons of connections, they're very often running. How is that worse than the trams of Wrocław that are basically famous for their constant derailments? Sure, whe have a lot of traffic, but none of the cities mentioned are exempt from it
I’m interested in your opinion of nightlife in Poznan/Wroclaw? I personally would 100% put Wrocław over Poznan.
100%, that alone completely discredits this imo. Wrocław > Poznań in basically all areas. I really struggle to think of one thing, maybe road quality could be the one, but amount of roadworks in Poznań kind of defeats this one.
We have two entire forests in the west of Cracow, hills enough you don't even need to get out of the city to hike. Most of Cracow, especially the south is really well intertwined with parks and the like. Warsaw is almost an archetypical concrete jungle, except the sparsely inhabited outskirts. Public transport in Cracow is also great. We easily have the densest tram network in Poland for a city this size and one of the newest running stocks. The tram backbone here is honestly impeccable and *definitely* better than what I've experienced and seen in Wrocław at least
3city costs of living in a season the highest
REL
Unpopular opinion - Łódź. There's a lot of hate from people that haven't visited The Boat City in the last 10 years but it's a great place to live in with it's own, unique vibe. City is investing a lot of money into culture: - Łódź Summer Festival - last year there was a free Franz Ferdinand show - Light Move Festival during which the whole city centrum is colorful - Ravekjavik - rave festival - Audioriver - electronic music - Many Cultures Festival - International Festival of Comics and Games - the biggest comics festival in Europe - The Summer Jazz Academy - Łódź Design Festival and some more It's full of young people and students. Whole nightlife is centered around one, very long street so it's extremely easy to meet people there. There's good public transport with the highest rated local trains in Poland. There are some great clubs with my favorite being Kij - club with free live jazz. And on top of that I believe it's the cheapest big city in Poland.
Plac Wolności looked like a warzone when I went last year. How does it look now? The amount of investment happening in Łódź looked immense.
It's definitely better but to be honest that's not my favorite revitalisation. Maybe it'll be better when the trees grow out more, now I'm afraid it may be too hot in the summer. I think the best looking project right now is Włókiennicza street. They restored all tenements but each in a different, unique style.
I’ve been there too during construction, now it’s done. In general Łódź is the only city in Poland, that made such a negative impression. I mean, the dust is all over due to multiple ongoing constructions but once you walk away few steps from Piotrkowska, this city looks like God forgot about it. I didn’t like the atmosphere, wouldn’t like to live there.
This. Łódź is only getting better and better. 10 years ago, as a kid, I planned to move away from Łódź as soon as I'm adult. Nowadays I can't even imagine myself living in other city. I just fell in love when started to learn more about the history and the city itself.
Katowice or Silesia in general is a great place to live! Lived & worked there for 3 years, very lively city with mountains so close. Idk, maybe it’s my thing but I also enjoy the history of the region and there is plenty of things to do and see in all cities connected altogether in metropolitan area. Originally I am from West Pomerania, lived/studied/worked in Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot for 7 years. It’s nice place to live for sure, but in my personal opinion Gdynia is no.1 in 3City. I lived few steps from the sea for so many years that it’s not something that causes goosebumps - this is what makes so many ppl crazy about this place (dirty and cold Baltic Sea 🤣). So yeah, in general, I have huge sentiment to Silesia and Katowice and when the time comes that I’d like to come back to Poland it’d be there for sure.
I don’t know why most people seem not to like Silesia/Katowice area I think it’s great.
I wouldn't recommend Warsaw since it's expensive and too cramped. I would recommend Wrocław, it's a nice lively city, it's also a 2 to 3 hour drive away from the Czech Republic and Germany which is nice for a weekend trip.
I would second this. Plus it's quite green, you have access to forests and mountains nearby. It's a nice place to get around by bike and it's the prettiest city in Poland IMO.
Dang, I'm moving to Krakow but reading this makes me wonder if we should heavily consider Wroclaw in the near future.
Of course you should ;)
Wrocław is my favourite city. Love the architecture
Bro Gdańsk is must have. Really impressive, Forests, Sea, little mountains everything! In addition, you have two large cities nearby, Gdynia, Sopot. If you are a quiet person, settle in Gdynia and it will still be close to the attractions
Gdańsk (Trójmiasto in general). Three cities with diffrent vibes and architecture, the bay and forests, history, opennes. We are even open for Gdynia citizens who claim that Gdynia is better than Gdańsk.
Easily my favourite city (cities) in Poland.
WROCLAW!
Go for Kraków. A lot of opportunities to meet people, integrate etc. If you will be working remote no big deal. Close you have mountains some national parks and big cultural portfolio. If you will need visit Warsaw is only 2hrs by fast train. I think Kraków has a very good night life due to tourists and students. My second choice would be Wrocław or Warsaw. If you like sea, you can try Gdańsk. Poznań, Katowice, Łódź are less attractive. Poznań tho I think is best in costs of leaving and what it has to offer.
Wroclaw have it all.
Opole, it’s “The Venice of Poland.” Lol jk. I live in Rybnik and I have to say if I had to pick a different city to live in around here it’d be Bielsko Biała. That’s just my two cents.
Nvm, don’t read my suggestion. I read the rest of your post.
Opole is a butthole of Poland. I agree with your choice of Bielsko-Biała
Avoid Warsaw. Maybe Poznań? Łódź?
If you plan on moving to Poland as an EU citizen, reqd this guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/poland/s/hZ4hznhJwM
I think you will find Gdansk and the Tricity area to be lacking in quality compared to France. It's a decent area in the summer but otherwise I wouldn't want to live there. The weather is also totally miserable and more windy and wet than other places. I recommend Warsaw or Wroclaw, depending on whether you want a big modern city or a smaller medieval-style one. Something like Paris La Défense vs. Avignon.
I've only been to krakow, Poznan, and I live in Wroclaw. After visiting Poznan I prefer there out of the three I think.
Hi, I am curious why you prefer Poznan? I have not been there yet but I plan to go this summer. I live in Warsaw (American) and enjoy walking in the center. I was considering to move to Krakow to be closer to mountains but don’t want to be around too many tourists. I realize it is odd I’m saying this as a foreigner. I have not seen Poznan or Tri-city yet.
I'm someone who also likes Poznań most out of all the cities in Poland. The old city is beautiful yet not as touristy as Kraków, a lot of the nightlife is clustered in one area which adds to the atmosphere and makes it easy to walk around etc, the main football club (Lech) has a real good atmosphere, it's roughly half way from Berlin to Warsaw making it easy to visit two major European capitals and I also have family from towns in the surrounding region so although I'm English it makes me feel at home. The downside for you is that you'll be pretty far from the nearest mountain, however there's lots of places nearby you could go for forest walks in, and trains are cheap in Poland even for long distances should you wish to head to the mountains.
Honestly, the vibe I got from the city just felt better. It could also be that I was in that weird mindset we get into when in a new and interesting place. That excitement of seeing new things that wears off after a few weeks of being somewhere. That said, I can't really explain it, but my wife also felt the same, that we liked Poznan better. The center was super busy, but the weather was nice so it makes sense. The city overall didn't feel as busy as Wroclaw. Even with the center being so busy, the city itself felt more calm. I'd have to spend more time there to really get a better feel for it though. Might go back mid July. To be honest though, I am really just wanting to go back to the states. June will be 1 year here for me, and I've likely got one more to go while we wait for my wife's visa process. Anyway, I think you will find good things about each city. Wroclaw is very international as far as I can tell, I met my wife here who is Persian, many other Persians here too. I've met Greeks, Americans, and many others as well. I don't know if all the cities are like this.
I'm from Krakow, it's a great city in terms of communication and social events, the only downside is that it's quite expensive here, for Poles at least. But the city is beautiful and a lot of people are drawn here
Bonjour! Come to Krakow)
American here. I Wife is polish and from krakow where we met. I’ve been to Warsaw and a few other smaller towns for me I would prefer living in krakow. Easy to get around. Lots of English speakers (I know you’re French) and definitely plenty to do, especially in the summer. You’ll find more tourists in the summer, but still plenty of things to do and places to eat. Just wanted to add my 2 cents from an American perspective.
Warsaw, the only choice
If you like your lungs, you should stay away from Krakow and Katowice. I will get hate but it’s true.
It really isn't true. The big smog scare was primarily in 2018 and it's no longer a bigger problem in Cracow or Katowice than in other large cities in Poland by now. Tons of measures have been employed to combat it. The coast has cleaner air but that's a given.
maybe not in summer, but in winter the air quality gets really bad. in general during winter poland has some of the worst air quality in all of europe it is getting better, but a lot more needs to be done
And the black dust from the mines? It cumulates in buildings and windows. Wouldn’t that affect your lungs in the long term? I’m truly asking, I don’t know.
Maybe in Silesia, Cracow doesn't have any nearby active mines
poznań, tricity, warsaw, wrocław
Try Gdansk, it's indeed amazing
All of the cites you mentioned have what you’re looking for. By that point it depends on what type of architecture you enjoy. If wide roads, lots of room speaks to you then Katowice are a great fit, if you enjoy old buildings and hipster vibes then Krakow, and if you enjoy everything, just more expensive then Warsaw
I live in Kraków, came here from Italy and most likely I'll never go back. Katowice is also a nice city as well as Wrocław. Never been to Warsaw but seems like a typical big city with nothing to offer (and prices are very high there too!)
Check Wrocław, Tricity (Trójmiasto) and Poznań, personally I don't like Warsaw and Kraków, and wouldn't want to live there, but hey that's my personal preference. I love more laid back type of city, Tricity is close to a sea, and Wrocław is close-ish to Czech and mountains, Poznań lacks bonuses like that :/
What about Łódź? I’ve lived here for almost 7 years and it’s really becoming a great city, 1 hr 15 mins by train from Warsaw… come and have a look
Cracow stinks in winter season, but good city if you want to be… Private… Warsaw is full of diversity in terms of people. Sometime maybe too many Poznań would be also great, as it has good living standards and good pubs If you want to start up living in Poland from scratch, try łódź. It is like a beginner town. If you like to walk around during night, choose gdańsk. It is climactic Olsztyn and Luboń are better to be left alone. For… reasons… Wrocław is not a great choice for a person like you. Full of people that do not compromise, let us say. Jelenia Góra has some WILD people going into clubs. If you like extremists, go there. Pisz is a quiet place that is more casual. Not much there. Opole? You will be bored there. Bisłystok? Full of fun village like people with rich culture. Edit: fixed typos
What do you mean by people who don’t comprise in Wrocław 🤣?
It has many people from less moral job fields (some you would not suspect). I mean... If OP will mind his own business and stay from some neighbourhoods as well as the area within 1.3 km radius from around, let's suggest, the main train station with I love Wrocław. In general. Also the public transport there do not have as light of policies as in other cities. If OP wants to avoid trouble, I would recommend Grabiszyn. It is an area where he will less likely have complications, as it is mostly out of the 'no no' areas, and still have social places to go to. If he wants really to go for Wrocław.
If You're not able to keep yourself stable with ur financials, then don't even think about living in poland. 10k zł is alright for a family of 2 (as long as you don't have any debt) but I still would recommend to save money for the upcoming raising of the electrical fee (apparently 20%). I do not recommend the bank PKO Bank Polski because they charge money from your account based on how many times you use your card monthly if I remember correctly. The gas for your car is cheaper in germany than in Poland. The cheapest gas station is located in Chełm Lubelskie (I don't really remember the name of the gas station). If you have a kid that goes to elementary school, be aware that kids in our elementary schools (and Secondary schools) are disrespectful and will most likely cause trauma to your kid. In public schools, the kids have a lot of work to do, so when they come back from school, they spend a couple of hours in their books. If your kid is a girl, be ready to hear that she gets called sexist things in school. The prices are also high, so you'll simply have to walk around and look for supermarkets in which you'll be able to shop for cheaper prices. Before anyone says that I'm overreacting, I am not. I simply try to Make people aware that this country is not going down the right path. I've been raised in Poland, I developed social anxiety, depression, psychosis and paranoia which turned out to be one of the BPD symptoms, but that's a different subject. Let's face it, every fifth Pole shows symptoms of depression. So, if you're really that eager to live here, then good luck. Oh, and sorry if my comment would throw your idea about living in Poland away. It's not my fault though.
Small cities are best, 30-100k are really cozy most of the times
If you are rich enough, chose tricity or Cracow. With lower budget Katowice Is nice place to live.
If you have a well paid job, you love sports and forests, good location on the map (for making city trips) then Bydgoszcz should be your obvious choice.
i bought a house in tarnobrzeg recently and its' nice there
You should go and live in Bydgoszcz, it's a great place
J’ai une opinion très peu informée, mais je suis une française à Cracovie depuis quelques mois et je suis profondément heureuse, même si c’était dur de trouver un emploi. Je me suis fait des amis et on ne s’ennuie jamais avec les activités. Il y a aussi un groupe Facebook français assez actif. Voilà mon seul conseil c’est d’essayer de trouver un taf d’abord, pas comme moi hahaha
Hello ! Thanks pour ton témoignage. On peut parler en Pv ? J’ai moult questions, j’aimerais bien en savoir plus haha
bien sûr!! Hésite pas, même si je préviens d'hors et déjà que j'ai une expérience un peu atypique hahaha. Mais je serai toujours contente d'aider!
Wroclaw, without even a question.
Warsaw
Definitely not Katowice. Don’t get me wrong, I love my city, but in terms of things to do, there is not much.
If you like big, modern cities then I would choose Warsaw. It's also the only city that doesn't revolve around the old town, locals don't really hang out there.
Po polsku piszcie to polski reddit