All-in-Poland, Family Camping Road Trip #5

After a year of living in the land of potatoes, pierogis and. . . (nope, NO POLKA DOT bikinis here). . . head-butting goats, Poznan, Poland, it’s finally summer vacation time and, yup, we’re on the move again!! This time exploring Poland

*21 days of family camping road trip number 5. This time it’s all in Polska–the beautiful land of Poles*.

We realize that even though we’ve done four family camping roadtrips across Europe already, we have never been to camping in Poland.

What?!?!? How did this happen? This cannot be!

For example, last year we spent 21 days on the road, 17 camping nights at 9 camp sites, 2 nights in a cave, a microtel and a roadside hotel from Spain to Poland.

*The lesser-known sand dunes and beach of Bolonia with Africa in the far distance.*

We started off our fourth family camping road trip in Tarifa–the windsurfing capital if Europe in the southwesternmost tip of Spain–to see the sand dunes of Bolonia and enjoy one of the most beautifual beaches of Spain (at least according to Andalucians) with a view of Africa in the distance, before ending our four-year “gap year” in Andalucia, Spain.

*A road trip stop at an almost forgotten Roman ruins of Acinipo in Andalucia, founded by retired Roman soldiers.*

Then, we moved inland towards the whitewashed houses tucked under the cliffside rocks, on the rocks and even in the rocks of Setenil de las Bodegas, with a hilltop Arab fortress, via the Roman Ruins of Acinipo where SPQR-soldiers once retired.

*Exploring the highest white villages in the Alpujarras, Spain.*

Then, a stop on a whim at a “secret” beach in Malaga to say farewell to the Mediterranean sea, before exploring Orgiva, Pampaneira, Capileira, Bubion, Yegen and Trevelez–the highest white villages of Spain in “Las Alpujarras”; the sunnysideup mountain region of Granada.

*Climbing down the highest road of the highest white village in Spain, Trevelez (that can be reached by car, that is).*

Onwards, upwards we went from mountain camping to cave dwelling in the desertlands of Granada and through Ubeda and Baeza–the most well-preserved Renaissance towns and UNESCO world-heritage sites in Spain.

*Our cave-house refuge in the desertland cave region of Granada, Spain.*

Then, camping by the emerald green chain of lagoons, visiting dinosaurs near the hanging houses of Cuenca, and a zen-like camping by a lakeside forest, all in the land of Don Quixote, Castile-La Mancha, before embarking on another semi-wild mountain camping (and climbing). Only, this time it’s in the micro-country of Andorra.

Casas Colgadas or the Hanging Houses of Cuenca. Photo: *Jonatan Jimenez/GMap*.

From there, we hauled as*es to get through France with an overnight camping by a lake (Lac du Salagou) with lots of creepy yet harmless crawfish crawlers via an impressive medieval fortress in Carcassone, eventhough there were too may tourists, like us.

*Almost wild family camping in Andorra. Where the heck is that?*

Then, a couple of mishaps related to the flooded campsites in France and the Covid-19 restrictions in Germany.

So, Poland was always the last leg of our road trip itinerary and we would usually rush home to Poznań to see our people.

Now, it’s time to change all that. The time has come for POLAND-ONLY VACATION.

Here’s what we plan to see and do this year in the south/southeast region of Poland, for our 5th family camping road trip:

Olsztyn and the trail of the Eagle’s nest,
Black Madonna of Częstochowa,
Krakow and the nearby attractions (Energylandia, Wadowice, Wieliczka Salt Mine),
Pieniny mountain,
drive through Slovakia’s southern Carpathian mountain,
stop by the Saint Magdalene church in Dukla,
do some trekking in the Bieszczady mountains and cross over into cross over to Ukraine (… maybe ; ),
go see about a famous beetle in Szczebrzeszyn,
and a charming art town of Kazimierz Dolny.

Some things to see in the south/southeast of Poland during our family camping road trip. This is from a **family-friendly, kid-approved** book that we mainly use for planning road trips: MAPS by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinski/Big Pictures Press (and no, NO, NOOOOoo, we are not getting paid for mentioning this!). Highly Recommended!

That’s 21 days, 8 campsites, 22 driving hours, 22 minutes and 1,743 kilometers on the road, plus side trips. . . and only half of our one-way trip from Spain to Poland. Imagine that!