Two days in Poznan
I first visited Poland back in 2005, on a school trip. I spent a few days in Krakow and I remember having a really great time. For some reason, I’ve just not made it back since then. Finally, I found some cheap flights to Poznan for a weekend when choosing a destination for June. I arrived at noon on the Saturday and didn’t leave until 11pm on the Sunday, which gave me plenty of time to explore.
I fell in love with the city almost immediately, and so two days in Poznan was definitely not long enough for me – I’ll want to come back again to spend longer here! There are so many more things that were on my list of things to do.
Still, here is what I managed to squeeze into two days in Poznan for those looking for ideas for their own trip. I loved my two days there, so would definitely recommend this itinerary.
Getting around Poznan
When landing at the airport, bus 159 is the bus that goes into the city centre. There are lots of different options for buying tickets, both physical and digital, but I ended up going for the 24-hour paper ticket. At the time of my visit, there was a special offer where if you validated the ticket on Friday or Saturday, it would last all weekend until Sunday night. This seemed both the best value option, and the least complicated as I just had to validate it once, then not worry about tickets for the rest of my trip. The ticket machine at the airport only took coins (no notes), however you can buy tickets at the Relay shop just before the exit as long as you have cash. There is an ATM opposite the shop that won’t charge a fee for using it (Bank Pekao).
The buses and trams are very easy to use, and Google Maps will guide you to where the stops are. Many places are easily walkable, though, so plan out what you’d like to see, as you may not need to use public transport that much at all. Uber also exists in Poznan if you don’t want to try and deal with the public transport. I used the bus a couple times on Sunday as I visited the Thermal Baths which was too far for me to walk.
Farmers Market
After getting the airport bus to the city centre, I started walking towards a restaurant I’d found for lunch. On my way, I passed by a fantastic farmers market located at Plac Wielkopolski. This market is open every day (except Sundays) and there are a range of stalls. Most sell fresh fruit and vegetables, but there were some clothes stalls there too. The prices were very reasonable, and so I bought myself a nice large bag of gooseberries to snack on throughout my trip. I bought 500g and, even though I didn’t speak Polish, it was easy enough to communicate with the sellers. It was cash only, so make sure you’ve got some with you. The area is covered so even if it’s raining, there should be stalls there to visit. This market is just a few minutes away from the town square so it’s very easily accessible.
Lunch – Traditional Polish Food
After getting to the main square, I immediately looked to find a restaurant with traditional Polish food. I chose Wiejskie Jadło which is just off the main town square. It had great reviews, and I loved the look of the soup in the bread bowl. They have English menus available and I ordered Zur with sausage, potato and egg in a bread bowl. They accidentally brought me it in a regular bowl but immediately fixed that when I pointed it out. Along with that, I also ordered myself potato dumplings with fried bacon and onion with cabbage on the side.
Unfortunately, the food just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t bad – but the sausage in the soup isn’t one I’m a fan of, and I just wasn’t a huge fan of the soup itself. I loved the bread bowl it came in, though, as it was really good bread! I ate everything (except the cabbage, not for me) but I wouldn’t order any of it again. The bacon and onion with the fried potato dumplings was good, but I didn’t really like the texture of the potato itself. However, there were quite a few other things on the menu that looked really good, so I would happily go back here again and give it another chance! I think I just had bad luck in picking what to order. The staff were really friendly and the prices were very reasonable, given how central it was.
Poznan Old Town Square
After lunch, I spent some time just wandering the town square enjoying the beautiful coloured buildings and picking up some souvenirs. On my walking tour, I learned that a lot of the buildings were reconstructed after the war but painted in the original styles. The designs on the buildings are all so intricate and beautiful, so you should definitely take your time here. I really loved the vibe of the city, and the old town square is just so relaxed and beautiful. There are several fountains and lots of restaurants. My hostel was just a few minutes away from the square which meant I was able to walk through it multiple times and I loved it. It looks lovely in the evening so definitely try and visit it again around sunset.
There are some souvenir shops on the east side of the square, next to the town hall. However, I found the best prices were actually at the tourist information centre. It has a small selection of magnets and post cards and you’re able to pay by card.
Poznan Goats
The Poznan Goats are one of the most famous things to see in the old town square. Unfortunately, during my visit there was a mechanical failure so we weren’t able to see them. Instead, all I have is a photo of the doors where they would come out. There are a few different legends about how the goats first appeared, but they all share the same basic idea that two goats started fighting, and the townspeople loved it so much that they built a clock to represent it. It used to only happen once a day at Noon, but they started doing it a second time at 3pm. A lot of souvenirs all focus on the goats, and unfortunately I’d already bought a goat magnet before learning it wasn’t working. Still, that just gives me another reason to go back!
Poznan Archaeological Museum
I love museums, especially history museums. Poznan has a lot of museums that all look fantastic, but since I had limited time I decided to pick the Archaeological Museum. It has both Polish history and a section on Ancient Egypt. As you can probably tell from my posts on Egypt, I love Ancient Egypt! The very first thing you see when you walk into the museum is an obelisk of Ramesses II, which is just stunning.
The museum is located just to the south of the town square. You can spot it easily by the huge map of Poznan on the side of the building. The entrance is on the other side, so you need to walk round. The museum is open every day of the week, except Mondays. You can check their website for up to date ticket prices. I visited on a Saturday, so entry was free! The museum has several permanent exhibitions and several temporary exhibitions.
For the permanent exhibitions, some had translations, but sadly the one about Polish history was only in Polish. As a tourist, that was the one I was most interested in! I used a translation app on my phone, but it would be really nice to have translations. If there were any resources in English, I didn’t see them. The Poland prehistory exhibit was translated though, and was very interesting. My favourite section was definitely the Ancient Egypt part. It was quite small, but everything was well presented. The final section was Rock Art of North Africa which I found fascinating, although this was another section that could have used more English translations.
Overall, I found this a fascinating museum and would definitely recommend it.
Korean Food
After the museum, I went to check into my hotel then head out for food. As I hadn’t really enjoyed my traditional food for lunch, I decided to try out a Korean Fried Chicken shop I found online called Kim Chi Ken. Having recently been in South Korea, I’m still wanting to eat delicious Korean food every chance I get! The shop I found specialises in fried chicken and is very reasonably priced.
Unfortunately it seemed luck was not with me today for food! Although the chicken was good, it was just far too sweet for me. I ordered honey and garlic hoping it would have a strong garlic flavour but it focused more on the honey. It also wasn’t anywhere near as crispy as the fried chicken in Korea, which is one of the things I liked best about it. I did still enjoy it, but just not as much as the versions I had in Korea. I’d still happily go back though, but I’d make sure to order something more savoury next time!
After a very fun but busy Saturday, I then headed back to my hostel for a nice early night after enjoying yet another walk through the town centre. I had a private room to myself and got a double bed so it was nice to relax while listening to the rain outside.
Day 2
Poznan Free Walking Tour
It will likely come as no surprise to people that follow me on Twitter that the first thing I did on Sunday was take a free walking tour of the city. I love free walking tours, and they are always the top of my list when travelling somewhere new. The only reason I didn’t do one on the Saturday was that my flight didn’t arrive early enough. The meeting point was Wolności Place, located just to the west of the Old Town. While visiting, there was a concern happening in the square so I got to enjoy some live music while waiting for the guide.
Our guide was great, and I really enjoyed the time we spent wandering the old town. He timed it so that we would reach the Town Hall in time for the goats, but of course they still weren’t working. Instead, he then took us to a small statue of the two goats so we’d at least see some goats in Poznan. There was lots of interesting history and useful information about other things to do after the tour. The tour ended beside a lovely park and our guide then gave us all plenty of recommendations for places to eat. As I was only in Poznan for two days, I didn’t have time to try out everywhere, but the places I did visit were great!
St. Martin’s croissant – Rogal świętomarciński
One of the food items mentioned by our guide was the traditional St. Martin’s croissant. This is eaten on the 11th November to celebrate St. Martin’s day, however, there are plenty of bakeries in Poznan that sell it all year round. It is a croissant filled with poppy seed paste and can also have raisins, nuts or dried fruit in it. During our tour, we passed a bakery just off the old town square that had a very long line. However, our guide let us know that it’s mostly popular due to the location and there are some much better, and less busy, places.
The bakery I chose to visit was called Elite, as it was just a couple minutes away from the end of the tour. The croissant I got was a small one, but it was so filling I could only eat half and save the rest for later.
Poznan Street Art
While on our walking tour, our guide stopped to point out this little guy. He’s called the Watcher and is by a local Poznan street artist. You can find him all over the city and in various other cities around the world. While exploring later on, I managed to spot a couple more and I definitely wouldn’t have known to look for them if not for the guide pointing them out. This isn’t the only street art though, there’s plenty more interesting murals to spot around the city. I found this website that lists some of the street art you can see, but didn’t have time to check it out other than the famous 3D mural near Poznan Cathedral.
Mural Śródka
Although I’ve just mentioned street art, I felt I had to have a section just for the 3D mural at Śródka because it’s just so fantastic. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to visit Poznan Cathedral or not, but since this was just next to it I figured why not. It ended up being an excellent decision as I loved the mural, and I loved the whole area. There is a whole bunch of street art nearby, and I only walked along two streets so there’s probably lots more that I missed.
Perfect Pierogis – Na Winklu
After my bad luck with food on Saturday, I struck lucky with my choice of lunch! I went to Na Winklu for pierogis thanks to a recommendation from my walking tour guide. I loved this place so much that I would come back just to visit it again! It’s very popular, and I was lucky enough to get the last free table. I would definitely recommend booking in advance as I only managed because they had a reservation that didn’t turn up.
They have the option of either baked or boiled pierogis. I couldn’t decide, so got both! You could mix and match flavours for the baked ones choosing between 3 or 5. For the boiled, you could only get one flavour. I chose the black pudding boiled ones, which were incredibly delicious. For baked I went with the classic meat, the Mexican one and the chicken and garlic one. It was a lot of food, but it was delicious. I would happily order every single thing again.
They also have really nice lemonade, which I would definitely recommend.
Poznan Cathedral
The Cathedral has a history dating back over 1,000 years. It was originally built in the 10th century but has been rebuilt several times over the years. It’s the oldest cathedral in Poland and plays an important role in the Christianisation of Poland. However, I was rather underwhelmed by the inside. It is impressive, but I definitely preferred the Basilica in the old town. I did visit during a service though, so wasn’t able to look around very much. The inside was very simple and plain though, with not much decoration.
On the way there, I crossed the Jordan Bridge. There are some love locks here, but also several displays about the history of the Cathedral. I enjoyed the historical illustrations, although there were no English translations. Google Translate to the rescue again!
Thermal Baths – Termy Maltańskie
I absolutely loved visiting Therme Bucharest earlier in the year, so when I saw that Poznan had Thermal Baths too I had to check them out! The prices were really reasonable and just like in Romania, there were different areas. I chose the spa area (highest tier) for three hours as that would give me just enough time until I needed to head to the airport.
The spa was fantastic. Lots of different saunas to choose from at a range of temperatures. One important thing though is that, unlike in Romania, the saunas are much more traditional, which means no swimming costumes! You can buy a towel to cover yourself but be warned that lots of people won’t use them inside the saunas. You need to be pretty comfortable with nudity to enjoy this area! I took the attitude of “I’ll never see these people again so who cares”. I also didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t really see other people anyway, it was all just a blur!
Conclusion
Overall, I had a fantastic two days in Poznan. I loved the city and it just had really nice vibes. I definitely will want to visit again in the future as there were so many other things that looked lots of fun.
Have you visited Poznan? What other activities would you recommend to visitors spending two days in Poznan? Any other Polish cities you recommend?
