This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel. We share our insider knowledge of tips, tricks and important things to look out for in Katowice.
Katowice, located in the Silesia region in southwest Poland, is a very industrial city. There isn't a picturesque old town to speak of, and the socialist architecture is nothing to write home about. Katowice, though, can be an interesting visit, because it doesn't offer the standard tourist gig. This city is rough at the edges, and you can find a few nice places to visit, surely, but mostly its dive-bars and aging industrial zones.
There are a couple of hostels in Katowice. The town is easy to get to, and many travelers are here for just that reason. Katowice Airport, a big budget airline hub, with flights from Ukraine and all over Western Europe, is well connected to town by bus. Katowice is also on the motorways between Warsaw and all points southwest. There are scores of buses taking you across the region and internationally to places like Vienna several times daily, and are a seven-hour trip. Many train lines also transit this town -- you may be looking to go to Auschwitz from here by train; it's on the way to Krakow. There are only direct connections a few times a day, otherwise you may have the experience of waiting in a rusty little town somewhere in the countryside. Not too far from Katowice is Giliwice, home to the world's tallest wooden structure -- a towering all-wood TV mast.
Written by local enthusiast for Katowice hostels
Carl