We boarded the tram and took it one or two stops to Hauptbahnhof train station. This train station has direct services to Poland with joint efforts from German and Polish train lines. We sat in the premium lounge at Deutsche Bahn and got served a weird, but okay breakfast.

Getting There

The train ride itself is nothing special and you’ll only notice that you have entered Poland when you cross the Oder River. From Berlin to Poznan the train ride takes only about 2 hours. We did have some delays though and we were behind the usual schedule for at least 30 minutes. We spent our time reading and enjoying the scenery.

Puro Hotel

The Puro Hotel is located in the heart of Poznan and was the perfect choice for us. It was walking distance from all the major sites and more importantly close to the famous Stary Rynek Square. More importantly it’s a 5 star hotel that is rather cheap for its quality.

Stary Rynek

From our hotel the city square was a maximum 5 minutes walking distance. This is truly the gem and heart of the city and where we spent the majority of our time. The square is rather big and there are many shops, and cafes that line the square. In the summer they set up temporary stands to sell all types of goods.

For me this square was the best part of Poznan. It’s a very unique square and although it may have been rebuilt since World War 2, it still retains authenticity from days before World War 2. It was fun to walk around and look at the different buildings, statues, and churches.

While we were there it was actually pretty cold with highs only in the 60s. They had some cute cafes that supplied blankets and heaters; a perfect way to eat outside in the square.

A Polish Dinner

For dinner we walked over and met up with one of my mother-in-laws old friends in her apartment. She had her daughters with her and they treated us to a Polish dinner. It was a nice experience and I’m glad we got to take part. Afterwards they took us to a lovely jazz concert in the city center where the bands sang old Polish jazz music from before the war. I have recordings of the jazz concert and I’ll update this post in the feature to add them!

Breakfast at Ptasie Radio

The next morning my mother-in-law wanted to set up a family breakfast at Ptasie Radio for all the relatives that lived in Poznan. We went to this cute restaurant that served all types of brunch and my mother-in-law was generous enough to pay for everybody. I’m glad I met all of Romans side of the family even if I couldn’t understand most of them!

Town Hall of Poznań

My mother-in-law, Roman and I all left for breakfast and then went to the city center to see arguably the most famous site in Poznan. The two butting goats at Poznan Town Hall! They only go off at noon everyday so we had to rush over to make sure we could see it. Everybody was there and although unique it’s not that interesting in the end. But it was still on our path.

Poznań Cathedrals

There are many cathedrals throughout the city center of Poznan and all of them are Roman Catholic. Poland is a very religious country and you can find many churches throughout the city. I snapped a few photos of these churches and I have a video of some of the religious activities going on throughout the city center. If you follow my blog you know how I feel towards religion but it was still worthwhile to see these over the top beautiful buildings.

Perhaps the most famous is the Poznan Cathedral located just on the outskirts of the old city section. It’s a large cathedral that is the oldest surviving cathedral in Poland dating back to 968 AD.

Poznań Castle

Poland used to have a monarchy and during that time Poznan was the capital. At the heart of the city there is the Royal Castle that still remains. It is modest in appearance inside and there isn’t much to see but from the top you can look out over Poznan.

Park Cytadela

The park was one of the last places we visited and is located on the outskirts of the old city. The park is famous as it was once a battleground and now is a cemetery for the soldiers who fought there. These include British, Americans, French, Polish as well as Soviets. The park is large so although we didn’t get to see most of it we got to see a good taste of it.

Review

I had a great two days in Poznan and I was happy to spend it with my husband and my mother-in-law. They were able to speak Polish and I think it made our time in Poznan that much better. The city had enough to do for about 2 days and we really covered everything there was to see. It was nice to sit in the old square, have authentic Polish food and people watch. And although it was cold during our stay, I think it was the perfect way to end our time in Europe.