Latest news with #BalticExpress
Muscat Daily
7 days ago
- Muscat Daily
Poland is the new Croatia for Czech tourists
Prague/Warsaw – For about a hundred years, the 'Czech Riviera' was located on the Croatian coast. Year in, year out, most holidaymakers from the landlocked Czech Republic, which has a population of about 11mn, took their vacation in the Balkan country. But the tide has well and truly turned: A growing number of Czechs now travel north to Poland's Baltic coast instead. 'The climate has changed,' explains 50-year-old Ludmilla. 'I no longer want to holiday in the heat of Croatia or Greece. I'd like to enjoy my vacation in peace – without tropical temperatures.' Direct rail link The Czech Republic's state-owned railway company has reacted to the trend. The direct train link to Split in Croatia, which ran for decades, has been replaced by the Baltic Express, which travels four times a day from the Czech capital, Prague, to Gdynia, Sopot and Gdansk in Poland. It is often completely booked out in the summer season. Hundreds of thousands of other Czech tourists drive to Swinoujscie, Szczecin and Sopot on the Polish coast, making the most of the brand new, toll-free Polish motorways linking the two countries. And unlike their German neighbours, the Poles don't delay traffic coming from the Czech Republic with checks at the border. Holidays in Poland – a trending topic Poland's media and politicians have been watching this 'Czech invasion' closely. Articles about holidays in Poland are among the most widely read on Czech news websites, and all major Czech newspapers and television channels have sent special correspondents to the Baltic coast to report. Social media are full of posts about the Polish Baltic coast, and the pros and cons of holidaying there are debated in numerous online forums. Right across Poland's Baltic coast 'The presence of Czech tourists on the Baltic coast has been really noticeable since last year,' journalist Jakub Medek of the Polish radio station TOK FM told DW. 'I have the feeling that they make up the largest group of foreign tourists this year.' Medek says that initially, Czech tourists mostly travelled to destinations on the western part of the Polish coast, but that this has changed since the express train was launched: Now, many Czech tourists travel to Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot in the east. Medek says that this development is 'clearly seen as positive' in Poland. 'Massive increase' in Czech tourists This is confirmed by official statistics, too. 'Statistics on overnight stays show a massive increase in the number of Czech tourists in Poland,' says Pavel Trojan of the Czech branch of the Polish Tourism Association. 'They already constitute the fourth largest group of tourists: right after the Germans, the British and the Americans.' Poland's Office of Statistics said that 410,000 Czech tourists stayed in hotels in Poland last year. That's in addition to those who opted for private holiday rentals. 'When mobility in the border region and day-trippers are taken into account, we are second only to the Germans in terms of the number of tourists visiting Poland,' says Trojan. Initial estimates suggest that 2025 will be a record year. According to a report on the Polish website the number of Czechs on the Baltic Coast could hit 800,000 – a figure that puts Croatia, which used to be the darling of Czech tourists, firmly in the shade. Very different from Croatia Nevertheless, a vacation on Poland's Baltic coast, where it can rain in August and the water temperature sometimes fails to get above 20°, can be a disappointment for Czechs – or at least for those who are used to heat, warm sea water and sunbathing when they go on a foreign holiday. For them, the slogan 'Poland is the new Croatia', which was coined by the media, might be a little misleading. 'Poland is fundamentally different from the Mediterranean, both in terms of landscape and in terms of the beaches, sights, service and food,' says Trojan. 'So, it's better to be open, not leave your rain jacket at home, and prepare yourself for an amazing adventure.' Tusk welcomes the 'Czech invasion' The Czechs' new-found love for the Polish coast was also raised at the joint meeting of the Polish and Czech governments in Prague last year. 'I come from Gdansk and live in Sopot, so, I have seen firsthand this very pleasant and welcome summer invasion of Czech tourists on the Polish coast,' Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the website Wirtualna Polska. 'The Czechs have broken all historical records. Over half a million of them have visited Polish beaches, the Polish coast from Szczecin to Gdansk,' he added. Poland's economic success The new Czech enthusiasm for Poland and the Poles is not just limited to vacations on the Baltic coast. The Czechs also admire the economic strides its neighbour has made in recent years. Just 30 years ago, Poland was much poorer than the Czech Republic, which was the most affluent and most developed country in Central Europe after the collapse of communism. But Poland has since caught up with – and in many respects even overtaken – the Czech Republic, for example in terms of the development of its motorway network or wages. Although the Czech economy still outperforms the Polish economy, the same cannot be said for wages: Just three years ago, Polish wages were 25% lower than in the Czech Republic; today, they are higher. 'The day is coming when Czechs will emigrate to Poland to work,' wrote the Polish website Obserwator Gospodarczy. The most striking difference is between the minimum wage in both countries: In the Czech Republic, it is a third lower than in Poland, where the monthly average is US$1,308. This is the result of the cost-cutting policy of the centre-right government of Petr Fiala, which has reduced the country's deficit to 2.2% of GDP. In Poland, the deficit stood at 6.6% of GDP last year. DW
DW
7 days ago
- DW
Poland is the new Croatia for Czech tourists – DW – 08/13/2025
Czech tourists have fallen in love with Poland's Baltic coast. For many, the love affair is a result of a changing climate, for others it's rooted in admiration for Poland and its economic success. For about a hundred years, the "Czech Riviera" was located on the Croatian coast. Year in, year out, most holidaymakers from the landlocked Czech Republic, which has a population of about 11 million, took their vacation in the Balkan country. But the tide has well and truly turned: A growing number of Czechs now travel north to Poland's Baltic coast instead. "The climate has changed," explains 50-year-old Ludmilla. "I no longer want to holiday in the heat of Croatia or Greece. I'd like to enjoy my vacation in peace — without tropical temperatures." The Czech Republic's state-owned railway company has reacted to the trend. The direct train link to Split in Croatia, which ran for decades, has been replaced by the Baltic Express, which travels four times a day from the Czech capital, Prague, to Gdynia, Sopot and Gdansk in Poland. It is often completely booked out in the summer season. Hundreds of thousands of other Czech tourists drive to Swinoujscie, Szczecin and Sopot on the Polish coast, making the most of the brand new, toll-free Polish motorways linking the two countries. And unlike their German neighbors, the Poles don't delay traffic coming from the Czech Republic with checks at the border. Poland's media and politicians have been watching this "Czech invasion" closely. Articles about holidays in Poland are among the most widely read on Czech news websites, and all major Czech newspapers and television channels have sent special correspondents to the Baltic coast to report. Social media are full of posts about the Polish Baltic coast, and the pros and cons of holidaying there are debated in numerous online forums. "The presence of Czech tourists on the Baltic coast has been really noticeable since last year," journalist Jakub Medek of the Polish radio station TOK FM told DW. "I have the feeling that they make up the largest group of foreign tourists this year." Medek says that initially, Czech tourists mostly traveled to destinations on the western part of the Polish coast, but that this has changed since the express train was launched: Now, many Czech tourists travel to Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot in the east. Medek says that this development is "clearly seen as positive" in Poland. This is confirmed by official statistics, too. "Statistics on overnight stays show a massive increase in the number of Czech tourists in Poland," says Pavel Trojan of the Czech branch of the Polish Tourism Association. "They already constitute the fourth largest group of tourists: right after the Germans, the British and the Americans." Poland's Office of Statistics said that 410,000 Czech tourists stayed in hotels in Poland last year. That's in addition to those who opted for private holiday rentals. "When mobility in the border region and day-trippers are taken into account, we are second only to the Germans in terms of the number of tourists visiting Poland," says Trojan. Initial estimates suggest that 2025 will be a record year. According to a report on the Polish website the number of Czechs on the Baltic Coast could hit 800,000 — a figure that puts Croatia, which used to be the darling of Czech tourists, firmly in the shade. Nevertheless, a vacation on Poland's Baltic coast, where it can rain in August and the water temperature sometimes fails to get above 20°, can be a disappointment for Czechs — or at least for those who are used to heat, warm sea water and sunbathing when they go on a foreign holiday. For them, the slogan "Poland is the new Croatia," which was coined by the media, might be a little misleading. "Poland is fundamentally different from the Mediterranean, both in terms of landscape and in terms of the beaches, sights, service and food," says Trojan. "So, it's better to be open, not leave your rain jacket at home, and prepare yourself for an amazing adventure." The Czechs' new-found love for the Polish coast was also raised at the joint meeting of the Polish and Czech governments in Prague last year. "I come from Gdansk and live in Sopot, so, I have seen firsthand this very pleasant and welcome summer invasion of Czech tourists on the Polish coast," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the website Wirtualna Polska. "The Czechs have broken all historical records. Over half a million of them have visited Polish beaches, the Polish coast from Szczecin to Gdansk," he added. But Poland's Baltic coast is not a cheap vacation option for Czechs: Prices are similar to those in Prague or the world famous Czech spa town Karlovy Vary. Nevertheless, they are still less than half what they are on Germany's Baltic coast. What's more, vacations in Croatia have become noticeably more expensive in recent years. That being said, groceries cost much less in Polish supermarkets than they do in the Czech Republic. But the beer is expensive. The Czech national drink can cost about €6 ($7) for 500 ml (roughly a pint) in restaurants on the Polish coast. "It's pricey here!" says 60-year old Jirka, as he enjoys a cold beer in Sopot. "But they do have Czech beer." The new Czech enthusiasm for Poland and the Poles is not just limited to vacations on the Baltic coast. The Czechs also admire the economic strides its neighbor has made in recent years. Just 30 years ago, Poland was much poorer than the Czech Republic, which was the most affluent and most developed country in Central Europe after the collapse of communism. But Poland has since caught up with — and in many respects even overtaken — the Czech Republic, for example in terms of the development of its motorway network or wages. Although the Czech economy still outperforms the Polish economy, the same cannot be said for wages: Just three years ago, Polish wages were 25% lower than in the Czech Republic; today, they are higher. "The day is coming when Czechs will emigrate to Poland to work," wrote the Polish website Obserwator Gospodarczy. The most striking difference is between the minimum wage in both countries: In the Czech Republic, it is a third lower than in Poland, where the monthly average is €1,120 ($1,308). This is the result of the cost-cutting policy of the center-right government of Petr Fiala, which has reduced the country's deficit to 2.2% of GDP. In Poland, the deficit stood at 6.6% of GDP last year.
BBC News
24-02-2025
- BBC News
The Baltic Express: Central Europe's new hop-on hop-off train
The Baltic Express bursts out of the Czech capital on a crisp winter morning. As the sky lightens, medieval Prague is streamed through the train's windows like a Netflix trailer. From armchair seats in private compartments, a city of Rococo castles and wide boulevards appears: the "Paris of the East", mostly unscathed by Nazi occupation in the 1940s or socialist planning in the 70s. Moments later the train hums through a timeless Czech countryside. Onion-domed churches and frozen fishing lakes scroll past as the train sprints north. The recently launched route from Prague to Gdynia on Poland's Baltic coast operates four times daily, and takes travellers directly into Central Europe's most vibrant and less-touristed cities that were previously tricky to get to. It will entice international travellers who want to combine a city break with a rural experience, followed by a holiday on the beach. The term "Baltic Express" is an ambitious misnomer. Think of this new 878km connection not as one of the speedy plane-killer routes trending in recent years – like London to Amsterdam or Istanbul to Ankara – custom-built to compete with budget airlines. Instead, the eight-hour trip promises a scenic history tour through overlapping empires via some of the Czech Republic and Poland's most buzzing cities, including Gdansk and Poznan. Best of all, this highly affordable and experiential journey allows passengers to hop-on and hop-off wherever they choose. My own journey started in Prague's Hlavní Nádraží station. From outside, the terminus looks like a cathedral to train travel with twin cupolas rising from its roof like Roman temples. The station was built in 1871 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which ruled Central Europe, laid train tracks around the empire as a way of weaving all trade and security through the empire's capital of Vienna. Inside the station, Nádraží Hlavní's main departure hall was decorated when the Czech Republic was part of the Soviet Empire and is a socialist rainbow of primary colours. Yet unbeknown to most passengers, one floor above sits an original waiting room styled in Art Nouveau, while a soaring dome in this higher level overlooks Romanesque statues and polished brass rails. In 2024, the fancy Foyer Café opened in an adjoining salon, serving Czech riesling and viennoiserie pastries high above the hoi polloi. It's a fine way to start a continental meander. After just one hour aboard the Baltic Express, I make my first hop-off stop at Pardubice. The 100,000-person city exudes Czech charm. The old town square is Prague-esque, with church steeples shaped like space rockets and townhouses coloured every shade of pastel. Pardubice's Austro-Hungarian townhouses are as fancily familiar as in every empire city: Sarajevo, Brno, Lviv. Yet I can count that day's tourists on one hand. Ironically, statues in Pardubice commemorate the birthplace of Czech aviator Jan Kašpar. In 1911, Kašpar flew south from Pardubice to Prague, following the railway tracks now used by the Baltic Express. The mechanical efficiency of aviation has competed with the romanticism of rail ever since. I rejoin the Baltic Express an hour before sunset. The topography rises towards the Polish border in an undulating green sheen. First oak woods, feral deer and icy streams. Then pine forests, hunting lodges and deep snows as the train climbs into the quickening night. As Europe has become borderless, only a choral chirp from passengers' cellular networks welcomes our train to Poland. I share my seating cabin with a woman named Marta Kortas who works in Gdansk's data analytics industry. "The train has made a new connection for me because I have friends in Prague and southern Poland," she tells me. The region of rural Silesia flashes past in the dark, where passengers can get off for thermal springs and salt mines. Kortas lived here during Covid lockdown. "I even dreamt I could move back and use the train to commute to my office a few days per month. Direct connections between Prague, Wroclaw and Poznan makes that dream much easier." More like this:• A new night train connecting some of Europe's great cities• Europe's stunning high-tech luxury train• The Train d'Artouste: Europe's highest narrow-gauge train Around 20:00, I alight, alongside Polish business commuters, to spend the night in Wroclaw, Poland's historical third city. For nearly a century before 1945, Wroclaw was the German-speaking city of Breslau, and its Teutonic-Gothic train station was designed by a Prussian architect. After World War Two, however, Poland's borders shifted west and the train station formerly known as Breslau Hauptbahnhof was renamed Wroclaw Glowny – although direct services still run to Berlin on tracks laid by the German Empire more than a century ago. I wake up to Wroclaw's whirling snow and reboard the Baltic Express for the third time, strolling along the length of the eight-carriage train to gauge the passenger make-up. There are bike racks and bench tables, a dining car and coffee bar, occupied by everyone from Polish grannies to Czech work-from-homers. It's the mix anticipated by Jan Hrabáček of Czech national rail operator České Dráhy, whom I speak to en route. "We already have a connection from Prague to Budapest and Warsaw," says Hrabáček, who helped develop the Baltic Express route. "So the idea of the Czech and Polish transport ministers was to connect the quickest possible route from Prague and Wroclaw to the sea." Tourism, not business, will be the key summer driver: Czechs used to drive south to Croatia for holidays, says Hrabáček, but now it's expensive. "Czech people 'found' Poland as a destination because the beaches are great and the weather has become warmer." The joy of the Baltic Express is that it affords a few hours in destinations one might otherwise overlook, like the Czech spa town of Kłodzko or Poland's medieval city of Leszno. I make my penultimate pitstop in Poznan, a Polish cultural capital that has an old town square as pretty as any imagined in a Disney fairytale. I start in the square's Military Museum, where rakish Napoleonic tunics and dashing air force costumes – Polish soldiers knew how to dress – tell of a darker story. Poland has only enjoyed 50 years of independence in the last two centuries due to Austro-Hungarian, Nazi and Soviet occupiers, which makes the safeguarding of the country's culture during difficult times even more impressive. For example, the interiors of the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help look like a darkly atmospheric Vatican with a ceiling as kaleidoscopically intricate as a Fabergé egg. I learn that the Nazis turned the basilica into a warehouse before it was restored after World War Two. Meanwhile, Poznan's magnificent brick brewery, Stary Browar, a city in itself, was mothballed during the Soviet era. It has been reborn as a cultural space and shopping hub near the train station. At lunchtime, I embark on my final leg towards Gdansk. As a board the train, a conductor I met the day before gives me a nod of welcome. The Baltic Express is starting to feel like home. The cosiest space is the dining car. A chef grills fresh gołąbki (pork-stuffed cabbage leaves), her assistant spoons out pumpkin barley with kale and the waiter decants bottles of Łomża beer. The train catering company WARS holds a special place in Polish hearts, having catered on international rail routes from Irkutsk to Istanbul since 1948. It's a long way from a British Rail sandwich. A fellow diner is marketing consultant Karolina Paszkiewicz. "The trains Poland had 10 years ago were slow and cold," she recalls. The train to Gdansk, where Paszkiewicz's clients are based, used to take nine hours from her hometown of Wroclaw. "Today it's four and half," smiles Paszkiewicz, as she munches on a Polish apple pie. "After you've eaten and opened your laptop, it's time to get off." We're nearly at the end of the line. Outside, the landscape freezes and flattens. A whirl of seagulls intimates that we're descending towards the sea. The natural port of Gdansk has been Poland's window on the world for seven centuries. As a member of the Hanseatic trading league, the port city exported goods around the Baltic Sea between Hamburg, Riga, Bergen and Bremen. Visible from our slowing train are handsome wharf houses where beeswax, amber and furs could be winched up from passing ships. In Gdansk, history is inescapable. The train terminal is a mirror of Colmar station in France's Alsace region, both designed by German architects when Imperial Germany governed these parts. The city's Museum of the Second World War shares how the first shots of one of Earth's greatest conflicts were fired right here. Finally, the European Solidarity Centre highlights Gdansk's shipworkers' role in helping to bring down Soviet communism decades later. What makes the Baltic Express special is its sense of interconnectedness. It's a Czech-Polish train, travelling on tracks laid by Austrians and Germans that offers the freedom to eat, sleep and explore en route. Experiential train travel has a new destination. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
