Boutique hotels in Poland

Poland has restored its historic centers with extraordinary care, and its boutique hotels often occupy the best of the buildings: a Renaissance residence of cathedral canons beneath Wawel Castle, a 16th-century palace by Warsaw's Royal Castle, a Gdańsk granary on the Motława or a Silesian manor in parkland. Prices are well below Western Europe, restaurants are creative and breakfast is usually generous.

The great cities

Kraków is the classic, with palaces in the Old Town and cozier hotels in Kazimierz. Warsaw is a rebuilt capital with an Old Town and a growing design scene. Gdańsk, Wrocław, Poznań, Toruń and Lublin each have market squares lined with gabled houses and good small hotels, while Łódź offers converted factories and Szczecin a revived port.

Coast, lakes and mountains

Sopot, Hel and Malbork bring the Baltic and the great Teutonic castle. Mikołajki and Masuria offer lakes and sailing, Zakopane, Karpacz, Jelenia Góra and the Bieszczady mountains give wooden chalets and spas, and Białowieża has the last primeval forest in Europe.

Smaller towns

Sandomierz and Kazimierz Dolny are riverside towns of Renaissance houses and artists' galleries.

When to go

May to September is best for the cities and coast; December brings Christmas markets; January to March is the ski season in Zakopane.