The times when the only accommodation one could expect in Poland was a bed in a hostel or the traditional hospitality of a night in a farmer’s barn have thankfully passed. Poland now has a wide network of places of stay, with more opening up all the time.

Poland has several thousand hotels. Tourists can choose among hotels belonging to international or Polish chains or opt for somewhere with history and character: an ancient chivalric castle, palace or even a former factory. “Boutique” hotels are becoming increasingly fashionable – cosy and with character, designed by well-known interior architects, these are places where guests can truly feel at home.

There are also increasing numbers of cosy guest-houses and small family-run hotels. Most of these are situated in the larger towns and tourist destinations, although some can also be found in the beautiful wilderness, like the Jaczno Inn near Suwalki and the Dworek nad Lakami in Kiermusy (Podlasie).

Rural holiday accommodation (“agroturystyka”) is another fast-developing sector. This sometimes means rooms on an upper floor while the owner’s family lives below sharing a bathroom, but more often now, it means specially adapted houses containing rooms with their own bathrooms. Thanks to such places, you can now find somewhere to stay where once it would have been a problem: in the countryside and in small villages.

In the mountains, hikers can make use of regularly spaced mountain hostels; by taking advantage of their hospitality, you can travel on foot across whole mountain ranges – the Bieszczady, Beskids, Tatras, Gorce and Sudeten mountains. Regardless of the standard (and this varies widely, from spartan to luxury), one rule always operates in the mountain hostels: hospitality is never refused to anyone who arrives on his own feet, particularly in the evening. If there are no spare beds in the rooms, hikers are allowed to sleep on the floor.

There also still exist some school hostels, namely empty schools made available to tourists during holiday time. They usually sleep in the classrooms, although the lack of decent bathrooms with showers is often a problem. The Polish Camping and Caravanning Federation has 187 patrolled campsites, all with modern facilities, where you can pitch a tent, park a caravan or rent a wooden chalet.