Unfortunately, I was not able to travel much in 2021. But I couldn’t end the year like that, because one of my resolutions for the year was to visit a new country that year. So I thought for a while where I could travel to. A short trip alone and not too expensive. That was my goal. 

In the end I decided on Szczecin in Poland. I had only one day and from Berlin was it a perfect day trip. In the morning left my bus “Flixbus” (which is a cheap travel option in Europe) around 7 am. Three hours later I reached the main station in Szczecin. A little tired but excited, I set off. First I exchanged some money at a vending machine, so I had Polish money Złoty to buy something or for an experience. 

But since this was a low budget trip, I decided to explore the city on foot and spend nothing on the bus or train. For refreshment, I had sandwiches and my drinking bottle with me, which I always have with me. I had the weather on my side and marched off. In advance I had downloaded an offline map from Google Maps and marked all the points I wanted to visit. Highly recommended if you do not want to consume data volume and don’t get lost in the city. 🙂

Before the sightseeing began, I had bought a little something to eat to get some coins as change. What I noticed right away was that the waitress did not speak English. I’m not sure if this was an exception or if many people in Szczecin didn’t speak English. In any case, it can’t hurt to learn a few phrases/words:

Hello	Cześć!´
Good bye!	Do widzenia!
Excuse me!	Przepraszam
I don’t speak Polish.	Nie mówię po polsku.
What does it cost…?	Ile kosztuje…?

First of all, I made my way to Stare Miasto to check out the Hay Market there. The corner definitely gave me small town vibes. Sweet streets and few people. The perfect place to walk slowly around. It also serves as a perfect photo spot with the colorful and beautiful houses in the background. There are many benches to read, enjoy the sun or just take a break. 

Just a few minutes away is the castle of the Pomeranian Dukes. It’s impressive that the castle which of built in a renaissance architecture is in the middle of the city and you can even go inside the courtyard and read about the history of the castle from the first steps of building it, the from the heavy damage in the second world war and what the castle is used for today. 

Which I loved was the Szczecin sign with the cute figures and around the area was some art and plant. Can we talk about the view of the city? So beautiful and relaxing. I took my time and set on the bench and wrote about the day in my diary. Long time I was alone in that area and but in the distance I hear loud music, probably a concert was held nearby. 

I continued walking through the city and arrived at the Wały Chrobrego. From there you have a perfect view of the water and the Ferris wheel. So I saw the place for the distance where I was when I saw the “Szczecin” sign. What I also can recommend to visit is the Karlowicz Philharmonic, the royal gate and The Dialogue Centre Upheavals. 

Around 5 pm, my bus was leaving the train station to go to Berlin. It was a pretty spontaneous trip. I brought the bus ticket only the evening before the trip. So I didn’t do much research beforehand and certainly missed some free activities. But Szecicin is not far away and for this short time I made the most of it.

Best,

Saskia ❤