Holiday house to rent for self-catering holidays in Rabka Zdroj, 1 hour's drive from Cracow, Half an hour from Zakopane. Sleeps 5-10

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Frustrating the tourist. This as of 21/12/2007 is now historical information

Crossing the Polish border at Zgorzelec was a really annoying experience; in the past we experienced queues of between 30 minutes to one hour but it's all finished now. Even the customs buildings have been demolished. Hooray!

A new motorway has now been built to join with the motorway to Wroclaw. This will speed things up immensely on Polish roads near Germany. The former single track A4 road is full of bottle necks and single track traffic that can be delayed by tractors, road works and breakdowns.

GPS Systems and Poland

GPS systems loaded with Poland road maps aren't 100% accurate yet. We have found that the Garmin is pretty good around cities and more popular tourist areas such as Malopolska although it does sometimes fail spectacularly.

It gave us the wrong exit for a roundabout not far from the border. It was clearly signposted so didn't take us off course.

Amazingly though, it new that there were three houses with the number 19 in the same road at our Polish destination! Polish councils have not yet insisted that all houses are numbered individually or recorded them as such. One road we know has nine No. 25s.

Polish postal codes refer to a town and not to a specific road which also makes navigation vague when you approach your destination. Back to old fashioned maps once you arrive at the town.

Approaching the border guards at Zgorzelec on the Polish side in 2007

It's even more annoying when in your frustration you do eventually cross the border only to be fined by the police for supposedly speeding despite the lack of speed cameras.

Do watch the road as you cross the border into Poland, the speed limits are deliberately low, we suspect for maximum returns.

The road to Boleslawiec has new speed cameras as you enter many small villages. These are painted grey and some look forward. You will also encounter these as you travel through Poland. As far as we are aware the Polish traffic camera system does not yet access car data from other countries.

Speed limits in Poland

Please note that speed limits are generally lower than in the UK. They can also drop to very low at pedestrian crossings. These can be dimly lit at times, so do be careful.

Other differences in driving between the UK and Poland is the use of horns is forbidden in built-up areas.

Recommended petrol and food stop

Good place to stop for petrol and food just into Poland: There is a Shell and BP petrol station together on your left, a couple of miles over the border into Poland.

If you're still driving via the A4 into Poland and want to have the use of free toilets and a really good value meal, drive behind the BP station, past the lorries to the truckers restaurant. Portions are fit to feed a trucker and freshly cooked on the spot. Half a roast chicken, potatoes and veg costs around £3. There is also parking exclusively for cars to the right of this restaurant, plus a garden seating area with tables with umbrellas.