It's not crapowice, it's ok! (Katowice)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Katowice
Date:	20/07/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quite charming in its own way (except perhaps the train station)

Disadvantages: Poor nightlife options, not a great deal to offer your average tourist

The decrepit train station in Katowice is in true Polish style, it's concrete network of small shops and urine stenched alleys where the drunks and homeless totter around may not be the perfect welcome to the city but at least it can only get better from then on!

Katowice is not really your traditional Polish tourist destination, it doesn't have a cute old town, it has little in the way of great museums and the Silesian town tends to get a lot of stick from Poles from other parts of the country, it has a label as ugly but I like to think of it as just a little bit different.

The cobbled streets with trams running through them and 19th century houses (albeit fairly dirty from nearby industry) are quite charming, there's a lot of good connections to nearby Silesian towns and villages where you can find some great museums, mostly to do with the industry and mining of the past. There's a general concensus that Katowice is struggling but that couldn't be further from the truth, it's actually the most prosperous region in Poland and has seen tonnes of investment from foreign companies, unemployment is low. It's just a case of "The Proclaimers" - ugly but successful!

What Katowice does really lack is a decent nightlife, pubs tend to be small Polish pub/clubs or German beer hall styled places and they tend to close up relatively early, you will not find particularly modern cafes and bars and certainly a poor selection of nightclubs. House parties is what it's all about in this region!

Two festivals are Rawa Blues Festival and Off Festival in nearby Myslowice which tends to cover alternative and punk music, there are also a lot of enormous concerts in nearby Chorzow.

It has to be said that my knowledge on accomodation options in Katowice isn't very good because I've always stayed with friends there, I dare say a google search will lead you to a hostel or budget accomodation of some kind though.

Katowice is no Paris and won't impress the majority of tourists but there's not a great deal of tourists and it's a decent base to explore Silesia, it also makes a pleasant change for some from the the typical tourist destinations and gives you a small insight into industrial Poland. It's only a short distance from Krakow, so if you are not happy with it - you can always retreat there!

Summary: Wrongfully blasted