Remember how I met up with Kamila in Warsaw? Do you follow her blog at all? If you do then you know what her top suggestion for me for Poland was: Cieszyn.
No, I didn’t just misspell Krakow, it turns out that if you go to two places in Poland, one of them needs to be Cieszyn (the other is Warsaw, duh).
Where to Stay in Cieszyn
Okay, so I usually talk about accommodation at the end of a post, after my poetic words and artistic photos have convinced you you need to visit the place. Um, or they’ve failed and you know you can skip it. But staying at 3 Bros Hostel is actually part of the point of going to Cieszyn.
It’s that good.
We stayed in a bright double ensuite room, though I had a peak at the dorms and they also look great (as a personal preference, I’d request being in the dorm room with wooden bunks).
And have you ever seen such an elaborate breakfast spread at a hostel? I haven’t, and I’ve stayed at a lot of hostels.
3 Bros is run by Adam, Kornel, and Mario. I didn’t get to know Mario, but Adam and Kornel are wonderful, and so, so enthusiastic about Cieszyn. I hope that someday I can love where I’m living as much as they love their town.
And their enthusiasm was contagious – even though we had pretty awful weather in Cieszyn I couldn’t help but fall for the pretty town with its narrow cobblestone alleys and cozy pubs around every corner. Something about it just felt so cool.
Cieszyn is a medieval town in Silesia lying on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. And I mean literally on the border – the town was divided in 1920 into Cieszyn on the Polish side and Český Těšín on the Czech side, but they still basically function as one town.
In the olden days (as in, like, a couple of decades ago) immigration made travel between the two sides of the town a little more complicated – Kornel told me that as a kid his teachers from Český Těšín would sometimes get delayed going through the border, much to the joy of the students.
But now that the EU has gotten rid of the border check between the two countries you can easily breakfast in Poland, pop over to the Czech Republic for an afternoon beer, and flit back to Poland – or wait, are you actually in the Poland now? It can be hard to keep track of what country you’re in when you’re visiting Cieszyn.
It’s also hard to keep track of how many meals and cups of coffee you’re having in a day while there because with all the cozy restaurants and cafés, you really do have to indulge.
My favorite meal was at U Huberta on the Czech side.
Fun fact: Iceland’s favorite chocolate bar, Prince Polo, is made in Cieszyn!
Cieszyn also happens to be the perfect stop for anyone traveling between Prague and Krakow. Not only is it a convenient place to break up the trip, but as international trains are always absurdly more expensive than domestic ones, instead of paying 70 euros for the journey you can pay under 20 euros simply by taking the border crossing yourself.
Many thanks to 3 Bros Hostel for hosting Dan and me in Cieszyn. As always, all opinions are my very own!
Ashley says
This town… omg.. so cute! You’re right when you said “cozy”. I think that’s the perfect word, and I got that just from your photos! I hope I can make it here someday!
Silvia says
It really is cozy in real life, too!
Dave | Jones Around The World says
Looks awesome! Makes me really miss traveling around Europe. I’ve been to Prague and Krakow, and should have made a stop here!
Silvia says
Next time you will have to remember Cieszyn 🙂
Camille says
I love following your adventures in this part of the world! And I really like border towns, there’s always something special about them…
Silvia says
It’s so true, border towns always seem to be a little special!
Andrea says
I’m so in love with Poland and this makes me want to go even more. I’ve already read Kami’s posts on Cieszyn and now this has convinced me to visit. Love that it’s a divided city!
Silvia says
You definitely need to visit Cieszyn – it really is such a special city!
ciaran says
I spent an afternoon on the two towns recently – fascinating!
Daniel says
Just recently found your blog thans to snow in tromso and love it! Im from Poland and i used to live in Cieszyn for one year. Love this city and so suprised you mantioned obout it on your blog 😉 Btw my fiance used to work in 3bros hostel. Greetengs from Poland. In December we will be visiting Tromso hope the weather will be good enough to see northern lights 😉
Silvia says
Oh no way, what a small world! I hope you love Tromso and have good luck with the aurora!
Abel says
I have checked in google and several videos and now do not understand why this city is unknown and ignored in favor of other cities in Poland less atractive. Poland has a lot of interesting cities and towns but why this not? Maybe it is on the border or it is to much czech? I am planning to visit it in early future. Thank you.
Heidi Keller says
Dec.1st,2022 18:55 PM
I was born in Cieszyn in May of 1943. My mother was a German school teacher, who was sent to teach in Poland, after Hitler invaded Poland. I left Cieszyn in 1944 ands we moved back to Germany. I grew up in Augsburg, Germany and lived there until 1966, until I met an American Serviceman . We got married and I moved to America and I lived here ever since.
I am 79 years old now, and had never seen any photos from Cieszyn. I am so excited that I found this website, and I think Cieszyn was and is a beautiful city. I wish my mother had shown me pictures and told me more about the city. But I know it was during the war, and the times were awful and hard.