This will be my first trip outside of the USA (unless you count Canada) and I have a few questions.
I am going to Poland November 19th until December 4th
I will be in Katowice for most of the trip but will be going to
Krakow Malbork Lodz Gdansk
and then sometime around November 26th I am going to be going to Munich Germany for about 3-4 days to see the Christmas markets.
I know a few german words and can read some of German, Polish I am not that worried as I am meeting a friend there.
My main question is how cold is it going to be at that time? I think I read somewhere that it should be around 20 degrees Farenheit and that doesn't sound that cold but should I go extreme and bring in my cold gear? I had 2 layers of that on and I was pretty warm at -20 when I was working.
I have heard that its better to get an ATM card and make withdrawls there instead of paying a bunch of fees. The bank I am with right now doesn't have any worldwide partners so I was thinking of opening up a USAA account. If I am correct this only charges 1% on whatever you take out of the ATM. Is that right?
I am also hoping ticket prices drop, for me its about $1300 for a ticket right now, does anybody think that might drop? I am looking weekly at different sites and I think its jumped up about $50 or so dollars. I budgeted $2000 for the tickets and hotel but the tickets are the most expensive thing. The hotel I am wanting to stay at is Novotel Katowice Centrum Hotel anybody familiar with it? It has a good rating on hotels.com
I don't really have an Itinerary yet, I know what I am going to do in Munich but in Poland I am going to go to the places I mentioned, otherwise I am probably just going to wander around until I find something cool, My friend said he would drive me around and stuff so I am relying on him a bit to show me things. I am bringing/have access to $2000 american and should be more than enough for 14 days.
any tips for a first timer?
what can I expect going through customs?
TL:DR Going to Poland and is my first trip out of the country, what should I expect?