A small rural community in Maine's Androscoggin County with family-run maple syrup farms and apple orchards dating back to the 1800s, set near Middle Range Lake.
Poland sits in Central Europe, where you can step onto the stone streets of Warsaw’s Old Town, a UNESCO site rebuilt after World War II, or see the wooden chapels of Kraków’s St. Mary’s Basilica. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial near Oświęcim preserves the history of Holocaust victims, and trails in the Tatra Mountains pass alpine lakes and fir forests. Nearly 10 million people in the U.S. have Polish roots, and direct flights from Chicago, New York, and other cities take you to Warsaw or Kraków in under nine hours. Try potato-filled pierogi in small-town restaurants or smoked cheese from roadside stalls in the south. Cities like Gdańsk, with its red-brick shipyards, and Wrocław, dotted with dwarf statues, mix old and new in clear, tangible ways.
Assistance for U.S. Citizens in Poland
The Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and consulates in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York help travelers with lost passports or emergencies. For example, the Chicago office assists residents of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. If you’re in Texas or Oklahoma, contact the Houston consulate. Check the Polish government website to confirm which office handles your state before visiting. The embassy in Washington, D.C., directly supports those in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Phone numbers and addresses are updated regularly online.
Business and Cultural Ties Between the U.S. and Poland
U.S. companies like Google and Amazon run offices in Warsaw and Wrocław, drawn by Poland’s position within the European Union and its pool of engineers and IT specialists. The U.S.-Poland Emerging Donors Challenge funds projects in Moldova and Ukraine, focusing on energy and education. Over 1,000 American firms operate in Poland, many in Kraków’s tech parks or Łódź’s manufacturing zones. Universities in Warsaw and Lublin partner with U.S. schools for student exchanges, and festivals like the Kraków Film Festival screen American documentaries.
Shared History and Community Traditions
Polish immigrants settled in U.S. cities like Chicago and Detroit in the 1800s, working in steel mills and auto factories. The Polish American Congress, active since 1944, hosts events such as pierogi-making workshops and Easter palm competitions. Every October, New York’s Fifth Avenue fills with marchers celebrating General Pulaski, a Revolutionary War hero. In Warsaw, the POLIN Museum explains the 1,000-year history of Jewish communities in Poland through interactive exhibits. Towns like Rzeszów and Przemyśl offer archives for tracing family records.
Military and Energy Partnerships
Poland works with the U.S. on NATO missions, hosting joint drills like Anakonda, which simulate large-scale defense operations. U.S. troops rotate through bases in Poznań and Drawsko Pomorskie, focusing on regional security. Both countries invest in LNG terminals in Świnoujście to cut dependence on Russian gas, and wind farms along the Baltic coast supply renewable energy. Poland also joins U.S. delegations at the OSCE’s annual human rights meetings in Warsaw. Defense leaders meet yearly to discuss threats like cyberattacks and hybrid warfare.
Planning Your Trip to Poland
The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw and consulate in Kraków help with medical emergencies, absentee voting, and legal issues. Poland’s currency is the złoty, and ATMs in cities like Łódź and Katowice dispense local cash. Trains from Warsaw reach Gdańsk in three hours, passing fields and small towns. In Kraków, trams run every 10 minutes downtown, and a single ride costs about $1. Visit in July for Gdynia’s Open’er Festival, which books global music acts, or in January for Zakopane’s ski jumps and heated outdoor pools.
Festivals and National Holidays
New York and Chicago host parades every October for General Pulaski Day, with polka bands and veterans’ groups marching past crowds. The U.S.-Poland Economic Dialogue meets annually to discuss trade deals and startup incentives. Each October, the Warsaw Film Festival premieres movies in theaters along Nowy Świat Street. On November 11, Poles mark Independence Day with torchlit processions and speeches in Warsaw’s Piłsudski Square. In September, villages near the Carpathians sell smoked sheep cheese and honey wine at stalls decorated with embroidered cloth.
