Poland feels like a country on a creative roll right now. It’s been reimagining and rebuilding itself since the war, more so since the fall of communism. A youthful Polish diaspora has returned home with fresh ideas and intent.

Warsaw is now a city to rival Berlin or Prague for a city-break destination, its restaurant, bar and gallery scene fermenting in courtyards beneath the Gothic magnificence of St John’s Cathedral. The former railway station is now a lively night market of food stalls. Poland’s history looms large, soundtracked by the melodies of Chopin. Perfectly preserved Krakow, with its castle and Da Vinci masterpiece; the bubbling port city of Gdansk, with its canals and pretty townhouses and beaches within easy reach – the one on the Hel peninsula is regarded as one of the best in Europe. In between, a landscape of beech and pine forests, slow-flowing rivers and sudden surprises such as the pagan mounds of Krakowskie Kopce or the salt mines and underground cathedral of Wieliczka. This is a destination that intrigues and fascinates.