Souvenirs from Poland: what to bring home (and what to leave)

The best souvenirs at a glance

Souvenir	Why it is worth it	Where to buy	Watch out for
Bolesławiec pottery	Hand-stamped stoneware, much cheaper than abroad	Bolesławiec, specialist shops in big cities	Printed imitations
Baltic amber	Poland's “gold”, especially around Gdańsk	Gdańsk (Mariacka Street), reputable jewellers	Plastic and pressed fakes
Vodka and liqueurs	Żubrówka, premium rye and potato vodkas, honey liqueur	Supermarkets, specialist shops, duty free	Liquid rules, allowances
Sweets	Krówki, Ptasie Mleczko, Toruń gingerbread, Wawel chocolates	Any supermarket	Nothing – just pack them well
Folk art	Paper cut-outs, embroidery, carved wood, painted eggs	Cepelia shops, craft markets, Sukiennice in Kraków	Mass-produced imports
Christmas ornaments	Hand-blown, hand-painted glass baubles	Christmas markets, specialist shops	Fragile – pack in hand luggage
Cosmetics	Good, affordable Polish brands	Rossmann, Hebe, brand shops	Nothing – great value
Regional food	Kabanosy, oscypek cheese, honey, mead	Markets, delis, supermarkets	Import rules at home

Bolesławiec pottery

The cobalt-blue dotted stoneware from Bolesławiec in Lower Silesia is the souvenir many visitors come for. It is oven-, microwave- and dishwasher-safe, so it gets used rather than kept on a shelf – and in Poland it costs a fraction of what you would pay in the US or Germany.

Look for the manufacturer's stamp and “Hand made in Poland” on the base, and be wary of perfectly uniform patterns, which are often printed rather than stamped. Everything you need to know is in our Polish pottery guide.

Baltic amber

Amber – fossilised tree resin washed up on the Baltic coast – has been traded from the Gdańsk area for thousands of years. Gdańsk is the place to buy it, especially Mariacka Street, lined with amber workshops and galleries, but you will find it in Kraków and Warsaw too.

• Buy from established jewellers and galleries, not from street stalls.
• Ask for a certificate of natural Baltic amber for more expensive pieces.
• Real amber is light, feels warm to the touch and floats in salty water; plastic is heavier and feels cold.
• “Pressed” or reconstructed amber is made from small pieces of amber melted together – it is real amber, but worth less than a natural piece, and an honest seller will say so.

More in our guide to Baltic amber: real or fake?

Polish vodka and liqueurs

Poland claims vodka as its own, and the selection in any supermarket is huge.

• Żubrówka – bison grass vodka with a blade of grass in every bottle; mixed with apple juice it becomes the szarlotka.
• Premium vodkas – rye and potato vodkas such as Wyborowa, Belvedere and Chopin.
• Krupnik – a sweet honey liqueur, lovely warmed in winter.
• Nalewki – traditional fruit and herb liqueurs, often sold by small producers at markets.
• Mead (miód pitny) – honey wine with a long history in Poland.

Buy at the supermarket rather than in souvenir shops – the same bottles cost noticeably less. See our guide to Polish vodka and Żubrówka.

Sweets and food gifts

Polish sweets make easy, cheap and much-appreciated gifts. Everything below is in any big supermarket.

• Krówki – soft fudge-like milk caramels in paper wrappers with a cow on them.
• Ptasie Mleczko – chocolate-covered marshmallow soufflé, a Polish classic since the 1930s.
• Toruń gingerbread (pierniki toruńskie) – from the city of Copernicus, plain, iced or filled with jam and covered in chocolate.
• Wawel chocolates – Kraków's chocolate maker; try the Kasztanki and Tiki Taki.
• Prince Polo – a chocolate wafer bar that generations of Poles grew up with.
• Kabanosy – thin, dry, smoked pork sausages, a protected traditional speciality.
• Oscypek – smoked sheep's cheese from the Tatra mountains, sold in Zakopane and at Christmas markets, with protected EU status.
• Honey – buckwheat and linden honey from local beekeepers.

More in sweets, snacks and food gifts.

Folk art and Christmas ornaments

Polish folk art is bright, cheerful and varied: paper cut-outs (wycinanki) from Łowicz and Kurpie, embroidered tablecloths, carved wooden figures and boxes, painted Easter eggs (pisanki) and the colourful Kraków nativity scenes (szopki). Highlanders in Zakopane sell felted slippers, wool socks and sheepskin.

For quality pieces, look for Cepelia shops, which have specialised in Polish folk art for decades, and craft stalls at markets. The stalls in Kraków's Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) mix real crafts with mass-produced items, so look carefully.

At Christmas, hand-blown and hand-painted glass baubles are a beautiful, typically Polish gift. More in folk art and Christmas ornaments and our guide to Christmas markets and gifts.

Cosmetics

Polish cosmetics are good quality and inexpensive, and many visitors leave with a bag of them. Look for brands such as Ziaja, Bielenda, Eveline and Inglot (make-up), at Rossmann and Hebe drugstores, which are everywhere. See Polish cosmetics to stock up on.

Souvenirs to skip

• Cheap “amber” at street stalls – very often plastic.
• “Polish pottery” with a perfectly even printed pattern – usually an imitation.
• Branded clothes and bags at bargain prices at markets – often fake, and customs can seize them.
• Overpriced vodka in souvenir shops – buy the same bottle at a supermarket.

Taking souvenirs home

On the plane

• Liquids in hand luggage: at Kraków Airport new CT scanners let you carry containers of up to 2 litres through security; at most other airports the 100 ml rule still applies. Check the rules at your departure airport – and remember they can be different for your flight home if you change planes.
• Vodka and other bottles are safest in your checked bag, wrapped in clothes – or bought at duty free after security.
• Pottery, glass baubles and amber belong in your hand luggage or well padded in the middle of your suitcase.

At home

• Travelling within the EU: there are no duty limits on goods for your own use, only guide amounts for alcohol and tobacco.
• To the UK: duty-free allowances apply to alcohol and tobacco, and since April 2025 travellers may not bring most meat and dairy products from the EU into Great Britain – this includes cheese such as oscypek and sausages such as kabanosy.
• To the US, Canada and Australia: meat products are generally not allowed and other foods must be declared. Check your country's customs rules before you pack.

Sources

• Kraków Airport via Notes from Poland (September 2025): containers of up to 2 litres allowed through CT scanners
• UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs: ban on personal imports of meat and dairy products from the EU (April 2025), as summarised by ABTOT (April 2026)
• European Commission: protected food names – oscypek (PDO) and kabanosy (TSG)