Exploring Kraków – 4 Day Itinerary

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, I paid for this trip myself. All recommendations and opinions are my own.

Following our visit to Warsaw, we took the train down to Kraków. Unlike Warsaw, Kraków wasn’t destroyed during the Second World War and still stands as it was originally built in the 13th century. What might surprised you is that Kraków is a vegan and vegetarian friendly city. I’ve never seen such a high concentration of restaurants boasting its vegan and vegetarian menu. However, if you are travelling with meat eaters, never fear, as many of these restaurants also offered meat dishes as well.

We decided to spend 4 days in Kraków because we wanted to explore both the city, with its historical old town and Jewish quarter, and the sights and attractions surrounding it, including the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the heart wrenching Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum. We were also visiting at Easter, so got the chance to enjoy the fantastic Kraków Easter markets. However, if you have less time available, you can use this itinerary to help you decide how to spend your more limited time.

Day 1

After spending two nights in Warsaw, we took the fast and comfortable IC train to Krakow which only took about two hours. The train was modern and comfortable, and they even provided a free drink (coffee, tea or water as options). A very different experience than the trains in the UK. We arrived at Kraków Główny, the central train station, just before noon. Our accommodation kindly let us check in early, so we dumped our bags and headed out to visit Wawel Castle. This amazing castle is located in central Kraków and was built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great. The castle consists of several structures in a medley of architectural styles from medieval and renaissance to baroque. For centuries the kings of Poland lived here, but in 1930 it was established as a museum.

The site itself is free to visit and open during the daylight hours. However, if you want to visit any of the sites then you will need to buying tickets. The ticketing system is rather confusing because the castle is broken up into a series of exhibitions and you need to purchase a ticket for each exhibition. That means you can’t buy a combined ticket… frustrating I know. Ticket numbers are limited so once they are sold out, there are no more tickets for the day. Sadly, this happens quite early in the day, as most tickets are snapped up by tour groups. Just to add to the confusion, some sights aren’t open on certain days and you can’t take photos inside them.

The exhibitions include:

• State rooms
• Royal Private Apartments*
• Crown Treasury and Armoury
• Oriental Art
• The Lost Wawel
• There are also additional seasonal exhibitions

(*you have to join one of their tour groups to visit this exhibition)

Tickets for these exhibitions are sold at the ticket office. If you are on a budget, there are free days which you can find out about on their website.

If you want to visit the Cathedral, then you will need to purchase tickets at the Cathedral Ticket office. As it was Easter when we visited, the Cathedral was closed for tourists and only open for worshippers so we didn’t get a chance to go in.

You can visit:

• The Cathedral
• Royal Tombs
• Bell Sigismund
• Cathedral Museum

The exhibitions that were available when we arrived were for the State Rooms and The Lost Wawel. The State Rooms exhibition included several very grand rooms on the ground floor, which served as the suite of the Governors of Cracow, and guest apartments on the second floor. A fire in 1595 unfortunately destroyed most of the northern wing of the castle, but Sigismund III Vasa commissioned the restoration of the interiors and they were returned to their original grandeur.

The rooms were beautifully adorned in rich tapestries which were woven in Brussels back in the 16th century. They depict biblical and grotesque scenes as well as the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania. There were also valuable Italian furniture and paintings predominantly from 16th century Tuscany, and Polish royal portraits.

We then headed over to The Lost Wawel. This exhibition is in two parts, the first is the remains of the first church in Poland, the Rotunda of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This place is seriously old and dates back from the late 10th/early 11th century. A platform took us over the excavated site which also included the former royal kitchens and coach house. There were also a range of items on display that were found during the excavation, including old spurs and household items.

The second part of this exhibition was a collection of Renaissance stove tiles, stone sculptures, and architectural elements from various periods found during conservation works and archaeological digs. I really enjoyed the room displaying a collection of beautiful Renaissance tiles.

The afternoon spring sunshine was surprisingly warm so we sat outside at the café by The Lost Wawel (there are toilets here as well) and enjoyed a drink and a piece of delicious Napoleonka (Napoleon’s cake) or Papel Cream Cake, a Polish treat that has a thick creamy custard filling between two sheets of puff pastry. It’s very similar to what we call a custard square in New Zealand, but the filling is much more creamy. I found a recipe for Napoleonka online so I’m keen to try making these at home.

Once our energy had returned, we headed over to explore the old town. The historic buildings in this area are wonderful, we just wandered around the streets enjoying spotting all the beautiful buildings. Some of the highlights included the ornate baroque-style Church of Saints Peter and Paul, where we were also visited the crypts, and beside it the 11th-century stone Romanesque St Andrews church which we only briefly visited as they had an Easter service going at the time. Florianska Street is the main street of Kraków Old Town and is where you will find the more expensive shops and overpriced tourist restaurants.

After winding our way through the streets, we eventually ended up in the historical main square, Rynek Glowny, where they were holding the Easter markets (more about that on day 4). Here we found the large 16th-century Renaissance Cloth Hall which sits in the middle of the square and is now filled with tourist shops. Beside it is the 13th-century Gothic Town Hall Tower where we found the famous bronze head sculpture you can actually climb into called Eros Bendato’ (Eros Bound) by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj (1944 – 2014).

There are two churches in the square, of which are vastly different in styles. I loved the cute little Romanesque Church of St. Wojciech which dates from the 11th century but it is rather overshadowed by the magnificent 14th-century Gothic basilica of the Virgin Mary’s. There is a bugle played on the hour that captures the tourist’s attention. This tradition dates back to the Middle Ages when they announced the opening and the closing of the city gates. They also played it to alarm the citizens if there was a fire or enemy forces. You’ll notice that the melody comes to an abrupt ending, which is to commemorate a trumpeter who was shot through the throat by a Tatar archer in 1241 when the Mongols besieged the city.

After returning to our apartment for an afternoon nap, we headed out for dinner at Morskie Oko (pl. Szczepanski 8, Krakow 31-011), a traditional Polish restaurant. This place gets really busy so book in advance (which you can do online) as we saw a lot of people get turned away because they were full. The restaurant is decorated in traditional Polish fare and the staff were even dressed in traditional outfits. One of the highlights was the free live entertainment.

We enjoyed the traditional potato pancakes with sour cream, homemade dumplings (pierogi) and the rolled pork cutlet. They were delicious, we really enjoyed our meal. On our way back to our accommodation we treated ourselves to a deliciously fluffy donut from nearby Manufaktura pączków on Sławkowska. They make the donuts fresh onsite (you can watch them while you visit) and they came in a variety of flavours and were huge and cheap. We ended up getting a donut from here just about everyday we were in Kraków.

Day 2

On our second day, we had tickets to visit Wieliczka Salt Mine. I’ve written a dedicated post about it here.

Day 3

This was Easter Sunday, which means pretty much everything was closed, even the tourist attractions. However, if you are visiting over this period, then rest assured that most of the restaurants and some small convenience stores in the Old Town tourist area do open, so you won’t starve!

It was raining in the morning, so we took the opportunity for a sleep in, then headed out once it had started to ease up. We were keen to explore the area outside the Old Town, so headed down to explore the Jewish Quarter. On our way we ended up hiding in Frania Café (Stradomska 19, 33-332 Kraków) to escape a heavy downpour, but it was to our advantage, as the food was simple but delicious.

Thankfully after our meal the rain was abating, so we headed back out and stopped to visit the 15th century Catholic church, Corpus Christi Basilica (free entry). It was reasonably plain outside, but inside it was ornately decorated. We crossed the Father Bernatek Footbridge, pedestrians walk on one side and cyclists on the other and between them are acrobatic sculptures balancing on the wire. Over to the left we could see the Cricoteka – Centre for Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor in a large dark, modern metal building built over a more traditional building. Unfortunately it was closed on the Easter Sunday.

We walked down to the Catholic church Église Saint-Joseph which looks very majestic from the outside, but was a bit boring and modern on the inside. Our next stop was Lwowska Street to visit the fragment of the Ghetto Wall built in WWII. It wasn’t easy to find but it was well worth visiting so we could pay our respects. The plaque reads “Here they lived, suffered and died at the hands of the German torturers. From here they began their final journey to the death camps.” Not far from here is the Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterow Getta, 30-547) with its memorial chairs of iron and bronze.

Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory (Lipowa 4, 30-702 Kraków) was only a short walk from the square. For those of you that don’t know who Schindler was, basically he was a factory owner who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews by employing them at his factory during WWII. The factory is now a museum, but as it was Easter Sunday it was closed so sadly we didn’t get the opportunity to visit. However, photos of the Jewish people that worked at the factory are posted in the windows of the building. If you are keen to learn more then I recommend you watch the movie Schindler’s List.

We crossed the nearby bridge over Vistula River and walked over to the Jewish Quarter (Kazimierz) which was filled with interesting historic buildings and old synagogues. Even if you are not of the Jewish faith, this is an interesting place to visit. There are lots of restaurants and cafes in this area as well. Make sure you visit the Jewish square where you will also find the Remuh Jewish cemetery (small entry fee to enter).

• If you don’t have the energy to walk to these areas, then you can get a very reasonably priced Eco Friendly Electric car tour of the city area, including the Jewish Quarter.

For dinner we had a traditional Polish feast at the Easter market. We had a bit of a meat fest with meat on a stick, potatoes seasoned with paprika, sausage as well as black sausage, the Polish version has lots of grains in it. This was one of the best food markets we have been to, and that’s saying something because we’ve been to lots of food markets. There was a range of delicious traditional food to feast on including my favourite, dumplings (pierogi), which came in a range of flavours. But my new favourite became the amazing smoked cheese called Oscypek which is made using sheep milk and is exclusively made in the Tatra Mountains using unpasteurized salted sheep milk. It’s first turned into cottage cheese, then repeatedly rinsed and squeezed, then pressed into decorative shapes and cured in hot smoke for up to 14 days. It is quite expensive, but totally worth it! It is fried and the served with cranberry jam or chutney.

We really needed to walk this off before heading back to our apartments, so ended the day by walking the path that leads around the city walls. The stand out feature is St. Florian’s Gate, a Medieval Gothic gate tower dating from the 14th century. It’s the remains of what was the city’s fortifications, most of which were destroyed at the beginning of the 19^th century.

Day 4

On our final day in Kraków we took a tour to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum. I’ve written a dedicated post about it here.

Day 5 Fly Home

Sadly this was our final day in Kraków, and we flew out in the morning. I hope this will inspire you to visit Kraków too.

Accommodation Options in Kraków

The most popular (and affordable!) form of accommodation in Kraków is apartments. Which personally I prefer over hotels as they much more comfortable and you can also prepare your own food which can really help maintain your budget.

Search available accommodation in Kraków

Budget

• Appena Hostel & Apartments
• Bison Hostel
• Hostel Kubik

Moderate

• Modern Apartments InsideKrakow – we stayed here
• Hotel 32 Kraków Old Town
• Hotel Imperial

Luxury

• Hotel Unicus Palace
• Queen Boutique Hotel
• Metropolitan Boutique Hotel

Practical Tips for Visiting Kraków

Wawel Castle: Purchase tickets from the Visitor Centre which fills the entire ground floor of building no. 9, located in the southern part of the Wawel Hill.

Using credit cards: Poland is very tech savvy in this regard. We had no problem paying for everything from food and drinks, entry tickets, and metro tickets with our credit cards using Visa Paywave. Of course, some small stores may not have this, so carry a small amount of cash in the local currency just in case. There are plenty of ATM’s to withdraw cash at. Make sure you check with your bank before leaving home that your card will work in Poland – it needs to be a chip and pin.

Entry fees: Entry fees are generally cheap, however, if you are on a tight budget there are lots of attractions in Krakow that have free days, so check their websites as they can change depending on the time of year.

Getting around Kraków: The public transport in Kraków is very good, and easy to use. It includes a bus and metro system. If you are going to be using a lot of transport, then you might want to get the 24hr tickets that provide you unlimited travel within zone 1. We used the metro a number of times and were able to purchase tickets from the machine using our credit card. Don’t forget to validate your tickets just before you use them.

How to Get from Kraków airport into the city: There are regular trains that run from the airport to the central train station Kraków Główny. Purchase tickets from the ticket machines or manned counters. Sometimes the train is replaced by the bus, which arrives at the back of the train station. The symbol on the electronic screens make it clear whether it is a train or bus.

Language: Polish. Although most people we came across in restaurants and tourist sites spoke some English, do try your hand at a few Polish words:

• Yes = Tak (tahk)
• No = Nie (nee-eh)
• Please = Prosze (proh-sheh)
• Thank you = Dziekuje (jink-wee-ah)
• Hello = Czesc (cheshked)

Currency: Polish złoty

Tipping: Not required, but people usually round up.

Electricity: The electrical current is 230 volts, 50 Hz. Wall outlets generally take the European two round prong plugs. However, you are better off purchasing a worldwide adaptor that can be used in Poland as well other countries. At least then you can potentially get some further use out of it on future vacations. If you’re taking a number of electronics with you, then I would recommend purchasing a couple of these adaptors.

Navigating: We used Google’s free Offline Maps. Google Offline Maps allows you to access free maps for navigating that can be used offline i.e. you don’t need WIFI, data, or roaming to be able to use them. Make sure you download a map to use when you find yourself without internet.

Using your phone as a GPS will drain your battery quickly, so use a portable battery charger which you can use to charge your phone and any other USB chargeable devices.

Your accommodation will likely provide you a free city tourist map. If not, just stop in at the Kraków Tourist Information office (31-018, Świętego Jana 2, 33-332 Kraków).