In this post I will be offering my opinion on the best things to do in Krakow including; where to go, what to see, where to eat and where to stay…
Take a look at my video on YouTube showing what I got up to so you can see for yourself what I am recommending in this post! :)
https://youtu.be/r7LAN4Wtoc4
THINGS TO DO IN KRAKOW:
Rynek Underground:
This exhibition shows the medieval underground market square from 700 years ago which was discovered and dug up only earlier this century! It entails a multi-media museum of displays to understand the medieval times in Krakow, as well as a trail through the 700 year old walls of the old underground market.
It is FREE to enter on Tuesdays which I wish we had known before we went! We found it slightly confusing buying tickets, but you have to buy your tickets from the visitor centre on the opposite side of the market before entering the main doors.
https://visitkrakow.net/museums-krakow/underground-market-square/
Oskar Schindler's Factory Museum:
If you're interested in the war, then this is a great museum
to visit to see exhibitions about life in Krakow and Poland during WW2. The
exhibitions are really interesting and interactive, with each room entering you
into a different situation and scenery. All of the displays have text in
English, making it easy to follow and meaning you don't need to know Polish to
understand!
If you have seen the film 'Schindler's list' you may expect
that with this being named his 'enamel factory' that it would be about the
history behind Schindler himself and what he did to help Jews during the war.
However... there is only a small section on this, with the majority being about
Krakow as a whole in the war!
It's a great place to spend an hour or two, and if you visit
on a Monday it is FREE! However if you visit any other day of the week it still
only costs a few pounds. It's situated off the main road in an industrial area,
so can be tricky to find, so I advise getting an Uber to ensure you find it
easily!
Through the centre building of the main square, there is a lovely little market filled with stalls showing off souvenirs and lots of Amber jewellery which Poland is known for. We enjoyed walking through it to keep dry and to look at all of the little trinkets on offer.
The Jewish Quarter - Kazimierz:
I'd heard many good things about the Jewish Quarter before I went to Krakow, so was interested to see what it was all about. However when we got there the area was very much deserted which is probably down to the time of year. However, we could tell from wander round the streets how quirky it is, filled with lots of food and drink options, as well as lots of cultural heritage. I'm sure it is buzzing with life in the Summer when people can sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere!
The Old Town:
The Old Town is where we spent most of our time in Krakow, wandering round the main square (particularly enjoying the amazing sale in Zara..), as well as walking through the streets to find places to eat and take in all of the Christmas decorations that were still up!
Shopping centre:
If you're one for shopping, you will love the huge shopping centre near the train station in Krakow. 'Galeria Krakowska' has an H&M and a Zara which we particularly enjoyed! A great place to keep in the dry, or perhaps to cool down if you visit in the Summer!
http://www.galeriakrakowska.pl/en/shops,9
PLACES TO VISIT OUTSIDE OF THE CITY:
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum:
From studying the Nazi occuppation in WW2 at GCSE and A-Level, I knew I wanted to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau to understand more about the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camps whilst I was in Krakow.
Visiting the camps was a harrowing and shocking experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life. It is so diffcult to visualise and get your head around what happened there, but actually visiting the authentic area of Birkenau which has been left as the Nazis left it, was particularly sobering. Auschwitz is now a museum where you are taken round many exhibitions and told stories of the people who were murdered there, including being taken through the last standing gas chamber.
We booked the experience as a tour where we were picked up in the centre of Krakow by mini-bus and were given a tour guide as a group when we arrived at Auschwitz, before later being transported to Birkenau, and then back to Krakow. I would recommend doing this as having a guide was really important in understanding the concepts of what happened at the camps and being told important information about each part of the camps.
http://auschwitz.org/en/
The company we booked with:
https://www.escape2poland.co.uk/auschwitz-tour?gclid=CjwKCAiAqIHTBRAVEiwA6TgJw-EApVYmGRZjzhTJQOBONcwPhHGHbh57o4eBiHzzdxYXzJPvhh9GtBoCpRsQAvD_BwE
Below are a few photos that I took whilst at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Wieliczka Salt Mine:
A little way out of Krakow, the Wieliczka Salt Mines are definitely not one to miss when visiting Krakow. We got the train there which was very easy (and in fact ended up being a replacement bus instead), and was also very cheap! This made it cheaper than buying the exeprience as a tour from Krakow. You are asked to pay an extra fee if you wish to take photos, which I did, however everyone seemed to be taking them anyway..
The tour itself was put on in various different languages, with it being in English very frequently. The Salt Mines are on the UNESCO World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage, and I think definitely deserve this status as they are a truly incredible piece of nature and heritage all in one. The mine is visited every year by over 1,000,000 tourists from all over the world, making it clear that it is a popular place to visit!
I was taken aback at how spectacular it is inside the mine and that there is lots to see as you wander round the tour. There are a lot of steps to get down into the mine, however I know there are also disabled access options too. To my relief, you then take a lift to get back up to the top!
WHERE TO EAT:
My two friends that I went away with are both vegan so all of the places that we went to for food were either solely vegan food or had vegan options.
- Pizzatopia - This was our favourite place which we ended up going to twice because it was sooo good! You ordered your pizza at a counter and went along choosing your base, sauce, cheese and toppings, with there being no extra cost per topping! So it was just one set price and you could have as much as you wanted on your pizza. They then only took 3 minutes to cook and were delicious! There was vegan cheese which was ideal for my friends and they said they were the best vegan pizzas they've ever had!
http://pizzatopia.com/en/
- Cupcake Corner Bakery & Cafe - These little cupcakeries were dotted all around Krakow which was pretty handy for us when we kept craving them so often after trying our first one... They were delicious and had a vegan one available every day too, as well as brownies and muffins. I had the red velvet cupcake (shown below) and also tried the salted caramel one!
https://www.cupcakecorner.pl/en/
- Vegab - This was a little vegan 'kebab' style place, selling vegan kebabs and hot dogs! There were lots of different kebabs to choose from. I tried the vegan hot dog which I was actually pretty impressed with. However it was quite small, but everything was very cheap!
- Krowarzywa Vegan Burger - This was a vegan burger restaurant that sold seitan 'meat' which according to my vegan friends is their idea of heaven! So I gave this a try and quite enjoyed it. We were given a menu in English which was helpful and I had the 'deal' where you got a burger with sauces and toppings, served which chips and coleslaw.
- The Spaghetti House - This was a lovely Italian restaurant set in the main square of the Old Town. All of the restaurants around the square had outside glass heated rooms decorated with fairy lights and stars, where you could enjoy sitting outside in the middle of Winter! The food was lovely, I had lasagne and my friend had vegetable pasta.
WHERE TO STAY:
Accommodation is very very cheap in Krakow (as is everything), so we were spoilt for choice when choosing where to stay. We decided to book an Air Bnb and were really happy with our choice. It was really spacious and was in a great location in a quiet area only a five minute walk to the centre! The lady who owned it was so lovely and helpful, so I highly recommend it :)
Here is a link to the apartment on Air Bnb if you're interested:
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/19860935
TOP TIPS:
- Everything is sooo cheap in comparison to England! When we went (January 2018), it was 5 zloty to the pound.
- Due to everything being cheap we ended up using Uber a lot to get around (helping us to stay out of the cold!) and for a twenty minute journey, it cost us usually around £2-3!
- The airport is outside of the city so I recommend getting an Uber into the centre which costs between £5-8.
- Not many people speak great English, however we didn't find this was a problem as any tours that we did we had with an English speaking guide, and at museums/exhibitions there were always English plaques to read.
- Going out of peak times was ideal as the tours we went on weren't too busy and I've heard that in the summer Auschwitz and the Salt mines in particular can be very crowed which may spoil the experience.
Overall, Krakow is a great city to visit and even though it was chilly, I would still really recommed going in the Winter! However any time of year it would be lovely as there's lots to do and is super cheap! A perfect place to go for a mini city break! I hope this helps anyone thinking of going to Krakow and maybe persuades anyone to go who hasn't been.
Thank you for reading, and don't forget to have a look at my video on YouTube of my Krakow trip :)
https://youtu.be/r7LAN4Wtoc4
https://youtu.be/r7LAN4Wtoc4
No comments