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We're off to Krakow in a couple of weeks, recommendations for restaurants and things to do gratefully received.
Guided cycling tour was a great way to get bearings for the city.
We booked with these guys - https://www.krakow-tours.com/krakow-city-bicycle-tour/
The Salt Mine is well worth the trip, its astonishing.
Auschwitz? Not nice, but I feel everyone should witness the horror of what took place there at some point.
I was there with the inlaws who don't have the most adventurous of palettes, so I'm afraid I can't help much on the restaurant stuff. There's loads to choose from though
As Jamesmio says - Salt mines and Auschwitz, plus the castle and there are some neat little museums - Jewish one and transport one. Then just a general wander round.
Oscar Schindler's factory is worth a visit. Easily lose a morning in there.
No idea where it is...We ordered a taxi that cost peanuts, and the driver told us it would take 3 hours to get round and he'd be waiting outside for us. And he was.
http://www.mhk.pl/branches/oskar-schindlers-factory
We were there last March for my wife's 40th, lovely little city. We did everything on foot, including a walk south of the river down to Krakus Mound which gives fantastic views back over the city and surrounding area. If you fancy sampling the local ale and food, I can recommend CK Browar cellar bar which is a 2 minute walk off the main square... http://ckbrowar.pl/en/welcome/
There's some nice Art Nouveau cafes just north of the Rynek Główny, Wawel Castle is interesting, when I was there in the early 90s Kazimierz was empty (and really quite eery) - I understand that its been reborn now and is quite lively. Nowa Huta had some nice cafes as long as you could cope with the pollution from the steel works and has some quite elegant post war boulevards, Wieliczka salt mines are quite interesting, you could also visit Zakopane which is pleasant and the cable car up to Kasprowy Wierch is interesting and the view is great.
Plac Nowy, open air (flea) market, cheap pizza (type thing) takeaway from booths in rotunda and v.cheap flavoured vodka bar or two. No frills fun for a couple of hours.
Bookmarked, I’m going here for the first time in the summer.
@lb77 our apartment is the next street along from CK Browar looking on the map so that’ll be my first call for a drink.
Krakow my favourite out of all the city breaks we have done, even better than Prague. Auswitz and the salt mines are a must do.
I would book a mini bus trip to Auswitz as its hard to get to.
Get the train to the salt mines, the train is ridiculously cheap and it's at the end of the line so you can't go wrong.
Also a must do is jump on one of the free tours, look on trip advisor for the meeting points, I think we went on the yellow umbrella ones. We did the Jewish ghetto and medieval/old town ones and they are just brilliant, they point out things you would never know, like lots of places where the scenes from schindlers list are filmed etc, then give them a generous tip at the end as I'm sure you'll feel it was worth it.
Also try Plac Nowy 1 (restaurant) for breakfast, it was our regular stop, fantastic and so cheap.
I did enjoy Plac Nowy. There is also a transport museum near there. Lots of old eastern bloc cars. A good area to wander round.
Thanks for all the tips.
We didn't make it to Auswitz and the salt mines. Wife didn't fancy the former on her Valentines break and we chose Zakopane over the latter. We are going back for New Year so we'll do them then.
We did one free walking tour, which was very good, and I would have like to do more if time had allowed.
Food and drink can be very cheap, £35 for a three course meal with drinks, or very expensive, but was universally excellent. Even our Valentines Evening Meal came in at around £80 for 6 courses and drinks and was so good the wife actually ate raw beef...
If you are thinking of going, the exchange rate is far better over there, at least 10%, so don't bother taking many Zloty with you.
just looking tonight for something to book, we're looking at jet 2 breaks, as they seem cheaper than a wizzair flight plus separate hotel booking which surprised me. thought youd be able to get flights for about £60 or somethings, theyre way more than that.
theres around 60 different hotels with jet 2, which area do we want to be based in do you think?
Personally I liked the old Jewish quarter, to the south of the centre, between the centre and the river. Lots of nice places to wander round locally and you can walk to the centre.
We stayed and the Ibis Krackow Centrum. About a 15 minute walk to Stare Miastro.
Our flights were £19.99pp each way with Ryanscare.
I just got back from a 4 day break there on Friday. I stayed here at Cracow Central Aparthotel
It's fairly small and simple but clean and cost £146.00 for 5 nights B&B for one person. It's 5 minutes from the rail and bus stations (therefore you don't have to lug your bags across town, and if you want to do DIY trips to Auschwitz and Wieliczka salt mine) and also 5 minutes from the Old Town. I did Auschwitz on my own rather than an organised trip and having only 5 minutes to walk to the bus station to catch a bus at 6.20am was very welcome. There was a Mercure at the end of the road if you want a bit posher. Absolutely loved Krakow, so much to see and do, and you can do most things extremely cheaply.
Our flights were £19.99pp each way with Ryanscare.
no such luck these days. we've actually just booked the flights, cost us near on £300 all in as wife wanted to take a suitcase which bumped the cost right up. went wizzair as its doncaster airport, far better for us than the birmingham alternative with Jet2.
I found this thread from a year ago in my 'favourites'.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/krakow-hotels/
wifes looking through it now but likes the look of these
http://www.antiqueapartments.com/apartments
Are they in a good location? She says theyre just off the square, but i know nothing about krakow, so dont know if theres a rowdy area or not.....
i like the sound of the jewish quarter, but i spose its all walking distance isnt it?
thanks
EDIT: we've booked for 5 nights, so apartments would probably make more sense than a hotel room i think.
Just back this morning from a 3 night break, stayed in an AirBNB near the main Glowny station. Fantastic city, we did the salt mines very easy to get to on the bus also (304). Spent a day wandering around the sites in the old town, all very good. World of beer was great as was the Milk Bar (for breakfast), the tomas street one. VFM was great.
I love Krakow
This is a cool place to have a beer and listen to some music:
A good steak here:
http://www.moomoo.com.pl/en_index.html
We stayed here last time we went, nice and quiet but good location, use the trams to Jewish Quarter:
https://www.booking.com/hotel/pl/p-amp-j-apartments-lubicz.en-gb.html
which airbnb sv? got a link? how did you choose it? reviews or just gambled on something near the station?
Just went with luck and to be honest the loft bed type ones look similar. Not sure I’d recommend the one we stayed in until the building work is completed, 7am SDS drill alarm clock! Was a great location though as it was beside the train to the airport/Galleria shopping centre, bus to the salt mines and 5 minute walk to old town. We walked 14 miles on the first day as there is so much to see and do! Great location.
I take pupils every 18months and go with the OH most years. I stay at the Hotel Wyspianski with both pupils and partner. Eat in the Jewish Q and the restaurant that backs on to the twin towered church with the bugle player.
This place is excellent.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d12322788-Reviews-Piwnica_Wolnica-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html
As was this place;
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d1895823-Reviews-La_Campana-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html
And this one;
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d5953938-Reviews-Czarna_Kaczka_The_Black_Duck-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html
And finally, this one;
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d1650463-Reviews-Marmolada-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html
with regards to auschwitz, could i just confirm the choices please? feel free to correct my assumptions.
1. pay for a tour, probably with krakow-tours, works out around £40 each, everything included, pick-up, lunch, travel between the two sites etc.
pluses - easy. everythings included. will no doubt be very informative.
minuses - its someone elses timetable, cant come and go as you please. probably there at the busiest time with load sof other buses.
2. go DIY. i think tickets are actually free? so get a free ticket, get early bus to site, take pack-up, sort transport between the two sites (how far apart are they? is it another bus journey? is it a faff?). see if we can maybe latch onto a tour once we get there (and pay whatever they charge)? wait for bus back.
pluses - probably a bit cheaper, can come and go as you please, pick and choose timings to 'avoid' the rush?
minuses - faff, still probably need to find a tour guide and hope for the best.
considering the faff of no2, do you think its worth just paying for the official tour as there maybe wont be much in it?
its hard to make an informed decision when i havent got a clue about the logistics of the site(s) or the travel situation in krakow, so please help me out 🙂
thanks
It's a 2 hour trip each way and if you go on an official tour you are right that you'll be 'encouraged' to stay together as a group. There'll be a tour ahead of you and one behind you. We had 2 full days and chose not to do it, the salt mines are great and a lot closer. Although not the same type of experience at all.
Just to add if you can figure out the timetables their public transport is great.
It’s a 2 hour trip each way and if you go on an official tour you are right that you’ll be ‘encouraged’ to stay together as a group. There’ll be a tour ahead of you and one behind you.
will this also be the case if we sort our own transport and just join a tour once we get there? so no different in that respect?
Do not try to take any sort of bag into the camp. I wasn't allowed to take a small first aid kit.
with regards to auschwitz, could i just confirm the choices please?
It was hard to get a ticket when we went so we ended up on a tour despite being DIY tourists. We drove our hire car there and joined the tour. As mentioned above we walked around being guided and talked to in a big group. Very interesting but quite controlled. Mid afternoon all the tour buses went home and we had a chance to explore alone. It was a totally different experience and we saw loads that was missed on the tour. We even had a drive round Auschwitz 3 which rarely gets mentioned despite being a key part of the reason behind the camp. If you can get there on your own and get away from the tours then it is well worth it.
It's really easy to DIY as I did last week.
Book a ticket on-line - https://visit.auschwitz.org/?lang=en - which is free. You will need to choose a time. I booked for 8.40am.
There are regular buses from Krakow Bus Station (upper floor), which is the far side of the main station, to the gates of Auschwitz. I booked a ticket from the bus station ticket office beforehand and got the first bus in the morning which was 6.20am and takes around 1.5 hours. Cost was approx £3-4 for a one way ticket.
You can take a bag but will need to leave it in a baggage store for a small cost if it is over A4 size. You may wish to take lunch with you and leave it in the baggage store as there wasn't much choice for lunch (I got a sandwich from the kiosk near to the bus stop).
There is a free shuttle bus between Auschwitz and Birkenau which runs approx every 10 minutes and takes approx 5 minutes. It is a yellow bendy bus and the stop is in the road between the two sections of the car park.
Returning to Krakow - there are buses approx every 20-30 minutes from the Auschwitz car park at the same bus stop where the Auschwitz - Birkenau shuttle bus stops. Buy a ticket on the bus (they took cash and credit cards).
I chose to go round on my own at my own pace and spent around 8 hours across both sites. I got a guide book which was useful. The vast majority of people seemed to be in pre-booked tours (inc coach etc.), but there were opportunities to join a group tour at the site.
The groups seemed to rush round as there was always another group close behind, and many probably spent less than half the time there than I did. For example, there were a number of blocks in Auschwitz which had themed exhibitions about the experiences of different nationalities (Roma, Hungarians, French, Dutch etc.) at the camps which the tours didn't seem to touch and were fairly empty, and I only saw one group at the far extreme part of Birkenau. The disadvantage is that you don't get some of the commentary from a guide.
Also suggest doing the DIY approach travelling to the Wieliczka Salt Mine - you can book a ticket online - https://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/ - or from their office in Krakow Old Town at ul. Wiślna 12a. You can get there by train or bus - note that the train is hourly - I got the train there and bus back.
thanks.
not trying to scrimp on this visit as i think its such an important part of krakow, we just want the best experience, so its heartening to see that the DIY route is easy enough.
just trying to balance the DIY option, using a guide book for info and taking our time, against tour guide, more relevant and interesting info probably, but herded around and maybe missing some bits.
also, the accommodation, do you think its better to be nearer the station (easy walk when the train drops off and takes you back to the airport, plus aushwitz/salt mines DIY option), or is the jewish quarter so much better to stay that it makes sense to stay there and taxi to and from the station when needed.
or is the old town/main square area a good compromise between the two?
thanks
It's all walkable. We stayed at the Ibis Krakow Centrum and walked everywhere in the town.
Re accommodation - my personal view would be to stay nearer to the Station / Bus Station for the reasons you state. It's so easy to walk round the Old Town and down to the Jewish Quarter, or you can always get a tram to the Jewish Quarter from the area around the station or from the Old Town. It's one of those places where it's just lovely to wander round looking at the lovely buildings, popping into a small museum, one of the many beautiful churches, or relaxing in a cafe with a coffee or beer, so I don't think you can go wrong wherever you stay.
im pleased you said that, we just booked a lovely place near the station, just near the botanical gardens. even got a little garden and patio. £250 for 5 nights, it appears to be a bargain for what it is.
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/27330428?guests=1&adults=1
bit of a compromise with the walking, think its about 15 mins walk to the centre, but thats nowt in the grand scheme of things.
i assume buses and trams are plentiful if we need to get anywhere a bit quicker. whats the best option for transport, just pay as you go for each journey, get a 3/4/5 day pass for every journey, or..... something different? i would assume we'd be walking most of the time.
thanks
Public transport is plentiful, particularly trams though you will probably spend most time walking apart from any trip to Auschwitz and the Salt Mines obviously. I only used the trams a couple of times, and only really because I fancied a ride on a tram. If you're using them very occasionally its probably best to book individual journeys - cost about 25p for the inner zone. I found it difficult to find out which trams went where - a couple of key stops had maps showing the network. As you're near the station you can also check on the timetables at stops if a tram goes to the station. Ticket machines have an English option and take cash and cards.
That's across the road from where we stayed, great location and get you used to the train and bus station. Good to know how it all fits together! Nice underpass from that side of the road into the old town, nice bakeries underneath also (they like their breads!).