Krakow blends the past and the present in quietly sublime style. Spared the destruction experienced by other Polish cities during the Second World War, its medieval centre has been remarkably preserved, with a beauty that really is quite extraordinary. Along with a rich culture that includes fascinating castles, museums and stand-out architecture — as befits the former royal capital of Poland — there’s the city’s absorbing Jewish heritage to explore. Nightlife in Krakow positively sizzles, along with a superb restaurant and bar scene. If you come in summer, life is lived outdoors on expansive café terraces and along the riverside, while winter brings a gorgeous sparkle when Christmas comes to town. Visitors are spoilt for choice. These are the best things to do in Krakow.
Main photo: the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz (Alamy)
1. Wander round Market Square
Rynek Glowny, the largest medieval market square in Europe, dazzles with its medieval, Renaissance and baroque architecture. When warm weather heralds the arrival of café tables in the square, it’s tempting to spend hours there taking in the ambience and watching horse-drawn carriages clatter on the cobbles. It’s not surprising that Krakow’s Christmas market pitches up here too, as the square’s fairytale setting suits the festive season. Every hour on the hour, listen as a lone trumpeter in one of the towers in St Mary’s Basilica plays the bugle call four times — the earliest written mention of which dates back to 1392.
visitkrakow.com/krakows-market-square/
2. Shop in the Cloth Hall
One of the stars of Rynek Glowny is the magnificent Sukiennice, the Renaissance Cloth Hall that dates back to the 13th-century when it was the centre of Krakow’s trade. Tucked away within its vaulted arcades these days are souvenir, craft and jewellery stalls, adding their glitter to the elegant colonnades. Grab a bite in the Sukiennice Restaurant or a drink on the café terrace, taking in views of the market square. Then head upstairs to the Gallery of 19th-century Polish Art to see evocative scenes from Polish history.
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3. Go underground at Rynek
Beneath the Cloth Hall is Rynek Underground, a multimedia museum that does an excellent job in whisking you back to the Middle Ages when the Sukiennice was in its heyday. An underground route takes you past reconstructed medieval market stalls and workshops, and features original cobbled slabs that were among the treasures discovered during an archaeological dig in 2005. It’s all very cleverly done, with holograms and other multimedia wizardry to bring things to life.
4. Climb the Town Hall Tower
Although the 14th-century Town Hall in Rynek Glowny was torn down by the Austrians in the 19th century, its soaring 70m tower remains one of the square’s landmarks. And it offers wonderful views of the market square from the platform near the top of the tower — just a small matter of 110 steps. Along the way to the viewpoint you’ll see old photos and a model of the original Town Hall as part of a small museum.
muzeumkrakowa.pl/en/branches/town-hall-tower
5. Explore St Mary’s Basilica
This two-towered Gothic construction is almost overwhelmingly full of treasures. You won’t fail to spot St Mary’s Basilica’s star-covered blue vaulted nave, nor the stained-glass windows in the chancel, nor the art nouveau stained glass above the organ loft. Watch Veit Stoss’s stupendous High Altar open its six hinged wings every day at 11.50am; this pentaptych is the largest piece of medieval art in Poland, and quite a sight, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary.
mariacki.com/en/
6. Time travel in Wawel Royal Castle
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Poland’s national identity is bound up in Wawel Royal Castle, where kings were crowned and the great and the good were buried. It was also where the Nazis set up their headquarters, so it’s a minor miracle it wasn’t destroyed at the end of the war. Sitting on top of Wawel Hill over the Vistula River, this enormous 16th-century castle houses five separate museums. If you’re not able to fit in a visit to all five, make time for the State Rooms and the Royal Private Apartments. They’re best appreciated on a guided tour.
7. Explore Wawel Cathedral
The third church to stand on this site, the 14th-century Wawel Cathedral is one of Poland’s most important buildings and the burial place for its kings and, more recently, Polish president Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in 2010. You can’t miss the Zygmunt Chapel, where the Renaissance ran riot in its decoration. While the main entrance is free, other parts, including the Royal Crypts, are extra. But it’s worth climbing the rickety wooden steps to see the St Zygmunt Bell and the views from the tower — and to follow the old tradition of touching the bell’s clapper with your left hand for luck.
8. Visit the Old Synagogue
Poland’s oldest surviving synagogue — now a museum — is also a place to explore the culture and heritage of Krakow’s Jewish community, who mostly lived in the district of Kazimierz. The synagogue’s main hall is starkly beautiful, with vaulted ceilings and chandeliers, while the exhibition spaces reveal the daily lives, rituals and ceremonies. It’s open every day, and is free on Mondays.
muzeumkrakowa.pl/en/branches/old-synagogue
9. Explore the Ethnographic Museum
The imaginative and entertaining Ethnographic Museum, housed in the 16th-century Kazimierz Town Hall, really lets you into the world of the different cultures within the Krakow, Podhale and Silesian regions. Over three floors, you’ll find life-sized reproductions of Polish peasant houses and insights into rural life in 19th-century Poland through an impressive collection of folk art and costumes. It’s free to visit on Sundays.
10. Eat a classic Krakow snack at Plac Nowy
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The round market building in Kazimierz’s main square still has remnants of its former life as the local poultry slaughterhouse. Nowadays, its old market hatches offer moreish Krakow street food, namely its take on a pizza — zapiekanka. This open baguette is smothered in various toppings from cheese and tomato ketchup to garlic sauce or mushrooms, then toasted and eaten greedily. Another snack you’ll want to try is the Polish version of a giant soft pretzel or bagel, obwarzanek, which is sprinkled with salt and poppy or sesame seeds and boiled. These are at their best within three hours of being baked.
placnowy1.pl
11. Visit Schindler’s Factory
Oskar Schindler’s enamel factory, where he was able to employ many of the 1,200 Jews he saved from the Nazis, has been turned into an engrossing museum. It not only recounts Schindler’s efforts and stories of the lives he saved, so memorably portrayed in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, but it also displays how the people Krakow endured the Nazi occupation of the Second World War. It’s a fascinating exhibition, showing the full terror of life during the war. You get a distinct sense of what it was like, feeling as if you’re walking through the city in the midst of conflict. It’s free to visit on Mondays.
12. See the Pharmacy Under the Eagle
Across the river from Kazimierz is Podgorze, where the Jewish ghetto was created in 1941. The only pharmacy allowed was the Pharmacy Under the Eagle, which soon turned into a secret meeting place for Jews. Now a museum, it powerfully tells the story of life in the ghetto. Just outside is Ghetto Heroes’ Square, where 70 bronze chair sculptures pay tribute to the people who were killed — the chairs symbolising the furniture left abandoned when people were rounded up for the last time in 1943.
muzeumkrakowa.pl/oddzialy/apteka-pod-orlem
13. Take a tour of Auschwitz
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Be prepared for a disturbing experience, but one that really has to be done. The first of the two concentration camps, Auschwitz, is almost intact, its barracks showing the unspeakable and incomprehensible brutality its inmates endured. A short bus ride away is Birkenau. Less of the original camp remains here but it’s more harrowing; this was the site of the intended extermination of the Jewish race. Buses and a few trains depart regularly from Krakow.
14. Enter a salty underground world
Wieliczka Salt Mine, 12km from the city, is one of the most popular day trips from Krakow, and a very entertaining one. The huge underground world of these salt mines, which were used for about 700 years, now houses galleries, a chapel, eating places and labyrinthine chambers. Set aside a few hours to explore it properly.
15. Stroll around Planty Park
What used to be Krakow’s fortifications circling the city — until the Austrians tore them down in the 19th century — is now an immensely pleasant park, Planty. Follow the paths around the city through pretty gardens and past cafés, starting or finishing at the 14th-century St Florian’s Gate and the 15th-century Barbican fortress. You’ll also see a statue honouring Pope John Paul II, who was born in Krakow.
visitkrakow.com/planty-park
16. Walk up Kosciuszko Mound
Hop on the bus and tram to reach Kosciuszko Mound, an unusual homage to a national Polish hero. The giant artificial mound, shaped like a fat cone with a footpath spiralling around it to the top, was built in 1823 to commemorate military hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Once you reach the top at 326m above sea level, you’ll have wonderful views of the Vistula and the city. On a clear day you can even see the Tatra Mountains, 100km away. The surrounding fortifications feature exhibits on Kosciuszko and how he fought not just the Russians but also with the Americans in their revolutionary war.
17. Go hiking in Las Wolski
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Just a few kilometres further west of Kosciuszko Mound is Las Wolski, a protected hilly woodland packed with hiking and mountain biking trails. When the snow comes, that’s the cue to go cross-country skiing through the forest. Hike up the viewpoint at Pilsudski Mound, the forest’s highest point. The forest is also handy for Krakow Zoo and the hilltop Przegorzaly Castle. The castle looks as if it’s been around for centuries, but it dates back only to the 1920s. During the war it was seized by Otto Wachter, the Nazi “governor” of Krakow and the man behind the city’s Jewish ghetto. Today, it’s the serene setting for a restaurant with panoramic terraces.
inyourpocket.com/krakow/Getting-to-Las-Wolski_122433v
18. Join a vodka bar crawl
You might be crawling once you’ve had a thorough tour of Krakow’s vodka bars, considering how inexpensive the drink is here. As you’re working your way through the various flavours, keep up the pace with typical bar snacks such as mini versions of steak tartare and smalec — rendered pork fat seasoned with garlic, onions and spices and served on bread. In the Old Town, try some of the 100 flavours at Wodka Café Bar, while Ambasada Sledzia offers various versions of pickled herrings — another local delicacy — to go with your shots.
19. Take a boat along the Vistula
See Krakow from a chilled-out perspective on one of the many boat tours that run along the Vistula River. Cruises usually run from April to September, and can be anything from 30 minutes to several hours, going as far as the clifftop Benedictine abbey at Tyniec, about 13km to the west. If you’re more energetic, hire a kayak and explore on your own, or get into Krakow’s notorious party spirit by joining one of the Saturday booze cruises.
20. See exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow
Next door to Schindler’s Factory is MOCAK, a sprawling, ultramodern glass structure showcasing contemporary art from around the world as well as Poland. There’s a changing roster of temporary exhibitions, but more than 300 artworks make up the permanent display, including one from British artist Sarah Lucas. Come on a Thursday when the permanent exhibition is free of charge.
en.mocak.pl
21. Look out for street art
It’s not surprising that Kazimierz, home to a large student population and a buzzing restaurant and bar scene, is also the place to find much of Krakow’s eye-catching street art. A walking tour around the district throws up one vivid mural after another, with explosions of colour, wit and satire on otherwise humdrum walls. Cross the Vistula into Podgorze for even more urban art decorating the buildings. Much of the art came about during festivals such as ArtBoom or the 101 Murals for Krakow initiative, and it shows no sign of slowing down.
krakowzwiedzanie.pl/en/street-art
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